5 video marketing trends to guide your credit union’s marketing strategy post-COVID

Over the last few months, we’ve seen an explosion of video content across platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more. For the most part, quarantine has been a golden age for organic video content; and, if you’re like me, you’ve likely caught yourself in a YouTube spiral or the Instagram/Facebook vortex (watching video after video with no concept of time) more than once this quarantine. 

The power and reach of video has completely transformed the way we consume information and entertainment, thanks in part to an increased reliance on social media and digital technology, as well as the relative ease with which to make viral video content. Last year alone, individuals consumed on average 84 minutes of online video per day. With that number predicted to hit 100 minutes in 2021, and climb even higher in the coming years, a major part of your credit union’s marketing strategy now and beyond COVID-19 should definitely be focused on gaining a larger share of members/consumers’ extremely valuable screen time. 

Because online video is a dynamic and rapidly evolving marketing delivery channel, it’s vital to stay on top of the latest insights that can help your credit union create a stronger digital video marketing strategy for your members. Here are some important video marketing trends and statistics you should keep in mind as you plan your marketing and video strategy for a post-COVID world: 

1. Consumers prefer video ad content – With more than 57% of millennials watching more video ads on social media than on TV, video content has quickly morphed into the most effective tool for your credit union to build recognition, relevancy, and trust with young, new members in your community. Additionally, studies show that 54% of consumers want to see more video ad content from a brand or business they support, especially on social media. This trend bodes especially well for credit unions, who often have very loyal and engaged members/fans. 
2. Achieve a better ROI with video – When it comes to marketing your credit union’s products and service, video content has proven to be one of the most effective ways to engage new members and secure loans. With 73% of consumers claiming that they have been influenced by a brand’s social media presence when making a purchasing decision, video is critical to the ongoing success of your brand and credit union. In fact, the majority of of consumers visit a brand’s social media pages before visiting their website, with YouTube (#1), Facebook (#2), and Instagram (#3) being the top 3 purchase-driving platforms. Overall video ads are the #1 way consumers discovered a brand they later made a purchase from. To that end, 62% of people said they were more interested in a product after seeing it in a Facebook Story, and 1 in 4 consumers made a purchase after seeing a story on Instagram. Additionally, don’t underestimate the power of LinkedIn when it comes to your credit union’s business marketing efforts, as it is by far the number one lead generation platform for B2B.
3. Video can help educate your members more effectively – Video has proven to be the best way to teach current and potential members about your products or services. In general, consumers retain 95% of a message when viewed through a video, versus 10% when reading it in text. Additionally, a study by HubSpot found that 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video. This is being reflected in the fact that video marketers are choosing to develop more 30 second clips for video advertising than 15 second clips.  
4. Video can increase your digital footprint and drive conversions –  With the algorithms of most major digital platforms now favoring video, it’s essential to start developing video content for both your website and social media. A video is 53 times more likely to show up on page one of Google than a traditional web page. Properly optimized video content can also help to increase your organic search traffic to your website by 157%, as well as boost the conversion rates on your product and service landing pages by up to 80%. And, on the social media front, videos generate 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined. Social media networks have long recognized the power and high engagement that comes with video content. Many have even altered their algorithms to prioritize video content on your members’ feed. Of note, if you regularly send emails to your members, adding video to your emails can potentially increase the click rate back to your website or landing page by nearly 300%.
5. Make video content part of your long-term marketing strategy – Video is here to stay and your credit union would be wise to capitalize on its power and reach. It’s estimated that by 2022, 82 percent of the global internet traffic will come from video streaming and downloads. However, as you work to build out your strategy, there are a number of things to keep in mind regarding consumer preference and behavior, including:

• • Videos under two minutes long get the most engagement. 
  • 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, while 60% of Instagram Stories are watched with the sound on. 
  • 33% of viewers will stop watching a video after 30 seconds, 45% by one minute, and 60% by two minutes. 
  • When viewing videos, 75% of people prefer to watch horizontally. 
  • 82% of people find it annoying to watch videos with a “black bar” where the video hasn’t been properly optimized to display in their chosen orientation. 

Despite the prevalence and success of video content marketing, many credit unions and marketers continue to avoid it, often citing lack of time (23%), not knowing where to start (21%), too expensive (12%), and more. A good mixture of in-house and externally sourced video production can help to reduce the time and expense associated with video content. Additionally, marketers should be more focused on regularly developing and publishing engaging and creative video content, rather than production quality and technical aspects that can inhibit and bog down your video strategy.

With just your iphone, a basic point-and-shoot camera with video capability, or even a base-level DSLR camera, as well as some simple tools (tripod, basic microphone, and ring light) it’s easy to get started. From there, you can start developing a variety of quick and easy video to bolster your social media and website, including educational videos, how-to product and service videos, news content, blog/article recaps, event promotion videos, thank you videos, testimonials, behind the scenes, Q&As with employees, mini-case studies, and more. 

A few pieces of advice for those of you just starting out: Be sure to plan out/storyboard your videos; also, consider developing a plug-and-play content series that you can publish on a regular cadence (check out this simple video series I created for Black Hills Federal Credit Union); and, finally, have fun!