Online Video: The Swiss Army Knife of Marketing

As a kid who grew up watching James Bond, I thought the Swiss Army Knife was one of the coolest things my dad ever bought me. The one I have (and still use to this day) includes a couple of knives, a pair of scissors, 3 screw drivers, a bottle opener, a can opener, tweezers, a toothpick, a hook, and some tool that I used a couple times to bore holes in leather and plastic.

The best part? All of these tools magically fold up into a 3.5 inch handle that fits in the palm of your hand.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a couple toolboxes filled with full sized tools. But rather than dig through those toolboxes, I often grab my Swiss Army Knife instead because I know it’s likely all I need to get the job done. Why sift through an entire toolbox when I can finish the job with just one tool?

You’ll be happy to learn that in digital marketing, there is a similar tool like the Swiss Army Knife — a single tool that can accomplish many different, and difficult, marketing jobs. As you already know since it’s revealed in the title of this article, I’m talking about online video. In this article, I’ll explain why online video is truly the Swiss Army Knife of digital marketing and how every business should be using it to get better results.

Tool #1: Increase Search Engine Traffic

For many Google searches, you’ll see YouTube videos ranking on the first page of Google.com. Google’s mission is to show the most relevant and most useful information, and often a video fits those two criteria better than an article. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Google owns YouTube. :)

That means online video can be another tactic to get your business to rank on the first page of Google for relevant search phrases. But that’s not all…

Tool #2: Increase Referral Traffic

First, it’s important to know that YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine behind Google.com. Sure, we want to rank #1 in Google, but ranking #1 in YouTube isn’t too shabby either. Of course, when you rank in YouTube, that really means your online video gets the direct traffic and then prospects would be referred over to your website from the video and the description text (assuming you’re linking to your website in the video description). So this is really referral traffic.

Plus, don’t forget all the other video sharing sites that could also refer prospects over to your website. And finally, don’t forget about posting your videos to social media, which again could refer prospects to your website.

Tool #3: Increase Website Conversions

In all of my tests adding video to sales pages, I have seen improvements in website conversions 100% of the time. I’ve tested video testimonials from customers, demos of the product, messages from the owner, and full sales videos. In every case, the videos increased conversions compared to the page without the video(s).

Intuitively, this makes sense because videos are much more engaging than text alone. Plus, many people would rather watch a video than read.

Tool #4: Increase Advertising Traffic

Have you ever noticed when you click on a YouTube video you will often see a video commercial before your video plays? These are called pre-roll video ads and it’s another option to get your business in front of relevant prospects.

In my experience, the best way to get started with YouTube pre-roll video ads is via retargeting. Retargeting advertising is when you display your ads only to prospects who have already expressed interest in your product or service by visiting your website. Retargeting pre-roll video ads are a great way to expand your advertising reach with minimal risk.