Video is the most popular type of online content and is viewed in 2016 an average of 1 hour, 16 minutes every day on digital devices. Video represents up to one third of all online activity, according to Insivia. Statistics on video suggest it has strong business value and increases conversion by up to 80% when used effectively. Not only does video captivate your customers, it also attracts them from search engines. When proper meta data markup is applied to your video, it can be displayed in Google search results with a thumbnail image and 5 star review ratings, which encourage click-through from search results – even showing up on searches that it may not have been included – because video is present.

Video is a way of selling more products and services, not just entertaining for the fun of it. Video initiatives and the surrounding activities should revolve around clear objectives and calls to action, to create an environment where consumers know what they’re supposed to buy and can easily purchase it. David Murdico on Ragan Communications

YouTube is the second largest search engine. Those who search for your business specialty on YouTube are going to find competitors if you aren’t uploading your own video content. You can also customize your YouTube page to reflect your brand so viewers identify with your business, then easily embed those videos on your own domain in your blog. A fun example is included here of a video made by our sister site WebSite101, which focuses on domain names with a creative remake of a Shakespeare soliloquy.

Showing your products in use with a how-to demo video is the most common and effective approaches. If your company product or service isn’t visually oriented, it’s possible to do interview videos with staff members, executives and offer customer testimonials. Consider having animated graphic shorts created to best visual effect when your services are not visual. Even software can be demonstrated with on-screen video captures and voice-overs.

KickStarter is a great example of how every business can leverage video to effectively communicate with potential customers. Introductory concepts shown via video is a core element to business fundraising. Business video is also tremendously effective at trade shows and for speaking engagements. Apple routinely uses video within those new product announcements to showcase their latest innovation – or even to show new commercials for their products.