Guest post and infographic contributed by Ivan Serrano.

Today's content marketers have a bevy of ways that they can promote their brands from social media platforms to blogs. Most marketers already understand the importance of SEO friendly content to build visibility and authority and social networks to improve brand awarenessand customer relations. Still, many are underutilizing one of the most powerful pieces of content available – videos.

When was the last time you watched a video that popped up on the homepage of a site you were visiting? If you're like most web-savvy consumers, you probably can't remember. We've come to think of homepage video as long, boring, and repetitive. When time is in short supply, we want to find the information we came for and move on.

A recent Pew Research Center survey tells us that video sharing among adult internet users has DOUBLED since 2009.  Today, 31% of people are likely to share or post video content online. 

What does this mean for your business?  Clearly, customers love videos! 

Adding a video component to your marketing efforts can help increase sales, drive traffic, and boost brand recognition.  The right video will be entertaining or informative, easily shared, and memorable, leaving viewers wanting more! 

Yesterday, we made a discovery that appealed to us from just about every imaginable angle.  Ad executive Alex Bogusky has introduced a new video for a campaign called the "Made Movement," advocating for consumers to buy American in an effort to decrease unemployment and return jobs to our soil.

85%.  According to Comscore, that’s the percentage of internet users who spend time watching videos online.  Invodo tells us that it also reflects how much more likely consumers are to buy a product after watching related videos.  

Why should your company use video to communicate and educate your customers?

Here are a few quick facts that may surprise you:

In 2011, video is evolving from a standalone marketing channel to an integral part of an advertiser's overall online campaign strategy. By harnessing the power of multi-channel targeting, advertisers can more effectively reach custom audiences as compared with taking a single-channel approach. The most successful campaigns target customers