It is no joke when people say the a video landing page converts. Video Traffic is exploding. As of 2015, 70% of all internet traffic was video data. This is expected to reach 80% by 2020.

The news is filled with Snapchat’s IPO and other social networking sites are scrambling to copy Snapchat’s innovative features around video sharing.

It’s as simple fact that people love video as a medium. Now what does this mean for brands? What does it mean for marketers?

There are 4 reasons why I see video as an important tool for Digital Marketing. These are the reasons you need to go for a Video Landing Page

Video increases visitor engagement

When a visitor clicks on a video, they end up spending a longer time on your page.

This is a great signal to Google that the landing page is relevant to that user. The Google algorithm (rankbrain) will reward the website or landing page with a better search ranking.

This means video landing pages result in a lower Cost per Click for paid search campaigns. It also means a better search ranking for organic search results.

Video saves time

In this age of instant gratification – Videos help visitors save time. Any concept or pitch which would take 10 minutes to read in long-form content, can be presented in a 1 minute video.

Most visitors understand this and that’s why they like clicking on the video rather than reading long articles.

Video is captivating

In the mobile based browsing world, there are constant distractions and interruptions.

When you have a visitor paying attention to your product or service, you’d want to maximize on that. Video captivates the audience in a far superior manner than text and/or images.

The only caveat is – don’t overdo it. If your video is too long, your landing page will lose most visitors mid-way.

Video helps in self-pacing

It’s a concept which has really helped the EdTech industry. By allowing users to stop, pause, play, re-play at their own individual pace, content publishers can facilitate better comprehension and better recall with video.

So if you’re convinced that video is the way to go, then here are 5 tips in which you can make video an effective element of your landing page.

#1: Create the Perfect Hero Shot

The hero shot is the main banner a visitor will see when they come to your landing page. Perhaps, it’s the place that will influence the visitor’s decisions the most.

Sometimes the best way to hook the users is by putting your product video or product-benefits video front and center.

Here’s a great example from Shopify:

This landing page has a catchy headline, a strong lead capture form and uses video placement in an effective way.

#2: Background Video

This adds an element of elegance and class to your video landing page. It’s one way to give a designer touch even if you’re an amateur DIY website owner.

You also now have a bunch of sites which provide free and royalty-free videos which you can use as your background such as Pexels Video and Mazwai.

Who would know better than Vimeo?

Or for that matter airbnb

Background videos add a subtle – yet impactful dimension to your landing page

#3: Animated explainers

Using tools like Powtoons or Goanimate, you can create comic/ animation based versions of a video. This is helpful in a multi-cultural setting and it is also easy on the pocket if you can’t afford good-looking models or actors.

I also like the white board explainer videos although they are not as popular as they used to be.

#4: Gifs and Vine Videos

On social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, Gifs and Vine videos are really popular. Perhaps you can use a clever gif to add humor to your video landing page?

Here is a nice example of small animations that are attractive without taking away from the main message

#5: Go Professional

There’s nothing wrong with a personal touch to your videos. Especially if you’re a small business.

But making videos isn’t always for amateurs – you need to think about the script, the setting, the lighting, the audio, visual effects and all that takes a fair amount of technical knowledge.

Nothing will hamper your brand perception more than a video with poor audio or shoddy camera skills.

The cool part is that it doesn’t cost so much anymore. You can leverage existing, professionally shot video clips and images (stock footage) to create low-cost but high-production value videos. Creating a video with Viddyad is straightforward and through their partnership with Getty images you have access to over 80m+ rights cleared stock clips and images at a fraction of the cost. I’ve seen some really good work there. You can also get great deals on Fiverr for things like just for things like voice-over recording.

So, in summary, Video is the way to go. It’s become easier and easier for brands and small businesses to adopt videos.

If you want to make an impact, see better conversions and better branding, then include video in your landing pages.

About the Author:

Vin Jawa is a serial entrepreneur, blogger and digital marketer. He’s the CEO of Sunny Landing Pages – an automated Landing Page Builder which makes it really easy to make video landing pages. He tweets at @vineetjawa and writes a weekly newsletter called JawaScript.