The team over at Winner Winner Chicken Dinner recently published an “Online Video Viewing Habits Study”. This study is based on a survey conducted with American consumers earlier in 2019. The data published recently was Part 2 of the study, which seeks to be a comprehensive understanding of how consumers engage with online videos and platforms.

Among other things the survey uncovered some really interesting specifics about what consumers expect today in terms of video content before they commit to making a purchase, booking travel, or hiring a service contractor. You may have noticed my YouTube channel suddenly came to life this summer and that my team and I have been steadily churning out video content, working to get better with each generation of video. Well, this study is one of the reasons why we made that push as it showed a clear expectation of a video presence.

• 75.90% of Consumers said they wanted to see some type of video before they made a purchase online.
• 70.26% of Consumers said they wanted to see some type of video before booking any travel accommodations.
• 63.08% of Consumers said they wanted to see some type of video before calling or making reservations with a service provider.

Those are gigantic numbers and appear to speak to the growing online video trend and how ubiquitous online video has become. Here are the 7 types of video you should be creating for your content marketing now and in to 2020.

1. Review Videos

(42.82% want to see these)

These are videos where someone is reviewing a product, a hotel, a service provider, etc… While it’s hard to get these created internally by a company and have them come off as authentic, there are ways to make it work. Insurance company Root had paid actors read real reviews in short video clips. You could consider hiring someone to read your positive Google, Facebook, Yelp, or TripAdvisor reviews in a video and use those as ads or as native content on your social media.

Screenshot of a Root Insurance ‘Real Review’ video ad on Facebook
(click image to see ad information)

Also consider soliciting review videos from your customers instead of just written reviews.

YouTube users are also posting their own Root reviews, though this one appears to include some type of affiliate link.

You can also nudge or even sponsor online influencers to give an honest review. The FTC has strict guidelines around this now that you’ll need to adhere to, but the impact can still be great getting an endorsement from a YouTuber, Twitch streamer, or Instagram Model with a large following even marked correct as an ad can really boost your response rate.

There are entire YouTube channels dedicated to reviewing stuff like “Freakin’ Reviews” which has 372,000 subscribers.

Here’s an example product review video by him:

If none of this works for you, try finding video reviews of your product or service that are favorable and highlight those to your audience in your marketing materials.

2. How To / Walkthrough videos

(36.41% want to see these)

These are videos that show how to use something or complete a task. In the world of video gaming these are often created by gamers for other gamers showing how to complete a difficult level. In the world of digital marketing some marketers make how to videos of online tools to help others.

If you’re not getting this created organically by a community, consider making some on your own. As you’ll see below a similar number of consumers actually expect this type of video content from a brand anyways.

Example Video:
Beat producer Curtis King created a very useful how to video on making video memes for rappers and producers. His video focuses only on Sony Vegas Pro, but I still found the video entertaining and useful in my own quest for this knowledge. The comments are filled with potential clients thanking him for the video.

3. Instructional videos by the brand / product / service provider

(31.54% want to see these)

These are highly similar to the above “How To / Walkthrough” videos, with one important distinction. These are created by the brand itself and not a loving community.

What you should tell your users how to do is a harder question to answer. Perhaps there’s an unintentional dark pattern on your website or in your app and users are struggling to complete an action. Making an official, branded, instructional video can really help alleviate anxiety and win over long-term customers.

Bonus: If these videos have captions added and are conspicuously placed on your website, then it might help ward off ADA lawsuits as they can be used by the hearing disabled.

4. Assembly videos

(26.67% want to see these)

Similar to the prior two on the list, these videos show users how to put something together. While this is largely targeted to manufacturers or retailers of products that come in pieces, like a bicycle, they can also be made by companies targeting the same audience. Run a bicycle repair shop? Show users how to put together the most popular bikes sold at Walmart or Target. Run an interior design agency? Use your free time and show users how to put together popular and attractive furniture from IKEA, Wayfair, or other places.

Example:
IKEA makes assembly videos for some of their products, this one has over 450,000 views.

5. Action videos

(20.77% want to see these)

These are videos that show a product or service in action. They fit with consumer products like clothes and waterguns really well. However, nearly every business could probably make an action video. Cartoonists can create a timelapse video showing how they draw, a roofing company can make a video using a drone that shows their crew at work, a car dent removal company can create a montage of dents being removed, etc…

Action videos provide trust to the consumer that your business does what it says it does. In an age where so many company founders are trying to “fake it til you make it”, where Amazon is flooded with fake reviews, and where Google Maps struggles against fake business listings; action videos can really help you stand out of the crowd and make customers want to hire or buy from you.

Example:
This video by YouTuber BrianZuk shows a Ferrari driving around with a special after-market exhaust system from Novitec. While exhaust systems are difficult to showcase in action, the video does a good job of capturing the sound and entertaining users with other shots of the vehicle driving.

6. Live Streaming Q&A videos

(17.18% want to see these)

A live stream where you answer questions during a set period of time. While Live Streaming hasn’t overtaken on-demand video in popularity, it has carved out a place in the minds of numerous consumers in that they can talk to a business or brand face to face. Think of these like your own little mini-press conference but where all of your customers or potential customers are the ones asking the questions.

These come with a little bit of risk. Avoid answering questions you don’t know the answer to or that might be getting asked to try and troll you or the brand.

Example:
John Mueller of Google used to use Google’s Hangouts on Air product to do live webmaster chat videos before they killed the products YouTube integration earlier this year. Videos like these were very popular in the community allowing journalists like Barry Schwartz and other everyday SEOs to talk directly to a Google employee. There are other platforms that do the same thing, but you can also just answer questions on a standard Facebook Live, Twitch, or YouTube Live stream.

7. Advertisement videos by the brand / product / service provider

(15.38% want to see these)

Good ol’ ads. This was probably the largest surprise in the study for me. 15.38% of consumers actually specified that they wanted to see advertisement videos. This might help explain why platforms like Facebook have put so much emphasis on video ads, consumers don’t hate them as much as they proclaim too and in fact a sizable amount are actively seeking them out. There could be some good reasons here, perhaps if a company can make a nice ad that is either informative or entertaining (or both) it can really help consumers solve problems. Or, maybe even it could be another sign of trust, if you can afford to make and run video ads, perhaps there’s a belief that you or your brand has to be of value to others to fuel such a campaign.

Example:
Video ads on the internet can grow brand recognition by being entertaining and fun. Think Dollar Shave Club, Purple Mattress, or this unicorn poop one from Squatty Potty that has racked up over 37 million views on YouTube.

Data broken down by the type of consumer

Here we can see the type of video data broken down by consumers who participate in different types of revenue generating activities. Assembly Video data isn’t available for travel, because it isn’t relevant.

Consumers who want to see video before making online Purchases

46.62% want to see Review videos
40.20% want to see How To / Walkthrough videos
35.81% want to see Instructional videos by the brand / product
28.04% want to see Assembly videos
24.66% want to see Action videos
18.92% want to see Live Streaming Q&A videos
17.57% want to see Advertisement videos by the brand / product

Consumers who book travel

43.07% want to see Review videos
38.69% want to see How To / Walkthrough videos
33.94% want to see Instructional videos by the brand / product
22.99% want to see Action videos
20.07% want to see Live Streaming Q&A videos
18.98% want to see Advertisement videos by the brand / product

Consumers who hire service providers

41.87% want to see Review videos
39.84% want to see How To / Walkthrough videos
32.93% want to see Instructional videos by the brand / product
28.86% want to see Assembly videos
23.17% want to see Action videos
21.14% want to see Live Streaming Q&A videos
17.48% want to see Advertisement videos by the brand / product

If you liked this data consider reading part 1 of Winner Winner Chicken Dinner’s 2019 Online Video Habits Study

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