What You Need to Know About the ROI of Video Marketing

If you are aware of how powerful a video can be when it comes to supporting your brand and your business over time, we’re glad to have you with us. But what if others on your team still need some convincing — namely, your boss. Don’t worry, just by pointing at the ROI of your video marketing endeavors, you can present a strong case for why your brand should invest in video.

Much more than just a fun asset for social media, a video can be used across channels like webinars, emails, blog content, product pages, landing pages, etc, to support larger business goals. And as a savvy marketer, it’s your responsibility to educate your team and advocate for change. Showcasing the ROI of video marketing can feel a bit indistinct, but we’ve got five tried and tested tips for you.

In this post, we’ll highlight the best reasons to invest in video marketing and share actionable tips on how to get leadership on board. Let’s dive in!

1. Show Video’s Sustained Growth And Increased Adoption

In 202, the rise of COVID-19 led to increased businesses embracing video marketing. Many platforms saw a 120% increase in the weekly upload of videos in 2020. Though these numbers have gone down a bit since the height of the pandemic, there’s still an increase in the number of video uploads.

What does this spike in uploads indicate? It means that video as a core marketing and communications tool is here to stay for long.

Video adoption is uprising across the board as marketers are seeking new ways of humanizing their brand and connecting with their audience. In 2020, more than 80 percent of businesses used video as an integral part of their marketing strategy, and more than 90 percent of marketers called it an important part of their marketing strategy. This matches the consumer preferences as 69 percent of people surveyed indicated that they would prefer learning about a product or service with a video versus any other formats like articles, website content, or ebooks.

The cherry on the cake? Cisco estimates that video will represent more than 80 percent of all the internet traffic by the end of the year. This indicates that to reach most of your audience, you need to adopt video. Videos can help your brand at all stages, with the top-funnel stage like growing your audience and the bottom-funnel stage like generating more leads and sales.

2. Share Relevant Video Marketing Success Stories

Instead of trying to tell your boss how it might or could work, show them how videos have already worked for other brands.

Start by collecting a few video marketing examples that will help your manager realize the importance of what you’re trying to do. Remember, most leadership roles work on tight schedules, so you better not overwhelm them with a massive list of examples. Pick the best and the most relevant two or three specific examples that showcase the type of video content you wish to create.

Presenting instances of successful video marketing efforts from a brand that your boss admires is a great starting point. If they’re already familiar with the brand and love their content, an example from that brand might excite them enough to try something similar.

Another way to motivate them is to show the video marketing endeavors from a direct competitor. Highlight how much video content a competitor is creating and build your argument in the context of staying competitive within your market. And if videos aren’t widely used in your industry or niche, it is even better! This is an opportunity for your business to stand out from the crowd.

To achieve the value of video marketing, try selecting at least one example where you can put forth real results. For example, it could be a video that went viral and was popular on social media.

Tracking conversions as a success metric is not easy, but also not impossible. You probably will not be able to analyze how a video led to increased sales or leads since that data is typically internal to a business. If your boss still wants to see those metrics, search for case studies from video marketing platforms that highlight how videos helped companies meet their goals.

3. Underline The Value Of Repurposing Video Content

A single video can be repurposed for different sources of content marketing for your brand. More content emerging from one video means more time for your brand to work on other marketing endeavors. In a way, repurposing your video content can prove to be a time and resource saver for your brand.

Rather than telling your boss that you’re going to put all this time and effort into creating a single video, underline just how much content can come out of that one video. In other words, convince them of a content package. One video can result in multiple podcast episodes, different blog posts, social media content, ebooks, and more.

A video can add stars to the written content you already have. Including video in a blog post can increase search engine visibility and help you rank better for more keywords as a result.

4. Make It Clear That Video Won’t Cost A Fortune

The usual cost of creating a video is a common concern for many marketers who don’t possess a dedicated video team or prior video experience. They might feel that video marketing sounds nice on paper, but they’re afraid that it will cost a lot and doubt whether they’ll see a return on that investment.

Make the process seem less intimidating by billing video marketing as a small, internal affair. Rather than hiring external production staff to help you with a video, give employees who possess some video creation experience an opportunity to help.

The cost of all the video equipment is another hesitation your boss may have. They might be assuming that video marketing means bringing in a professional-grade camera along with a recording studio for voice-overs. If you already have access to those things, that’s good — but it most definitely is not a necessity when you’re first getting started.

If you’re in for a basic video gear setup, the Logitech Brio that is available in the market for under $200 is a good USB webcam you can start with. If you wish to go even more basic, you can simply stick your iPhone or Android on a tripod and start filming. Most of the smartphones already come equipped with amazing cameras that are easy to use. The Sundance Film Festival 2015 favorite Tangerine was completely shot using three iPhones and received lots of critical acclamation.

Bear in mind, these are simply some starting points. You can always level up your equipment as your boss starts to acknowledge how well your video marketing endeavors are performing. The most important point is that you communicate all the expected expenses.

5. Come Prepared With Quantifiable Results

Explain to your boss the types of analytics you would use to measure the ROI for the business. There are usually two analytical streams used to measure video ROI: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative insights are generally better to present to your boss because it’s hard to proof about the performance of your video marketing endeavors. But, merely putting forth some numbers won’t work — leadership has to know what the data means for their company. Carefully explain what analysis you’re performing and why that matters to the overall business.

Qualitative factors like brand influence are also very important, but they are harder to track in a measurable way. If your boss is interested in overall brand awareness, reach and engagement, keeping track of your social media performance and customer referrals can offer some great insights. The more measurable outcomes you present to your boss, the better probability you’ll have of making them realize the value of video marketing.

Keep Your Boss in The Loop And Be Patient

If you get the green flag to move forward in any way, bear in mind to keep your boss involved throughout the video creation process. Our platform provides users the ability to leave feedback at any moment of the video, which is an amazing way for everyone to feel like they’re participating in video projects. That in-depth look might be exactly what your boss needs to appreciate the importance of video marketing.