The use of video for marketing began gaining traction in the early 2000s with the rise of broadband and, in particular, the launch of YouTube in 2005, which revolutionized video sharing and consumption. Jump ahead five years and we see video as the dominant marketing strategy. By the mid-2010s, video marketing is an essential tool for businesses to connect with their customers. In addition to video’s effectiveness in Search Engine Optimization and social media engagement, people would just rather watch a short video than read a block of text. SEO specialist, Brenna Hoffner, in her article on Why You Should Leverage Video Content: 4 Benefits of Videos on SEO, writes, “Search engines love content variety. From Google’s image search to YouTube’s video results, search engines are more than equipped to populate non-text results.”

Statistics show that Internet users consume about 17 hours of digital video per week. A staggering 66 percent of consumers prefer watching a video demonstrating a product rather than reading about a product description. Furthermore, 71 percent of B2B marketers are using video marketing, while 81 percent of total businesses are leveraging this powerful tool.

Video marketing works—that’s established. What remains to be seen is how certain types of businesses are using video and how those businesses can be more strategic about their usage to increase ROI.

Understanding the Impact: SMB Video Marketing Trends

One study that dives into this is from video creation platform Promo.com: the Small Business Video Marketing Trends Study, released in mid-February (with a companion video recap, naturally!). It’s an in-depth look at how SMBs are using video marketing—what’s working, what could work better, and how small businesses everywhere can ensure they’re getting the highest possible ROI for their video marketing.

The study isn’t only for small business owners or marketers. B2Bs that want to sell to these small businesses also need to pay attention so they’re empowered to give SMBs what they need and build better, stronger relationships with them. While more than 70 percent of B2B marketers are already using video marketing, some companies are still  holding out. Why?

Overcoming Barriers to Entry

SMBs skimp on video marketing for various reasons—maybe they think they don’t have the internal resources or skill sets needed to create high-performing videos. Maybe they think their audience doesn’t want videos. Or maybe they’ve simply got a small staff and just haven’t gotten around to creating a marketing video yet.

And yet, more than half of the SMBs surveyed by Promo.com said that video was their most effective type of marketing—64 percent, to be exact. An even greater number, 77 percent, said that videos were an important part of their digital marketing.

The reason, of course, is that this is the format that customers want. Video posts attract three times the engagement that posts without video do. Similarly, the conversion rate for websites that use video is 4.8 percent, as opposed to 2.9 percent for those that don’t.

Consistency is Key: Publishing Regularly

To achieve maximum ROI, marketers must publish videos on a regular schedule. While creating one video is certainly better than creating none, the highest ROI for SMBs comes from creating and releasing videos on a consistent basis.

According to Promo’s study, 30 percent of SMBs are publishing videos once a week, while 26 percent publish once a month. Another 21 percent publish 2-3 times per week. Regularity will almost always trump frequency, but it’s still better to publish videos once a month rather than once every six months. You want to maintain your followers’ attention and stay top-of-mind, not remind them you exist each time you release a video. This is much easier to do if you’re releasing video content within a shorter time frame.

Capturing and Keeping Attention

Consider that your customers are already more than halfway through the buying journey by the time they actually reach out to you. That means they’re researching your company, viewing your content, and seeking answers to their questions before you even know they’re interested in your brand. If they can’t find what they need to know, they’ll move on to your competitor without a second thought. Video, with its higher engagement rates, is an ideal format for SMBs that need to capture their customers’ attention and keep it long enough to move them to the next step of the buying journey.

Video Creation: Simple and Effective

Video marketing doesn’t have to be ultra time-intensive. A surprising finding from the study? More than 70 percent of Promo’s users spend less than 20 minutes creating a video. That’s partly due to the brand’s video templates and easy-to-use platform—obviously, if you’re starting from scratch, it will take longer, especially when you’re just beginning.

However, it’s still an instructive finding because it shows, first, how helpful platforms like Promo, Animaker, and Moovly can be for creating effective videos. It also proves that video does not have to be a high-production value, highly skilled endeavor. 

All of us walk around with video recorders in our pockets and purses today, and customers no longer expect every video they consume to be fancy and beautifully shot. Sometimes, it’s better if the video doesn’t feel so produced but rather raw and in the moment. For example, consider the immediate authenticity behind a quick, personalized thank-you video for a client, a short demo video showing how to set up your new product, or an informal interview with one of your client relations staff. These are great examples of how candid do-it-yourself video clips can be valuable. Technology makes it easy to use video marketing to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty and move customers along the buying journey.

Of course, there are times when you want to ensure your message is on brand, concise, and more polished. The point is that there is room for both in an effective, comprehensive digital marketing strategy. Balancing raw, authentic content with professionally produced videos allows for a versatile approach to engage a wider audience and meet various marketing objectives.

The Future of Video Marketing

Video marketing is only going to become more critical to SMBs as time goes on. By understanding how it works, how to use it, and whom to target, SMBs can achieve greater brand awareness, increase their conversions, and—most importantly—build long-lasting, healthy relationships with their customers.