Understanding & Harnessing the Power of Video
- 1. UNDERSTANDING & HARNESSING THE POWER OF VIDEO 3.25 billionThat’s how many hours are spent watching video on YouTube each month. The demand for video continues to grow, and rightfully so, as video has more capabilities than just about any other form of communication. However, at the end of the day, we’re still humans trying to connect with other humans. In this post I’ll breakdown why video is so damn relevant by identifying some of its key drivers for success. In doing so I hope to shed light on how to properly harness the power of video for your own marketing efforts. A Sign Of The Times Technology and cost have played a huge role in the explosion of video. It wasn’t too long ago that even the shitty equipment was expensive. Then you’d have to read a manual that was likely even less helpful than one from IKEA, or you would hopefully have someone to show you the ropes. Either way it was a huge commitment of both time and finances. Thankfully, nowadays there’s a video for that. Just go to Youtube and type in what you want to learn. The ease-of-use has opened the floodgates and enabled every make-up lover to now create hundreds and thousands of vlogs, tutorials and reviews. It’s just a matter of where we’re at as a society in general that has driven demand for video. We rarely disconnect from technology and are constantly seeking something to occupy our free time with. If you don’t believe me do a little research on your own the next time you’re walking to work or headed out to lunch. Don’t use your phone. Don’t check it. Don’t listen to music. Nothing. Instead, look around and see how many people are face-down in their phone. I used to count the people who were on their phone while driving as I commuted to work. I’d always give them a friendly honk and a disappointed head shake. People seem to really struggle with staying focused on just one thing. To put it simply, we’re a visual creature. It’s why we keep up with the Kardashians. We are obsessed with consuming content, and technology has brought a world of it to our own mobile entertainment and information centers (smartphones). What’s unique about video is that it enables us to consume mass amounts of information with little effort. Now whether or not that’s useful information being consumed is up for debate. I’m sure by now you’re thinking, “Okay, so video has grown and society has changed (or at least the technology that connects us has), but how do I leverage video effectively to help me connect with my audience?” To start you have to recognize video for what it is, a catalyst for strengthening the relationship between you and your audience. Video is your opportunity to bring an outside viewer into your world no matter where they are. Trust Me On This Good relationships are built on trust and trust isn’t something that is just given, it’s earned. Trust is built up over time. Video is a great trust builder. It increases the time spent by visitors on your site, and with the more time spent together, the more trust is established. That’s not just between you and the user. That quality time together also informs search engines that your site has good content, bumping you up the all-important search index organically. To put that into perspective, “The average time users spend on a text only website is 57 seconds, compared to the 6 minutes spent on a website with video.” This is where you can start to see how video has a positive impact on just about everything it touches, as that video you just created to connect with your audience is now optimizing your website for search (SEO benefits). Content + Quality + Purpose = Success Now, you don’t want to create a video just for the sake of creating a video. That’s like ‘friending’ a stranger on Facebook just to feel a little more popular, except it’s a little less pathetic. Content and quality matter. They’re hugely important when it comes to video. Again, you can think of video like would a relationship, quality is more important than quantity. “Poor quality and boring content equate to less interested viewers.” However, before getting into the content, you’ll need to first identify the purpose of your video.Are you looking to explain, entertain, inform, persuade or some combination of them? I can’t stress enough how important it is to identify the purpose of the video early on. That way the content (what you’re saying) and creative (how you’re saying it) components align with your purpose. So let’s talk about that content. Rule number one when it comes to content, make sure it’s relevant. Research shows that you have about, “10 seconds to engage your audience before they either commit or click away.” You have the audience’s fleeting attention, so you need to be clear and compelling right from the start. If you’re launching a new product or a service you could create a video to show how it works. “98% of users say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.” Animated videos are a great way to simplify complex problems, breaking them down into easily digestible portions. Tailor The Content To The Outlet How and where you share the video matters, too. You want to place it around relevant content. For example, “Ads that were paired with relevant content to the target audience saw a 30 percent increase in consumer impact.” When it comes to sharing your content, keep in mind that the audience and how they interact with content will vary from platform to platform. How you share something on Instagram will more than likely differ with how you share it on your website. So make sure that you’re framing the content for the specific audience appropriately. With video it’s often better to have unique edits or cuts for specific channels. I’m telling you this, because “visual content is 40X more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content.” With numbers like those you better make sure that you’re leveraging it across every touchpoint possible. Just as in your personal life, your business and success rely on the relationships you create. Video really allows you to strengthen those relationships by telling a more engaging and robust story. It allows you to connect with the audience in multiple ways and can elicit an emotional response unrivaled by any other form of media or marketing. More importantly, your customers are demanding more video, and those marketers who are listening are reaping the rewards as video continues to be the leader in ROI. Seventy-three percent of B2B marketers surveyed said their video marketing is generating positive results. For companies reluctant to invest in video, that positivity offers a powerful incentive to jump on the trend. Sources 1. https://www.moovly.com/blog/4-great-reasons-you-should-use-video-marketing 2. https://audiologydesign.com/why-video-is-a-must-have-for-seo/ 3. http://www.videobrewery.com/blog/18-video-marketing-statistics 4. https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics-2016.html 5. https://contently.com/strategist/2016/09/20/roi-online-video-ads 6. http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics (Buffer, 2014) 7. http://tubularinsights.com/resources/2015-b2b-video-content-marketing-survey/