It is widely now accepted, in this modern age, that video has become the dominant force of content on the Interweb. As a result of this, the term “vlog” has forced its way into modern terminology. “vlogging”, however ridiculous as it sounds, is now accounting for more and more of internet content.
Video is projected to rise to an unprecedented 82% of all internet traffic by 2021 and vlogs (I think it is safe to drop the quotation marks now) are being watched by 44% of global web heads. In light of this, the many B2C companies that are adopting these into their marketing strategy are now gaining traffic. Make-up, tech companies and fashion brands in particular are making great use of vlog content.
At heart, vlogs and blogs have the same objective - to educate consumers, inform, entertain and more importantly promote business products or services. Whilst blogs have the advantage of containing keyword rich content for a company web page, it is vlogs that the masses of internet users are looking out for and that will keep them engaged. Also, vlogs have the capacity to go viral in a way that blogs simply cannot. It is true that this type of content is successful for B2C marketing but it is not limited in this way. Vlogs can play a vital role in the B2B selling, with more and more businesses moving towards these to create customer engagement. Where once was blogs, there be vlogs.
Why use vlogs
Humanize you business
For small businesses, start-ups and those who drive their business via their passions, vlogging adds a human face to the company. It adds a personal touch and customers feel like they are buying from a human being who they know rather than a website or brand. This increases brand loyalty and in turn leads to improved customer retention.
Show expertise
Vlogs are a great way to show off just how much talent you have in your particular field, by positioning yourself as an expert with experience and a wealth of knowledge, customers will trust you and are much more likely to do business with you.
Widen your audience
YouTube is the #2 search engine in the world. Every day people are watching around 1 billion hours of video on the platform, this includes potential customers and other businesses. Having an effective YouTube vlogging strategy is a great way to widen your audience and increase your overall online presence.
Limitless sharing
Social media, the behemoth that it is, provides huge potential for your content to be shared. This form of sharing gives your vlog content the potential to widen your reach to audiences exponentially. Create clever and engaging content and give your vlog the potential to go viral.
Things to consider
Decide what to vlog about
Businesses tend to produce vlogs in a tutorial or FAQ style, but don't let this limit your creativity. Think about what you potential clients will be looking for and what they will be engaged by.
Vlog consistently and regularly
The most important element of vlogging is to make sure that you are doing it regularly. By definition, you do not have a vlog if you only publish two entries over the course of a year. Vlogs are not an overnight success, in fact it could take months before you see an increase in subscriptions or traffic. The very best vlogs can easily have over 100 entries.
Decide on your host vlogger
No matter the size of the company decide on 1 or 2 people maximum who will be the face of your vlog. It is all about building a personal relationship with audiences and nothing waters this down more than a “new face” appearing on every other video.
Promote you vlog constantly
Promotion of your blog should be constant and not just when new content is added. Consider paid ads, utilising an email list or any number of the digital marketing strategies at your disposal. Building great content on YouTube and other platforms can be likened to building a palace in a desert. Its spectacular and awe inspiring...but if nobody knows it's there, it's pretty damn useless.
Quality
As with all video content make sure the quality is high. Video content is a reflection of your business and the last thing you want going viral is an iPhone clip of an intern up against a magnolia wall with the fear of god in their eyes.
With that said, get vlogging!
For more information or how we can help form your upcoming vlog strategies please get in contact via david@shade-luma.com