First, let’s do a blind Google Search for “How to”. Did you do it? Good.

Besides a simple definition on what “How to” is, did you notice that three videos populated first, before any written articles? Yes, the videos have nothing to do with this blog post, i.e., “How to Kiss (tutorial),” “How to Make a Breakfast Smoothie,” and my favorite, “How to Learn Faster”. But the fact that video appears first indicates people aren’t 100 percent engaged with reading.

According to a survey by AMA, 59 percent of executives prefer to watch a video rather than read text, so this isn’t just related to millennials. Videos tend to be short, to the point, and provide a visual and auditory dynamic. Which leads me to a simple ask:  Is video a part of your marketing strategy?

I’ve worked on various video projects for the past five years, and the demand for this medium has only intensified. To help explain why, I found a multitude of stats but have narrowed them down. First, “Globally, internet-provider (IP) video traffic will be 82 percent of all IP traffic (both business and consumer) by 2022, up from 75 percent in 2017.” Now, search engines populate their results based off popularity and trust.

According to Moovly, “… you are 53x more likely to show up on page 1 of Google if you have a video embedded on your website.” When Google purchased YouTube on October 9, 2006, for U.S. $1.65 billion in stock, pairing the two entities was a perfect match and a fantastic investment on Google’s part, since YouTube may now be worth over $100 billion. Not only could you search for an article, but now you had instant access to thousands of videos that related to your search.

Beyond the stats, videos appeal to our greatest sense—vision. In being so dependent upon vision, we as humans will tend to base our decisions and actions on what we’ve seen. Videos are great at portraying emotion, which in turn can lead to shares on social channels or straight to the point of purchase. Showing emotion builds trust with your consumers, and it gives your brand an identity.

You might ask, “So what do I include in my video?” Your content is crucial. I cannot emphasize this enough. To build trust through emotion, you must have a sturdy skeleton of content to back up your video’s meaning and what exactly you are portraying. “But I only have an iPhone 6, and the video quality lacks that of the professionals…,” Don’t get yourself stuck on the fact that your video capabilities aren’t as advanced as others.

Remember, content is king; as long as your video is well crafted, an audience will form. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot to say about production quality and looking professional.

How will your content be portrayed, and does it relate to your strategy? Determine the platform or purpose for your video series—will this video be educational or informative, will it promote a product, service or innovation, or will it be entertaining? Will it be animated, will there be a representative/customer on-screen providing testimonial, or will this be a combination of the latter with typographic accents? Will B-Roll be used or stock audio? All of this needs to be considered when creating multiple videos. If they don’t appear to be part of the family, it will alienate your messaging and distance your strategy from what you intended it to be.

You may say, “But I have further questions that I need assistance with!” We are no strangers to video projects and have heard just about every question there is. Please, give us a call or click here to contact us.