Why FMCG brands need to be creating regular video content

There have never been more agencies and production companies at brand’s fingertips than there is today. These agencies and companies can now create effective, high quality video content at high volumes and competitive prices. Video content need not be complicated or detailed, it’s very simple:

• Keep it short and sweet.
• Don’t say more than you need to.
• Inform and/or entertain your audience.
• End with a call to action.

If this checklist is kept in mind, the video content created will prove highly valuable for your brand, for several reasons. Let’s run through them:

60% of site visitors will watch a video before reading any text. (Diode Digital)

People are now extremely used to watching video content. Online supermarkets, retailers, social media, food recipe websites, news and sports journalism, blogs – all creating video content. The above statistic from Diode Digital speaks volumes about how this appetite for video content has changed the way users approach websites. In short: Watch first, read later.

56% of consumers believe if a company has a website, it should have video content. (Animoto)

Following on from the last point, this appetite for video content has a significant impact on how users/audiences/customers perceive trustworthiness online. If we specifically discuss this in terms of an FMCG brand. If a prospective customer looks at the site of a health-conscious food brand, they are more likely to watch a video on the product than read a text-heavy description (as highlighted above).

Youtube is now the 2nd largest search engine – bigger than Bing, Yahoo, Ask, and AOL combined. (Etail Insights)

Video content is not only valuable for existing customers. Your brand can reach new audiences through video too. YouTube is bigger than all search engines other than Google (above). High quality video content that gets viewed, commented on, liked, shared etc. will become more visible on the platform.

4 out of 5 consumers prefer demo videos over reading instructions. (Animoto)

FMCG brands should take note of this, especially when considering the success of Tasty. Tasty’s YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers in less than two years and regularly produces content that is globally shared across Facebook, Twitter, etc. Equally, video content can be used in your email communications/newsletters with your audiences – preventing that newsletter from being ignored, or worse, thrown in the bin instantly (hopefully).

Your website is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of a search engine’s results page if it includes video. (Forrester Research)

The above fact speaks for itself: Video content is also incredibly important from an SEO perspective. Video makes up over half of all internet traffic, so they can generate more leads for your company, earn more revenue and attract more candidates. If you’re thinking about SEO, you should be thinking video.

63% of consumers say companies who use video know how to reach their consumers. (Animoto)

Video allows your brand to extend its horizons when it comes to advertising/promotional platforms. Video content can be shared as Facebook video ads and YouTube TrueView ads – both of which are extremely cost-effective and efficient when it comes to targeting options etc. For example, the radius targeting options on TrueView ads (and to a lesser degree Facebook ads) allow you to set up tight radiuses around locations where your product is sold. You can then run video ads specifically referencing that retailer (ex. a supermarket chain) in the end screen(s)/call to action. A great way of building awareness amongst localised, prospective customer bases.