Video or Text ? What is your best Social Media strategy

If it was the year 2021, would you be reading this article or would you be watching it? As online video become more and more popular, it’s an interesting question to ponder.

It is suggested by Cisco, that by 2017 video will account for about 70% of all consumer internet traffic and, to be honest, I find it difficult to believe otherwise.

Online video is quickly becoming the main way that people are seeking information and fulfilling their entertainment needs and small businesses that fail to include it in their internet marketing strategies will be losing out.

Video is the future of content marketing. More than half of companies these days are already making use of it, and it is predicted to rise as more and more realise its potential to engage with their potential customers. It is anticipated that video will make up around 65% of marketing strategies in the future.

People from all walks of life and age watch video in some form, remember HRH Queen Elizabeth watching a video with Prince Harry involving the Invictus Games?

YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month – that’s more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week – that’s a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK alone. Video can give you access to all this. What other form of content can do the same?

There are several success stories of videos that have gone viral. Viral Videos can be watched millions of times and the more engaging the better. A recent campaign from Volkswagen, for example, saw a trio of its videos viewed a combined 155 million times. If such numbers seem out of reach for companies without 12-figure revenue streams, they at least demonstrate how shareable the media is. Engage viewers and they will share the video with others. They will spend longer on your website and more time interacting. For any social media campaign video is without doubt one of the best tools in the kit.

Ok I hear you say I don’t have a massive budget will it work for my businesses? My response?  Absolutely. Production costs have fallen significantly in recent years and you no longer need to be a technical whiz to work out how to use it. Widely available Apps have dramatically increased the opportunity for businesses on a limited budget to participate. Nevertheless, if you’re to realise a decent return on your investment, you will need to consider the people you are trying to engage with and reach.

Do not neglect social media and be sure to promote across all your channels don’t neglect mobile either. Mobile phones holding 41% more share of video consumption at the end of June 2013 than at the start of that year.

Finally, be creative, not only with the videos themselves but in the campaign strategy you build around them. Get that bit right and video won’t just be the future of content marketing, it’ll be the future of content marketing for you.