2016 Will be the Year of Video

Video is HOT. And it’s getting hotter by the minute. It is quickly becoming a preferred method of content consumption.

Vlogging and live-streaming are the best business tools on the planet. They give your audience intimate access to you in a way that can feel as comfortable as an in-person meeting.

See why video will explode in 2016 and ways you can get on the hottest content marketing and relationship building train.

Video by the Numbers

Here are the raw data and predictions from the Online Video Forecasts by ZenithOptimedia

“The average amount of time people will spend consuming online video each day will increase by 23.3% in 2015 and by a further 19.8% in 2016.”

Social Media Today interviewed 13 pro digital marketing experts about their predictions for 2016.

Over half, for a total of 8 of the 13 digital marketers predicted that video, especially live-streaming, will be at the forefront of content marketing and B2C relationship development.

That’s HUGE!

Why is Video So Hot?

Here are just a few reasons why video is gaining such popularity.

• YouTube videos get top placement in search. When folks are looking for info, if there’s a YouTube video, it gets priority ranking and served along with, or even above, authoritative text-only posts.
• Video is eye catching. On Facebook, videos play in the background in the stream. They grab attention, and that’s exactly what you’re trying to do with your posts on social media.
• It’s fast and easy. Viewers can get a wealth of info in minutes.
• Talking head videos deliver more than just info. Viewers get a sense of your vibe too.
• Live-streaming is the best way to deliver virtual face-to-face time with your audience.

More Platforms Include Video Now

While YouTube continues its video dominance, other established social media platforms are jumping on the video bandwagon.

Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn all allow video uploads or embeds now.

SlideShare allows embedding of YouTube videos. Static slides just can’t tell the whole story like video can. And now SlideShare is owned by LinkedIn.

Live Streaming for Business

New live streaming platforms like Blab and Periscope quickly caught on in 2015 with both viewers and show hosts.

In fact, many podcasters and Hangout on Air hosts moved their shows to Blab. That includes top producers like +Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner and +Joel Comm of InfoMedia.

Because of the uproar over Blab’s simplicity, and subsequent HOA exodus, Google has revamped Hangouts to have a Video Call feature that is much simpler to use.

Broadcast Video

Periscope and even Twitter videos are known as one-to-many broadcasts.

They are a great way for content creators to repurpose quick tips and repurpose their content onto more platforms.

Live Conversations are HOT

Blabs and HOAs are where conversations happen.

The viewer community can be directly involved, ask questions, and become part of the show by jumping into the video live too.

Double Play Perks

As a site owner, you can get double bang for the buck by embedding videos on your site too.

By adding show notes and links, you can get even more SEO juice. That’s critically important because Google bots can’t index video content yet.

Video can turn your blog into a face-time vlog and give visitors a far better sense of who you are.

Site visitors are a lot more likely to do business with someone they feel they know. And face-time video is the shortest route to achieve that goal.

One Word About Embedding Video

Some video embeds can come at a performance cost. That’s especially true of embedded Blabs, or on pages with lots of videos.

It’s worth the cost to ensure that your site is running at peak performance and to consider investing in some type of video accelerator.

Get on the Video Bandwagon

Face to face interaction is the best business tool you have.

If you’re not on camera in some way already, make that happen!!!!! Or get left behind.

What you can do to get on the video bandwagon

• Get on camera!!! Just do it!!! The more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll get with it.
• Your smartphone has a camera. It’s the easiest and cheapest way for you to get started with talking head videos.
• Consider starting out on Blab for live streaming. It’s crazy simple to use and you can even do it from your phone. You don’t have to host a show right away. Jump into someone else’s show. If you want to know more about hosting your own shows, see my Blab Like a Pro video course.
• Try a Twitter video. It’s max length is only 30 seconds. (Mine actually cut off at 20 seconds.)
• Periscope is sort of like a Twitter video, just longer. It’s just you chatting to the camera mostly.
• Make a promo video for one of your products or services.
• Get a YouTube channel for making playlists of all your videos.
• Learn how to make more videos from still shots. There are several online services like Animoto that make it easy and fun.
• Consider doing a voice over video in PowerPoint.
• Transcribe your videos. They don’t have to be verbatim. Make a timestamp or talking point highlights bullet list and put that into your post where your video. Google can’t index video content and this will give you more SEO and encourage more readers to watch the video. That will also increase your time on site, which is another Google ranking factor.

Just Do It!

A lot of seasoned actors hate to watch themselves on film. So, if watching yourself on video makes you crazy, then don’t do it.

Just keep making more videos.

And I guarantee that nobody cares about what you’re wearing or if you have a few hairs out of place. Go watch a few videos of others. Notice that you care way more about the information they are delivering than what they have on that day.

Over to You

What are your video making plans for 2016?