Video is huge, and it’s only going to get bigger. You have television, movies, and advertisements on traditional television, but then you also have an entirely different subset of videos online. Everyone and anyone can become a content contributor, and videos are engaged with more often than any other medium. From YouTube and Instagram Live to traditional TV advertisements, here’s why your business needs to get on the video marketing train.
They Help You Increase Engagement
A great example of how you can create small, bite-sized videos to increase engagement is evident online. Companies from fashion houses to news outlets create social media specific videos that are short and designed to share news and/or promotions. Video is more likely to capture the attention of the younger generation, who are in favor of scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, rather than sit down to read a lengthy PR statement. What’s more, videos are shareable content, and so if a person knows a friend interested in a brand or product, they’re going to tag their friends in the post or post the video on their friend’s social media profile.
Video on Social Media Today
On Facebook, for instance, videos are less than three minutes in length and always have hard-coded subtitles on the screen. This is because most people access Facebook on their smartphone. When people do watch this content, they very rarely listen with the audio on because when you are on the go and in public, noise can be an unwanted intrusion. Therefore, if you do not want users to pass you by because they don’t know what your video is about, it is wise to subtitle every video you post. If they are interested, they can then turn the sound on, but chances are this sound won’t be on from the start.
Other formats have limits to video. Instagram, for instance, suffers from a poor compression rate and limiting 1:00 video lengths, thus limiting what you can post. On its stories, however, video can be a great way to provide engaging content and even live events, as a large volume of users are online at any given time, and you can share your stories publically. Knowing how to use video effectively on each social media is key to success. It can lead to greater engagement and further reach, a beneficial result for every industry.
People are Comfortable with Video
From video calling to creating content, people are comfortable with video. They also trust it. Take, for instance, a social media influencer who posts “unboxing videos.” These videos are a lot more genuine than a photo post with text, because users can see and hear how the influencer has reacted to a piece. This authenticity is key to successful engagement online, but its power doesn’t end there.
Qualitative market research can be a key aspect to providing research and findings to your own employees or to business partners within your industry. For example, if you were to show your board members the real stories of those who are affected within your supply chain, seeing the people who you have directly impacted can help spur employees and board members to action in ways that statistics could not. For both good and bad feedback, being able to see and feel how your customer feels is a critical aspect to bettering your company.
Video is important in all aspects of business, from research to analytics, to marketing. By putting more emphasis on video, you can effectively move your company towards the future.
