Video is an extremely important part of any online marketing plan. If you’re not taking advantage of this extremely versatile tool, it’s time to start. Here are just a few reasons why.

Video is a visual medium. It’s easy to understand with a minimum amount of investment for viewers who can literally sit back and watch. Video allows you to quickly provide a lot more information than print messaging. You can capture an action, an emotion or an event in a single second of video that can’t be conveyed in a single second of reading. With the reduced time people spend searching for what they want, that one second can be monumental to your marketing efforts.

Video is shareable. Facebook is littered with videos that friends have shared on their timelines. Videos are also emailed, texted and tweeted. Every time a video is shared its message is sent out to the world. That could be your message. You may even go viral.

Video is adaptable. It’s not just for YouTube. The same video you put on your website can inhabit your YouTube page, your Facebook page, or be embedded into an email campaign. Each one of those media are trackable. Companies like Wistia even provide tracking that lets you see if a customer finishes watching your videos, and where they dropped off, so you can adjust your future messages.

With today’s technology, access to video equipment is inexpensive, and there are hundreds of companies out there to help you on our way. The key is to get something out there that’s relevant to your overall message.

It’s time to hit record.