Yelp's introduction of short video snippets illustrates exactly how any brand can take advantage of video marketing, no matter what it sells.

It’s easy to see the benefits of video marketing for ecommerce sites. The chances of making a sale are significantly higher when you can use video to demo products and services. As Brafton reported, 58 percent of consumers find businesses more trustworthy when they share videos of their goods.

But what about restaurants, attractions, brick-and-mortars or professional offices? These businesses can’t reap the same kinds of rewards, can they?

According to Yelp’s official blog, there’s reason to believe video marketing can be effective for companies of any kind. The service is demonstrating exactly how its user base can thrive with video. Yelpers will now be able to record videos between 3 and 12 seconds long that can be uploaded for business and personal profiles.

“These short videos are great for conveying the atmosphere of a business, which helps others anticipate their experience before stopping by. For instance, imagine scrolling through pics of delicious dishes at a new bistro but not really being able to tell if the ambiance is more “date night” or “family friendly.” Yelp video is here to help,” the site stated in the official announcement.

73 percent of consumers are likely to make online or in-person purchases if they’ve already viewed videos portraying products or services.

Marketing to customers the way they want

This is a perfect demonstration of creating marketing content for consumers, using channels they explicitly want. A savvy marketer will know people who are passionate about food – particularly young people – prefer video. According to Google’s internal research, consumers ages 18-34 are 30 percent more likely to watch food-related videos on YouTube than the average user. And engagement on YouTube channels about food is up 118 percent from 2013 to 2014.

However, video isn’t all about showing food – that’s just a delicious example. Studies show, regardless of product type or service industry, 73 percent of consumers are likely to make online or in-person purchases if they’ve already viewed videos portraying products or services. Video marketing is an essential tool for cutting through marketing noise, particularly when it comes to reaching the most savvy customers. Whether they’re looking for a meal, an article of clothing or enterprise-level supply chain management software solution, rich visual media helps cinch the marketing funnel to a manageable size. 

Alex Butzbach is a Marketing Writer at Brafton. He studied Communications at Boston College, and after a brief stint teaching English in Japan, he entered the world of content marketing. When he isn't writing and researching, he can be found on a bike somewhere in Metro Boston.