Five Reasons To Include Video In Your Digital Marketing Strategy Online videos are a powerful way to attract traffic, convert that traffic to sales, and establish brand credibility online.

As the digital marketing industry becomes an important part of business, finding ways to differentiate yourself from the competition will need to be an increasing focus. Interestingly, one of the most powerful and important mediums to accomplish this is the use of video marketing.

While it might seem overwhelming at first, the reality is that there is a growing number of digital marketing firms that specialize in helping companies produce high-quality videos for their digital marketing efforts.

Beyond that, the benefits of videos are increasingly compelling for businesses. Here are five examples:

Customers trust videos more than blocks of text

Studies have shown that videos generate more trust in customers than blocks of text or infographics. This makes sense intuitively, since the production costs of a video would discourage a spammer or fly-by-night website from creating them. Some studies indicate that more than half of consumers feel more confident when considering a purchasing decision when there is a high-quality video on the page. Think about how this can impact your conversion rate and you'll begin to see why video is becoming so popular.

Videos are also able to make a compelling pitch more quickly than reading would. Instead of allowing the visitor to read or skim whatever part of the page they choose to, a video can be hyper-focused to get the specific points you need to get across as quickly as possible. By making the case through a video, visitors to the page will quickly know whether they want to continue reading.

Video increases conversion

Videos leading to improved conversions isn't just a hypothesis or theory, it has been backed up by a number of extensive industry studies. Videos are great because they get visitors to stay on a page for longer, which means they are more likely to click another link once (or before) the video is over, increasing engagement and the likelihood that they will convert to a sale, a mailing list, or something else of value.

Many people simply prefer to watch a video instead of reading a long block of text about your company or product. While it's important to have the text available for those who want to read it, videos have a much lower barrier to entry for the visitor. As a result, they are more likely to stick around to learn something interesting or compelling about your company or one of your products, which in turn will lead to higher conversions.

Video is great for SEO

Google has long understood that users like video. As a result, Google heavily rewards websites which feature videos. Websites that have high-quality videos can frequently outrank websites that would otherwise be more authoritative, according to Google.

Beyond the direct benefit that Google bestows upon web pages with videos, there are other secondary benefits as well. Google tracks how long visitors stay on a specific page on your site, as well as how long they're on your site overall. If those visitors are watching a video for several minutes, this will translate to a longer average time on site, which Google tends to reward with increased page rankings.

Videos also increase the likelihood that a visitor will click on to another page. As with length of visit, Google tracks how many pages a visitor clicks on before leaving, so this is one more way that a web page can benefit from a video. You can track this information in your analytics software to see how visitor traffic flows after watching a video.

Video consumption is even greater on mobile platform

Most experts agree that mobile devices are where videos are most frequently watched. Since a growing majority of the population uses smartphones more than personal computing devices, such as a laptop or desktop, it makes sense that videos would be seen on mobile more often than not. This number is set to grow dramatically in the coming months and years, so always keep an eye on mobile optimization when generating videos for digital marketing purposes.

One of the best ways to make a video work well for mobile platforms is to design the video so it works with or without sound. Mobile users frequently watch videos either in crowded areas where they don't want their volume to disrupt others, or in situations where they simply can't hear the sound even if they wanted to. By adding subtitles or otherwise making the video text-friendly, you can dramatically increase mobile user engagement.

Fast-paced video marketing on mobile is the key to the future

The type of video that you create can vary depending on your business. Some companies like to create an introduction, "elevator speech" style videos, and this is certainly a viable way to go. Others like to create product demos or introductions, particularly for a product that is new to a category or is creating or expanding a category altogether. The key is that the video should be fast-paced, meaning attention is grabbed within a few seconds, and a clear reason to watch is established within 10 seconds of starting. Without this, too many potential viewers will simply move on to the next thing.

It's also important to remember that content needs to be optimized for mobile devices. As adult smartphone adoption nears 100% in the United States (with other countries not far behind), it's important to create content that looks at least as good on mobile as it does on a larger laptop or desktop screen.

The bottom line is this: digital marketing video content continues to be one of the best ways to differentiate your website, and your brand, from others on the Internet. If you make an effort to create high-quality video content, it'll pay off many times over. Don't be afraid to make the jump to digital marketing videos!

Related: Eight Ways To Include Video In Your Marketing Strategy