Business ownership requires leadership skills, teamwork, an entrepreneurial spirit, methods that work and an audience to support it. In other words, running a business requires basic resources in order gain access to even more resources. For a small business, different types of resources like money and time aren’t readily available to waste.

A business plan needs to be spelled out before you even get a foot in the door, for best results in the long term. Most business owners can’t afford to not properly use the resources they start out with, and they also use insight-driven data to determine what may work best for them. When you look at what you’re willing to commit to, things get cut or postponed to minimize risk. In today’s world, one question you may ask yourself is whether or not you really need to incorporate video content into your marketing strategy. So let’s research not popular opinion, but rather the behaviors of today’s consumer:

Conventional Wisdom

Do you need video content to improve your online presence? Conventional wisdom says yes. Almost 3/4ths of consumers are more willing to explore a business with a digital presence, over 3/4ths of consumers watch at least one video per week, and almost 90% of consumers who can search businesses on a smartphone will call or explore further within 24 hours.

If the conversation is centered on attracting attention, consumers demonstrate a high value for both online presence and videos to engage them, which is encouraging; if you want to increase traffic to your website, then videos are a safe bet. However, it is important to realize that videos aren’t a solution to all of your concerns.

Importance of Digital Presence

Another statistic to note is that, while most small business owners agree that referrals are their main avenue of business, research suggests that 49% of businesses fail based on online usability, which can cut sales in half.

If word travels that your business is reliable, then word also travels when you may or may not have been a worthwhile look, especially if your website or content is difficult to access. In fact, someone is likely to not even share their negative experience so, in that case, word travels nowhere. If you think that video is worthwhile, then that’s only the first step. It’s not just about what the consumer is doing, but what the consumer expects and what you’re doing to meet those expectations.

Remember that anything you associate with your brand on a professional level will be associated with your brand on a social level. The last thing you ever want to do is hurt your brand, because that can be hard to recover from for established corporations, much less a fledgling idea with only a doorway to its name.

Know Your Audience

It’s also important to realize that the importance of digital content also depends on your audience. We live in an age of information overload, where everything imaginable, and even everything still being imagined, is at our fingertips. If you’re a video production company, then videos are your portfolio. If your primary audience for selling local homemade flowerpots is in their 40s-70s, then personal referral may be all you need. But, if you want to sell the latest in fashion and your audience is in their teens, that’s a different breed of consumer. Consider your product and what audiences are attracted to your services. You can have video and it not be at the top of the totem pole for funding, but you can create or gain assistance in creating something that accentuates your mission.

– Kris Johnson

Sources:
https://www.yola.com/blog/17-small-business-marketing-statistics-that-will-help-you-succeed-online/
http://www.adeliestudios.com/top-15-video-marketing-statistics-2015/
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics