This is a guest contribution from Nathalie Cohen-Sheffer.

From do-it-yourself tutorials to adorable animal clips, videos are a big part of our life – and business owners as well as bloggers are taking notice. Here are seven reasons why everyone needs to incorporate video into their marketing strategy, and the sooner the better.

From consuming news to communicating with our friends, video has taken over. It’s enough to look at the ways in which your Facebook Newsfeed has changed in recent years to know that video is clearly here to stay. In fact, 1.47 million Americans watch videos on the web, while an average user watches at least 16 minute of online video advertising a month. Bloggers, entrepreneurs and business owners have to realize that implementing videos into their content marketing strategy is the way to go.

Video is on a roll, and it’s evident if you look at any social media network today. Youtube, for one, has over a billion users, and social media channels like Facebook has even dedicated its News Feed to the use of video. The social network is pushing for its native video features, including Facebook Live and audience targeting, and sees greater value in a one-minute video than a 500 word article. Instagram hasn’t fallen behind, and has recently announced that they were extending videos on the app to a full minute.

Social media channels aren’t alone, as more business owners and bloggers alike are realizing the many benefits of adding custom videos to their site. If you haven’t already began adding video content to your blog or site, here are the main reasons you should.

It Increases Traffic

Simply put, video increases traffic to your site. In fact, the click-through-rate (CTR) of emails increases by 200-300% when the email includes a video. It’s also been proven that organic traffic from search engines increases by 157% when there’s a video included. No matter whether you’re promoting your personal blog, or your brand, video can bring three times as many visitors to your site.

What’s great about using video in your content marketing strategy is that you don’t even have to be a videography expert of any kind. Platforms like Promo by Slidely help you to create highly sophisticated videos that will increase your site’s traffic without you having to break the bank. This is precisely what every marketing strategy needs in order to get attention, likes, views, and shares.

It’s a Great way to Brand Yourself

Video plays a huge role in helping businesses brand themselves in a certain way. By using video, you’re not only giving your target audience the information they need about your service, product or brand, but you’re also making them as excited as you are about it.

A loyal audience of subscribers to your blog are more likely to become your own personal evangelists, spreading the word about your blog and your general awesomeness. By incorporating video into your branding efforts, you’ll be giving them a glimpse into “the real you,” which can help build their trust in what you have to say and offer.

It’s Motivating

Video has a very serious impact on your audience, making them much more likely to take some sort of action, like search for more information or purchase an item, after watching your video.

In fact, video is so important to your site that nearly 60% of people have said that videos of products have actually increased their confidence in the purchase, making them less likely to return items.

It’s Memorable

You’d be surprised but video is more memorable than text. In fact, people only retain about 10% of what they read. However, when they watch a video, they’re using both their auditory and visual senses, making that retention rate jump to 68%. That should just give you more of an incentive to guarantee the videos you create are worth remembering.

It Makes You Stand Out

Every business entrepreneur and blogger know just how difficult it can be to differentiate themselves from all the rest. The truth of the matter is that not many companies have the creative streak to put a living, breathing representation of their company and product or service on their site. If you take the risk of being innovative and authentic with your target audience, and remember the importance of creating epic content, you’ll have a major advantage over the rest.

It’s Easy to Share

Video is increasingly easy to share, which guarantees that a memorable and creative video will reach more people than any textual content probably would. The time in which you decide to upload a video is crucial as well since many videos on YouTube are embedded, linked and shared on Tuesday between 11AM and 1PM. By creating an engaging, enjoyable video, you’re ensuring future traffic without having to do a lot of heavy lifting. With video, one click can easily turn into 100 clicks.

It’s Still Gaining Popularity

Videos may have been around for a while, but since they’re only becoming more interesting and eye catching, it’s clear they’re not going anywhere any time soon. It is actually predicted that by 2019, 80% of all Internet traffic will be streaming video content.   

The Punchline

This year showed us that videos are becoming the go-to for marketing teams, bloggers, entrepreneurs, and pretty much anyone who wanted audiences to check out their sites. Thanks to platforms that are specifically dedicated to the task, now, more than ever, it’s easier to create professional videos without having to hire a team of experts.

Once you’ve created your video, you can rest assured knowing you’ll be instantly rewarded with an improvement in traffic rates, audience interest, and so much more. You’ve got so much to gain from adding videos to your content marketing strategy there really is no reason not try it out for yourself. Now’s the time to give it a go.

Image credits: Raw Pixel.