It can be overwhelming when you decide to begin your ‘digital marketing journey’ (or even to upgrade your existing strategy). Digital marketing has far outpaced and many times replaced most forms of conventional marketing. Yes, you can still hear radio ads (unless you pay for a premium streaming platform like Spotify ) and billboards decorate the highways – but make no mistake, the monopoly has truly been banished to what feels like a long-gone era of smoking on planes and climbing Uluru – and thank God for that.
Whilst it can feel that everything has changed – one medium remains tried, tested and true, and indeed has become relevant than ever before – video!
Yes, since the advent of the film – there is still (in this author’s humble opinion) no greater medium of communication with your audience (aside from being there in person, and even this is limited unless you capture it on video to share with the rest of the world).
“If you’re not making some kind of video content right now, you’re losing. Period.”
Video in 2020
If digital media’s meteoric rise and kingship wasn’t established enough, along comes a once- in-a-100-year pandemic that has changed much of life as we used to know it.
In the words Gary Vaynerchuck, “If you’re not making some kind of video content right now, you’re losing. Period.” And this was 6 years ago!
It's a Mobile World
Almost everyone has within reach the most powerful multimedia platform ever known, your smart phone. People now consume more video on their phone than they do on their TVs. It’s where we get our news, connect with our friends, research brands, and purchase goods and services.
It's a Viral World… & Video is King.
We’re not talking about the pandemic, but digital virality has taken hold. Not only are more people likely to watch a video than read an article, but they are more likely to make a purchase from a video that has been shared with them, than they are one that they found from browsing alone.
So Why is Video so Effective?
Emotion: Video is effective because it allows us to build emotion with our audience. It facilitates us to convey meaning and sentiment (sometimes in under 15 seconds), something that an article or banner could never do.
Videos are engaging: Videos today allow users to interact, comment, review, and engage with the producer. How often do you see a Youtube video with comments? Almost all the time ( for better or worse! ) And yet you can view blogs from the New York Times that have no comments. Without finding the study to support it, it is clear that videos are more effective in evoking emotion – and creating a response – which leads to real engagement.
Videos are efficient!: They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that is great because it takes a long time to speak a thousand words! Videos allow us to get the message across quickly – today more than ever attention is a premium, so we want to make our message clear as swiftly as possible.
What makes a great video?
Have you ever watched a pre-roll video on Youtube that you can’t skip? This is not just annoying, but turns people away from your brand. Here’s a good rule of thumb – videos that you want to skip are called adverts, nobody likes adverts!
There are no set rules for what makes a great video. However, like most things, there are key principles, and it always begins with quality. Clean visuals, clear sound and importantly, does it address the needs of your client and target audience? Is it fun? Interesting or useful?
Most of all, engaging content will keep your audience coming back for more – you’ll be rewarded with more eyes on your video, more shares, more positive comments and in the end, more rewards and brand recognition for your business.
