For many years, short-form videos gained massive popularity. Why? To hold people's quick attention. However, this trend is now evolving. Today, consumers of all ages are inclined to watch long-form videos on their preferred social media platforms.

As a result, social media platforms such as Meta and Instagram are adjusting and experimenting with innovative offerings that will appeal to businesses.

In the last five years, there has been a 446% growth in long-form videos (60 minutes or longer) and a 288% increase in short-form videos (5 to 30 minutes). On the contrary, the number of brief movies between 0 and 1 minute long only rose by 100.3%. So how can you leverage this for your brand or business?

We will tell you how! In this blog, we'll discuss the importance of long-form videos, their advantages, and how they can help businesses like yours achieve your marketing goals.

A longer-than-average video (10—15 minutes) is commonly referred to as a long form. They are most recognized for their thorough coverage of a topic while offering the reader a ton of content lasting more than 30 minutes.

With 74% of all internet traffic made up of videos, your business cannot neglect video marketing as an excellent channel for promoting and sharing your brand value, product, and services. Therefore, in the business world, long-form video is becoming more popular as professionals recognize the wealth of benefits it offers.

In the recent past, you have probably noticed that practically every social media platform is leaning toward long-form video.

New video capabilities have begun to appear on "older" platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and these platforms frequently prioritize their algorithms to enhance video capabilities.

But did you know that 92% of marketers believe that video will be crucial to marketing in the years to come? That's right!

According to Statista, brand videos were the most often used video formats in 2021's international marketing communications. Social video and product demonstrations were other popular choices for B2B video marketing efforts. 39% of respondents said they used client testimonials, while 45% of global marketers said they used training videos.

This is why long-form video content should be a part of your social media strategy.

long form video benefits

In the business world, long-form video content has a variety of applications. From SaaS-based B2B video marketing professionals to solopreneurs, small business owners, and established organizations, everyone uses long-form video content marketing to achieve their business and marketing objectives.

So let’s dive into some of the benefits of long-form video:

For building rapport with your customers and audiences, long-form video works incredibly well. Longer-form films enable you to build a personality and forge a link with your viewers.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a term you've undoubtedly heard a million times. Did you know, however, that including SEO video on your website can significantly boost your SEO efforts and attract more visitors to it?

The length of your video will also lengthen the time visitors spend on your website, increasing the likelihood that search engines will view it as relevant and give you more prominence in search results.

To add value, you don't necessarily have to add brand-new frills and whistles to your core products and services. Long-form videos can benefit your business by advancing customer success and knowledge. You'll be able to impart a plethora of information to your viewers if you can hold their interest during a long-form video, ensuring that they remember and regard your brand as a reliable and definitive source.

Last but not least, since we often create a narrative with long-form videos, it is perfect for increasing brand recognition memorably and effectively.

Your long-form content can aid in the creation of a distinctive brand identity that sets you apart from competing companies in your niche. In addition, it gives your brand a chance to convey the whole story, especially when speaking with industry experts.

There are different types of long-form video content, and we will look into some of them in addition to some tips and tricks on leveraging these videos to achieve your marketing goals.

A well-made product video is one of the most influential pieces of content for giving potential customers that last little push. 69% of consumers say they would rather watch a video to learn more about a brand's products or services.

How are product demonstration videos helpful?

  • They are excellent at demonstrating applications and benefits, eliminating doubt, and ensuring that potential buyers know exactly what to expect from your items.
  • Since everyone who watches a product video is at least somewhat interested in purchasing it, your content can use more direct selling techniques.

Videos with customer reviews are the best approach to establishing company trust. According to Boast, the effectiveness of content marketing is at 89%, with customer testimonials receiving the best score. The majority of customers will research one or more customer reviews before buying your product.

How do you begin filming these, then? It’s simple. Find a client who is willing to make a video testimonial, ask them a few questions, and record their answers. These are some topics that your inquiries have to touch on:

  • Enquire about their top concern regarding your product.
  • Find out how your product helped them achieve their goals.
  • Inquire about their preferred aspects of your product.
  • Verify if they experienced any unanticipated advantages from your product.

When creating an internal training platform, long-form video content comes in handy. Wondering how and why?

Having access to these in-depth videos lowers the expense of staff training. You can distribute QR codes containing video links to trainee posts or pre-sessions. Additionally, it is useful when administrators must take an unforeseen leave of absence, and someone else must take over their responsibilities.

The odds of increased website traffic and employee engagement are higher for companies that adopt long-form video marketing. For instance, instead of reading about the CEO and leadership team on the company website, new hires in corporate firms would prefer to watch them on video during their inductions.

According to Wyzowl, 86% of marketers assert that video has increased the traffic to their website, and 83% claim that video has lengthened visitors' visits to their pages. Further, the consumer learns more about your brand and what you offer at each touchpoint.

Here are a few ways you can create a successful long-form video content for your business:

Feed customers high-quality information with a specific purpose in mind if you want to maintain their interest. Consider hiring a qualified team or video marketing agencies to handle the video production's creative process if you're going to get the most out of your resources. This will guarantee that the final result is of the highest caliber and that it is designed with appropriate calls to action.

Here are a few objectives to keep in mind while defining your video's purpose.

  • Amplify brand awareness - This can include how-to videos demonstrating your field experience and industry analysis.
  • Promote online engagement - Several short promotional movies linking to longer-form content on your website, blog, or YouTube. These ought to be both educational and emotionally engaging.
  • Improve customer education - By creating how-to videos that answer frequently asked questions from clients.
  • Boost website traffic - These include videos on product demonstrations, business overviews, and customer testimonials.

Storytelling is a key component of what makes marketing videos successful and memorable because you want your message to be engaging and memorable.

Here’s how you can create a storyboard.

The journey doesn't end when you become an expert at recording! Before it goes live, you'll also need to learn how to edit video content. This might entail changing visual components, like boosting contrast or brightness. It might also involve timing changes or the addition of special effects.

The most crucial elements of your video can be highlighted with the use of efficient video editing software, saving viewers' time from irrelevant content.

Here are a few of the most crucial suggestions and tactics to be aware of:

  • Organize! Eliminate the ineffective portions of your video so that you may concentrate on the areas that best demonstrate your abilities.
  • Choose an effective and easy-to-use software such as StoryXpress.
  • Choose a machine with fast storage, more RAM, and a GPU.
  • Add music wherever possible since great music transforms everything.

Long-form video content can be distributed in several ways. You can host your video content on a professional video platform if you're planning to do it professionally. The video player can then be added to your website or application from there. Your objectives and target audience will determine how you share your video. You can send the login information to authorized users through email. You'll probably use a similar strategy if you employ video for sales-related goals.

Here are similar examples of how you can distribute your long-form video content:

  • Your distribution strategy will probably incorporate many elements for marketing and branding reasons. Utilizing video SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing will help you reach as many high-quality viewers as possible with your content. Consider including paid advertisements.
  • Sharing brief excerpts from your long-form video on social media sites like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook with a link to watch the complete video on your website works well.

Instagram stands out due to its highly engaged audience and visual-first nature, making it ideal for video content. A strong follower base on Instagram helps amplify reach, ensuring your videos gain more views, interactions, and shares. The more options you explore to get followers on Instagram , the better your chances of driving traffic to your website and maximizing the impact of your long-form content.

According to Worldometers, more than 6 million blogs are published every day. The words on the internet are endless. Nobody has the time to read every online posting or even read them clearly. Your website or blog needs to stand out amid all this chaos, and using video to accomplish this is a great idea.

For your visitors to get your message, all they need to do is click and watch a clear, well-crafted video. Videos deliver precise, interesting information. You can reduce bounce rates by including a video on your landing page and, indirectly, on other pages.

Have you ever seen videos on YouTube with the tag ‘this will only take one minute’? Those are the types of videos that your prospects need. Product videos should be embedded on your landing page and shared across your social media networks for better conversion rates.

Webinars take time to plan and then market across several channels. After the webinar, you must edit the video into individual YouTube or other social media channels that each address a distinct subject. Long after your webinar is over, these clips will help more people find your company and advance your expert status.

How many of the hundreds of emails you receive each day do you open? Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming volume of emails, many people choose only to skim the subject lines or ignore them entirely.

Instead, include a video link, or use a QR code generator to create a personalized QR code for embedding your video that the viewers can see by performing a quick scan using their mobile phone or through the online QR scanner tool.

Analytics are essential to the success of any internet marketing effort. You should track your expenditures on video marketing campaigns if you produce many videos and consciously decide how to enhance them.

You can use Google Analytics and YouTube Analytics to monitor performance, locate your most popular videos, and learn more about views, traffic sources, total watch time, and more.

Additionally, you may gauge your overall brand awareness by looking at key metrics such as aggregate views, shares, and mentions.

Most of you now understand how effective video can be in promoting a brand or service. Unlike written text or print visuals, long-form videos can capture viewers' attention and communicate a brand's message effectively. But how do you engage your customers using long-format video content?

Gather some of your business's consumer feedback from social media postings and commercials, and answer it in your video.

It is best to engage your audience by ensuring the opening 5 seconds of video content capture their attention. After all, our viewers consume content constantly, and we only have seconds to capture their interest. Spend less time promoting logos.

In 2023, personalized videos will prevail as the new norm. Wouldn't you pay attention if you heard and saw your name in an advertisement?

Video content is currently quite popular thanks to YouTube, providing a unique chance to engage people. An excellent approach to achieving this is through collaboration with influencers. Influencers offer brands the potential to have meaningful and engaging discussions with their target audiences by providing direct and easy access to communities.

Here are additional resources and the best examples for those interested in using long-form video in business.

GE produced the "Into the Wild" video series to inform its audience on how GE powers everything from cities to jet engines. The show features former Mythbuster Adam Savage as he tries to comprehend the workings of the various GE goods and services. Adam (and the audience) discover how GE contributes to the world's energy supply through expert interviews, animations, and clear explanations:

Patagonia leverages the company's purpose or goal to inspire long-form video content and establish personal connections with viewers:

Platforms and tools for hosting and distributing business videos

  • YouTube for its existing viewership
  • StoryXpress for creating and marketing end-to-end videos
  • Vimeo for collaboration on videos
  • Spotlightr for quizzing your audience
  • Uscreen is a video monetization platform.