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Video and podcasts are not new marketing tools. Video has been a part of content plans for years, and podcasting is popping up more and more every year. But a big takeaway from Casted’s The State of the Content Marketer report is that video and podcast content still has room to grow.
When done well, video is the most effective content type for reaching your audience. Surprisingly, we found that while virtually everyone uses social media (98%), email and newsletters (96%), and blog posts (93%), just over half of content marketers regularly use videos and webinars (61%) publish. for every).
For the hesitant 39% out there, video can be so impactful:
However, as Casted found in its most recent study, just over half of brands use video as part of their marketing strategy and only a third produce podcasts. So what gives?
Customers, prospects, and consumers want more video, and in recent years podcasting has continued to grow as a low-cost content marketing channel.
This represents a great opportunity to deliver both types of content to your audience, and it’s good for your team, too. Video and podcasting—both audio and video—offer some of the most creative content a marketer can produce. It’s also the most effective at capturing your audience. Why don’t 100% of brands produce content like this?
Casted conducted a survey to find out, and we analyzed the responses of over 100 B2B content marketers in the US. The result is The State of the Content Marketer reportwhich raised many questions about the effectiveness of content across formats and channels, how those channels are changing, how content marketers are adapting, and how brands have (or have not) adopted video and podcast content.
Why video needs to be a big part of your content marketing strategy
It’s no secret that people find video more engaging than text and images. According to a Wyzowl study, a whopping 66% of respondents said they would rather watch a product video than read a blog post on the same topic.
Why? Well, videos are easier to consume and more convenient than a blog post. Also, the medium allows brands to use conversation, music and rich imagery to elicit an emotional response from viewers. In advertising, emotional video campaigns outperform those that don’t—in some cases, with a success rate of up to 31%.
1. The pandemic has accelerated the demand for videos
As the Internet evolved, people had to scroll through mountains of text, and while we managed to learn a little bit here and there, people always needed easier ways to learn about topics and research purchases. This is where video—and the technology that makes it convenient to work anywhere in the world—has changed everything.
For example, video is still growing as one of the audience’s most popular content formats:
- This year, online video will account for more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — a 15x growth since 2017, Cisco predicts.
- In 2019, only 46% (less than half) of brands consistently produced webinars, but in 2020 webinar usage jumped to 62%.
- As of June 2020, global watch time of ad-supported and purchased movies had increased by 800% year-on-year.
- This consumption surge is further illustrated by 68% of consumers saying the pandemic has impacted the amount of video content they watch online: the overwhelming majority (96%) say they are spending more time watching videos.
- When they need to learn about new products or services, 68% of consumers prefer video over blog posts, infographics, e-books, and presentations.
- Viewers retain 95% of the content when watching a video compared to 10% when reading text.
- A video ad convinced 79% of people to buy a product, they reported.
The shift to video sends a clear message to content marketers that audiences want video, specifically four main types: product demos, explainer videos, how-to videos, and testimonials. For example, 94% of shoppers said they watch explainer videos to learn more about a product or service, and 84% said videos influence their purchase.
2. Brands that make videos have a higher ROI
As per the Casted report, content marketers are responsible for pipeline and conversion. So bottom line in the back of your mind…
3. Demand for embedded video clips is increasing
Another takeaway from the report is that most brands are not expanding their webinars and videos across multiple channels. Videos are easy to promote when you can cut them into nice, bite-sized clips and embed them in other formats. All of the webinars we surveyed post them on their own websites, but only 48% — less than half — use clips from webinars on their social media and email channels.
Content marketers want tools to amplify and promote their video content. According to the report, 87% already embed audio and video content on their social media, but far fewer include video clips in blog posts (31%) or emails/newsletters (11%).
How podcasting should fit into your content marketing
People gravitate to expert talks when they want to learn more about a topic, industry, or product. Podcasts give brands a whole new channel for content distribution; Best of all, podcast listeners consume more of each episode than a blog post or an e-book.
B2C and B2B podcasts are steadily gaining listeners, but…
- According to The State of the Content Marketer Report, only 32% of content marketers say podcast content is an effective channel.
- Despite the low barriers to entry for podcasting, most brands are not investing in podcasts as a content marketing channel (only 32% said they publish podcasts – fewer than all other content formats, including white papers and webinars).
This highlights a tremendous opportunity for brands to evolve the channel. With the right tools and mindset, you can create well-executed, branded podcasts that…
- Expand audience reach
- Give credibility to your brand
- Create top-of-mind recall
- Drive deeper customer loyalty
- build up trust
How podcasting impacts brand awareness, audience reach and, yes, even ROI
Podcasts are one of the most effective ways to gain brand awareness for several reasons:
- People want to hear expert talks.
- People turn to podcasts to learn new things.
- Content marketers can reuse podcast content, chop it up into clips, and use them to promote the podcast through other channels like social media, blogs, and email.
Yes, the journey to buying podcasts can be long and difficult to plan for (there’s a lot of demand for better analytics tools). But more and more content marketers are noticing that their podcast content is converting.
While video revenue attribution is easier to track, don’t underestimate how much a podcast can add to your bottom line. According to stats cited by Buzzsprout…
- Podcast fans are highly engaged: a whopping 80% say they listen to all or almost all episodes they start.
- About 69% of podcast listeners say podcast ads increase their awareness of brands, products, and services.
- About 60% of podcast listeners say they bought a product because of a podcast ad.
- Podcast fans are super loyal: 72% say they’ve bought something through a sponsored ad on any podcast they’ve been listening to for four or more years
- A whopping 81% of those who didn’t buy because of an ad say they still pay more attention to podcast ads than their TV, radio, digital and social media equivalents.
The final result
As the effectiveness of different types of content changes along with audience preferences, content marketers need tools to keep up, and they need leadership approval to constantly improve processes and strategies to better serve their audience.
Considering how engaging video is and how well it generates leads and revenue, it’s surprising that it’s still not something every brand does.
On the other hand, the reluctance to get into podcasting can be attributed to fear of the unknown. But when you listen to your audience’s feedback, you know what they want — they’d rather listen when experts discuss a topic than read a blog post about it.
If you want to learn more about the challenges B2B content marketers face and the solutions they need to create and amplify great content, check out the full report.
