How Can Mobile Videos Drive Brand Awareness?

Mobile videos are, quite possibly, the fastest growing sector in the digital advertising landscape. Research suggest that the modern consumer is accessing more video content than ever before and a strong reason for this has been the convenience provided by smartphones and mobile devices.

According to stats compiled by ReelSEO, 50% of global consumers will be watching mobile videos in 2016. Further, they predict that mobile videos would account for more than 69% of the search traffic by the year 2018. And it’s all thanks to bigger mobile devices, increasing affordability, better bandwidths, and more innovative devices.

Google too reports that online video has been a key marketing tool in 2015, and is projected to grow every year by 21% until 2019. However, the increasing budgets for video advertising should also be justifiable. Videos have been effective for connecting brands with consumers and this impact can, in fact, be measured.

Facebook has already invested a lot in carousel ads, helping advertisers showcase more products and features to their audience. Soon, videos will be an integral part of these carousels. In 2015, both Facebook and Instagram took to automatic ad playback that offered a deeper dive into products for the target audience.

Statistics That Prove Video Is Here To Stay

• In 2015, over 1 billion unique audiences watched an average of 6 billion hours of videos on YouTube every month. The rate has doubled since 2014.
• In 2012, more than 4 billion videos were viewed every day, but today, just mobile devices account for 600 million views.
• Currently, more than 72 hours of video content is being uploaded to YouTube every minute, compared to 48 hours in 2011.
• 60% of video audience is aged between 18 and 44 years, and in the same line, the number of teenagers browsing video content has increased.

It could arguably be said that video content has become a part and parcel of daily life of an internet user. Media houses should consequently keep up with this trend to connect their advertisers with a larger targeted audience.

Mobile video content is possibly the first thing that modern consumers turn to in search for information, even before they turn to search engines. Coull suggests that consumers have in fact been turning to mobile videos when making product decisions or looking for reviews.

Mobile videos are also among the most shared online content. According to reports compiled by Coull,

• 500 years of video hours are currently watched every single day on Facebook.
• More than 700 videos are shared on Twitter every minute and this statistic just includes YouTube links.
• 100 million people share, like or comment on video content every week.
• There are more than 500 tweets every minute that contain a video link from YouTube.

Analyzing around 50 video campaigns from the Fortune 100 companies, it was concluded that 94% of these campaigns have driven a significant lift in brand awareness.

Videos have allowed these companies to penetrate deeper into their demographic segment. This also makes video content and advertising a promising solution for lesser known brands.

If you have already been convinced of the power of video content, here are some ways to make the most of it:

Understand Your Target Audience

With videos accounting for more than 52% of search traffic, no advertiser can afford to neglect it. It is, however, necessary that before releasing a video content, advertisers should have sufficient knowledge of their target demographic.

Every product or service caters to a particular age group, gender, or social class. Creating targeted content for these niche markets would be more appealing.

A good example for defining this would be the Hotline Bling campaign by US presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Even though it was a political video, millions watched it, and the video was successful because it was relevant, timely, and more importantly, visually engaging.

Use Interactive Content

An interesting report reveals that while 17% of the online audience would spend around 4 seconds on a website, they spend around 2.7 minutes viewing a video. The reason is simple – people don’t like reading as much as they do like watching.

Brands can consequently work to maximize their views by creating interactive and “shoppable” videos. A good example of interactive videos would be a 360 degree interactive shopping experience.

Similarly, shoppable videos like the #MissAdventure series on YouTube that do both storytelling and product demos and can hook the end user in an immersive and profitable experience.

Multi Channel Promotion

Give that you have high quality content to showcase, it would be worth the effort to share it across multiple platforms and channels, including both mobile and social media.

However, you should again consider the limits of the target audience and their devices. Instagram for instance, allows 15 seconds video snippets, and though it may seem short, several brands have been successfully using these videos to showcase compelling stories and sales.

In the same line, videos can also be converted into slides and Infographics, thus helping you repurpose content and reach new audiences.

Invest In An App

Whether you believe in them or not, the Jenners and Kardashians are the Queens of social advertising. Currently, they have taken to sharing video content on their app.

Depending upon your industry, you can use in-app videos to promote products, services, tutorials, guides, stories and more. If you own a restaurant, stream a video of your in-house experience or one showcasing how the food is prepared. If you’re trying to sell a tee, you can put similar creative faculties into play.

Extrapolating from the fact that 1 in every 10 mobile advertisements are video, it is safe for brands to begin writing compelling scripts and stories and turning them into videos. As long as you provide relevant, engaging and entertaining content, customers will keep watching, sharing and promoting your brand for you.