This CEO Says It's Time To Rethink Your Approach to Video Marketing

One-third of online activity is spent watching video.

Think about that.

We have known for a while now that video is only increasing in popularity, but I don't think people truly realize the true influence of video content.

Here's some perspective: did you know that 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week? In addition, over half of video content is viewed on a mobile device.

What's interesting, though, are what those stats mean contextually. Think about the churn rate of social content. By the time you've come up with a good idea, created it, and then posted it to your Facebook page or YouTube channel, people are onto the next thing.

When people (brands especially) think about video, they think about it as a long-form, high value piece of content. And the truth is, video is a high value piece of content. It just shouldn't be thought of as an asset that requires thousands of dollars worth of equipment and months of work to create. Video is no longer a "professionals-only" content piece. Apps like Instagram and Snapchat (and its long lost cousin, Vine) have made the barrier to entry for video extraordinarily low.

Which means, if you want to get into the video content game--and you should--then what's equally as important as coming up with good video ideas is your process for getting from start to finish as quickly as possible. In the world of social media, speed is as important (if not more important) than the idea itself.

To add some perspective to the volatile landscape of social media and video content, I asked Tom More, CEO and Founder of Slidely, on what the future of video looks like. For those who don't know, Slidely is an app that allows users to create photo collages, video slideshows, and other types of social content.

The company's newest rollout, a web app called Promo by Slidely, gives marketers the ability to cheaply, easily and quickly create short videos specifically for social media and its heavy churn rate. Promo provides access to millions of high-definition video clips from the Getty image bank, full libraries of rights-cleared music, and a simple interface for adding text titles and a logo. And in the new version of the app, which drops later this month, you'll even be able to push content straight from your Promo dashboard to your Wistia and HubSpot accounts.

"Video isn't a one-play gig," said More. "It needs commitment and consistency. You can't put all this money and effort into one video, thinking that sole piece of content will solve everything for your company. It's not going to work. The way the social feeds operate, these assets have very short life spans. Which means businesses need to understand why they are creating videos in the first place. In order to be successful in the video space, you need to be creating more videos, more often."

Honestly, the same could be said for the blogging world--and really all social content, period. It's a game of attention with a very short lifespan.

It's just that video has been such a "luxury" type of content for so long that the vast majority of brands still consider it out of reach. They think, "Well, we don't have the equipment or we don't have the budget to make something professional," so they don't even try taking a step in that direction. Meanwhile, Instagram personalities are vlogging their daily lives on video in their Stories and not only attracting the most attention, but reducing the barrier of entry.

Video doesn't need to be a big production anymore.

"But it's also about business goals," said more. "Our vision has never been about just creating one amazing video, assuming the world will stop, look at it, and clap their hands. Social doesn't work that way. What we wanted to do was figure out how to help people, brands, whoever, create video content, quickly and easily. It's the consistency that drives business."

Here's another stat that proves the value of social video from a business perspective: videos on landing pages can increase conversions by 80% or more.

But, as More was saying, the habit of consistency is what differentiates the "one-hit wonders" from the brands, businesses, and influencers that create content on a regular basis--and actually build audiences around their video content.

"The democratization of video content and distribution processes is a big deal," said More. "If we look at the big brands over the last couple of years, consistently creating video content across all the different media channels, and we start counting the views, engagement, etc., it's clearly creating winners. And that's only just happened in the last three to five years. In the next three to five years, we will see all the other types of businesses accept the new reality that video is here to stay, and that the barrier to entry is extremely low. The challenge isn't creating video content, in itself. The challenge is being able to create worthwhile video content on a regular basis."

Consistency.

That's what your video strategy should be based around.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Source: This CEO Says It's Time To Rethink Your Approach to Video Marketing