A new report found that more B2Cs are creating video content than blog posts for their companies in 2015.

B2Cs can’t afford to ignore video marketing anymore, or pass it off as something ‘big’ brands with deeper pockets use. According to the 2015 B2C Content Marketing Institute Trends report, 74 percent are creating videos to fuel their web strategies. This officially marks the point where video is no longer the up-and-coming content format and is now the norm.

In fact, more B2Cs are creating videos than blog posts this year. If you’re on the fence about the value of video, this update should be the push you need to make the leap official and start producing dynamic visual content, unless you want to get left behind.  

Video marketing increases for B2Cs

Here are a few reasons we’ve seen that justify why companies are moving bullishly forward with video strategies:

  1. Videos appeal to visual learners
  2. They improve engagement metrics (like click through rates and dwell time)
  3. They increase website conversions

However, there are other reasons that go beyond hard metrics. Videos give brands a personal touch by putting a voice and/or face (depending on the format) to the company’s name. They nurture interest when they give viewers an inside look at how products or services work and build trust with testimonials that showcase existing customers’ first-hand experiences.  

More video doesn’t mean less content

While the majority of companies are rushing to build video content because they know there’s demand, they understand that written blogs are still important. (Although some reports have started to consider written posts classic content.) For as many visual learners there are who prefer to watch a digestible video rather than read a text-based article, there are other visitors who would rather skim through a post than dedicate a few minutes to viewing it in its entirety.

Video will only drive great results for your company if it maps to your broad marketing goals and makes your business look good.

A combined approach ensures readers will have a positive experience no matter their prefered method of receiving information. Plus, pairing videos with written transcripts adds SEO value because crawlers can scan and cache text for search results, but they can’t watch videos to learn what they’re about.

As video content continues to climb the ranks as marketers’ favorite content format, it’s critical to adopt thoughtfully and strategically. Rushing in and creating content without a plan will leave viewers confused and unaffected. Video will only drive great results for your company if it maps to your broad marketing goals and makes your business look good.

Here are our tips for choosing the video format that’s right for your goals, and tips for avoiding common video marketing mistakes.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.