According to HubSpot’s annual State of Inbound report, video content is also “dominating” the future planning agendas of C-level business leaders, and marketers across the world are on board with video content’s rising popularity among global online browsers, with 48% planning on using YouTube video and 39% looking to use Facebook video in 2017. 

Still not fully convinced? Here are 4 other reasons to re-think your current marketing strategy, and focus on video in the new year.

Forrester has reported that including video in an email can lead to a 200 – 300% increase in click-through rates.

In addition to this jaw-dropping stat (speaking of which, why are you still reading this post?! You should be filming video content to add your next email newsletter ASAP!), here’s another one: just by simply using the word “video” in an email subject line, you can boost your open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65%, and reduces unsubscribe rates by 26%. These numbers are important if your standard email templates are wordy or include a lot of information or tips; video content is much easier to consume than text, because it doesn’t take that much effort to watch and listen (vs. reading and understanding words in a text paragraph).

YouTube reaches more 18+ year olds during prime-time TV hours than any cable network.

In addition to this, 2/3 of YouTube users watch YouTube on a second screen while also watching TV at home. I’m totally guilty of this — I always play around on my phone while watching TV at home in the evenings, and it tends to lead to me watching video content that’s been posted on Facebook, Instagram or Snap, while also watching TV in the background. As Google reports, “when it comes to online video, one word summarizes the trends in consumer behavior: “more.” Consumers are spending more time on more devices with more focus and passion for online video than ever before.”  In fact, they estimate that advertisers on prime-time broadcast TV could have reached 56% more 18-49 year olds by also advertising on YouTube.

Those numbers speak for themselves. The younger demographic just isn’t into traditional video content as much as they used to be. If advertisers want to reach more viewers, they need to diversify their content across multiple video and broadcast channels.

90% of shoppers say that seeing a video is helpful in the decision process

And even more helpful: 360-degree video formats. Based on results of a study by Magnifyre, “360-degree videos use a special set of cameras to record all 360 degrees of a scene simultaneously, which means that while a video is playing you can choose which angle you want to view it from….[and] data suggests that 360-video engages viewers on a level that not only encourages them to click, but to watch more of it.”

360-degree formats may not work for every type of product, but it can have a huge influence on those where a photo just isn’t enough, like real estate, vehicles or furniture.

Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80 percent

You can squeeze more content into a video than you can into text on a page without it being immediately overwhelming to a viewer. People are busy, and, to be honest, lazy, and they want to know as much as possible about something in the shortest possible timeframe.

Also, people want to know who they are trusting with their purchase. Unbounce argues that If you feature yourself or company employees in your posted video, the trust factor is raised significantly, further encouraging viewers to continue along the buyers journey to a purchase decision.

—–

If these stats haven’t provided enough insight for you to shift or grow your focus on video marketing in 2017, then I don’t know what will. It’s clear that video is the future (and, arguably, the present), and these results will only continue to increase as more brands and advertisers move to video marketing in the coming months.

Learn more about other inbound marketing predictions for the new year in HubSpot’s State of Inbound report. Get your hands on a free download by clicking below!