“Video Marketing – If you’re not using it, you’re losing out”!
A greater and greater percentage of our work here at Quast Media is in video conception, creation, and production. Whether it’s traditional story-telling videos, or 360-degree videos with enhanced reality applications, video is rapidly becoming the “go-to” tool in every marketer’s toolbox. To understand this trend that’s occurred over the last few years, one only has to look at a few statistics that I recently read on Wordstream.com:
82% of users watch video content on Twitter
YouTube has over a Billion users, and more than 500 million hours of video is watched on the site each and every day
More video content is now created and uploaded in 30 days than all the US major television networks have created in 30 years!!
If that wasn’t enough, consider also that according to Forbes Magazine, over 500 million people are watching video on Facebook every single day – and over half of all video content viewed is now being seen on a mobile device!
With statistics like these – and many more – now readily available to be analyzed, the question isn’t “should I use video to relay my messaging”, but rather “Why would I not take advantage of this continually growing trend to relate my message to my audience”?
So why is video such an effective tool for companies of all types and sizes to communicate their ideas, products, and services? Personally, I know that most days I don’t have the time it takes to read lengthy articles, even when very interested in the topic. Watching a video saves time, while allowing me to process the information “visually” rather than “texturally”. Articles may go into greater depth to relate a subject matter, but I find that videos do a better job “engaging” me in the topic. Just like when we make the choice of “reading the book” or “watching the movie”, it may be preferable to get the greater detail available in 1000 pages of a classic novel, but when time is considered, an hour and a half spent in front of the screen to give me the visual equivalent can be extremely valuable. NOTE – Whenever I can, I like to do both – but that’s a rare choice these days!
Here are a few tried and true ideas that I feel you might want to consider in creating these video messages:
Keep the video “shorter” to appeal to your audience’s availability of time, as well as the decreasing human attention spans that stem from trying to digest ever increasing amounts of available information
Whenever possible, use a “story” to convey your message – most people relate well to messages that evoke emotion, self-relation, and inspiration
Use “How To” or DYI style videos to engage and educate your audience…. Can you imagine how an IKEA video could make the job much easier than the printed directions in the box?
Don’t forget to create a closing “call to action” to direct your audience to a desired “next step” ….. You won’t get the best result if you don’t ask for it!
I hope this brief article can inspire you to “get creative” by incorporating more video in your ongoing marketing efforts. And if you’d like some help in identifying ways to better use this technology to educate, inform, and engage your specific audience, please visit us on our video production page at: quastmedia.com/video-production
Until next time ……………..
