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It's the beginning of 2017 and if you still haven't gotten on board the video marketing train, there's still time.

You may have already used some form of video in your marketing strategy at some point. As the new year begins, it's clear that 2016 was a year of revolution in video marketing and that you cannot survive without video marketing any longer.

Wyzowl released statistics for last year that reported 61% of businesses have used video as a marketing tool and 66% of these same companies never used video a mere year earlier. It's a trend that's progressed rapidly, and keeps growing faster than we think because:

• 75 million people in U.S. watch videos online everyday
• Embedded videos on web sites can increase traffic up to 55%
• Simply having the word "video" in the subject line of an email can increase open rates by 13%
• Nearly 40% of all videos today are watched on mobile devices

Hyperfine Media reports that video ads increase purchase intent by 97% and increase brand association by 139%. With those numbers, it’s no wonder they also report video ad spending reaching $5.4 Billion by the end of 2016.

But, if you’re a marketer, you don’t need these stats to know that you need to incorporate video into your overall marketing strategy. You’re already doing it on some level. Whether you’re seeing the results you want may be a different story.

Flair Interactive’s Julie Lyons offered up a helpful checklist on making the most of your marketing videos in her April 2014 #TBT Blog, How to Enjoy Successful Video Marketing. Since video is truly in constant motion, I’ve assembled a few more pointers that can take your camera work to new levels.

Planning out your marketing strategy for 2017 probably already happened in 2016, but despite being ready to meet the challenges of the new year, we encourage you to make sure you have considered these important trends and if you haven't, then make them a part of your strategy now, since they currently make up the key elements to a successful and effective Internet marketing plan.  
 
It never hurts to make tweaks here and there along the way, especially considering how fast content marketing is evolving—being digital, that's a given. So when planning and implementing moves, you're not just setting yourself up for 2017, but also for 2018 and beyond. A macro-oriented view will help you see the bigger picture on where you want your content marketing strategy to take your business. Here are the trends not to miss out on...

Ever hear the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words"?

Well, in today's ever-changing and evolving world of online media and inbound marketing, a video is worth a million—if not more. Videos have become an integral part of our daily experience on our computers, smart phones, Smart TVs and other devices. This essential form of communication is becoming the main currency of online communication.

Text-based sites are outdated, Currently Google's search engine gives higher priority to video, meaning if you use video, you have over 50x more chances of appearing on the first search page than if you used text. Businesses have to be prepared for this video boom, since trend-watchers like Cisco’s trends analysis predict that by 2018 video will make up 79% of all Internet traffic, going up from today's 66%. So with video being so popular what's the best way to integrate video content onto your site?

The marketing industry is headed in an exciting direction. As technologies become more efficient and creative strategies become more essential to the success of a business, those who are already tracking current marketing trends will be well prepared for what’s to come. 

It has become standard practice for content creation and distribution to be fully integrated into everyday operations of most businesses. As more focus is placed on the consumer, businesses are developing entirely new strategies dedicated to gaining insight into (and satisfying) their wants and needs.

Though no one can say for certain what’s to come, it seems the digital age of marketing may set new standards throughout the industry with more outlets for distribution and engagement than ever before. Here are a few marketing trends that we’re looking forward to:

Social media marketing has changed significantly over the past few years, so staying up to date on trends is absolutely essential to your success. 

One of the fastest growing trends is image-centric marketing rather than traditional text-based marketing.  Many find that it is easier to digest information when presented visually rather than by just reading text.  Understanding this change in trend can help optimize your social media marketing campaign, giving you an edge over any competitors who may still rely soley on publishing text. 

Find out what you've missed in the world of content marketing for the week ending September 4th. These are a few of this week's top stories, hand-picked by the team at Flair Interactive Services.

Find out what you've missed in the world of content marketing for the week ending August 21st. These are a few of this week's top stories, hand-picked by the team at Flair Interactive Services.

Video marketing is one of the hottest marketing tools around. Bottom line – people love to watch videos and this is especially true of online surfers. That means if you want to enjoy the benefits of some great marketing you need to make sure that you are including video marketing as part of your marketing campaign. 

You'll need to make sure that what you're presenting on your video message is relevant. Controversial subjects can be some of your best-watched videos, so don’t run from related topics that are gaining a lot of attention that’s controversial. Instead, tackle them head on. In addition, you should always make sure that your material is relevant to the current market trends. 

Video marketing offers plenty of benefits, but even today many people are unaware of how video marketing can help them. Let’s have a look at just a few of the ways you could benefit from using video marketing.