Online video is affecting how audiences interact with content, advertisements and brands on the internet, forcing businesses ranging from mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 companies to adapt and take action. As more platforms open up to video and video-recording abilities improve on devices, videos are becoming an increasingly unique and powerful way for you to communicate online, particularly on the mobile front.
Breaking down the numbers
The folks at HighQ put together an excellent infographic that highlights a number of notable 2015 statistics in the world of video content marketing. Among the key takeaways include:
- Online video now accounts for 50 percent of all traffic on mobile devices
- 65 percent of online video viewers watch over 3/4 of a video
- 78 percent of people watch online videos weekly
- 55 percent of people watch online videos daily
On the other hand, a Usurve report offers the following insights:
- 39 percent of respondents in their study were more likely to share video content
- 36 percent were more likely to comment on video content
- 56 percent were more likely to “like” a video
However, this doesn’t mean you should shelve your content marketing campaign’s text-based content in favor of video. Video and print articles are geared towards different cognitive functions, so it’s not exactly an issue of choosing one over the other, but rather leveraging both channels at the same time, ideally to complement each other. That being said, it’s important to understand why video content matters for your organization.
Reason No. 1: Videos are passive
The brain processes information from a video far faster than reading text. Humans are hardwired for instant gratification, so this “laziness” naturally draws people to information that’s easier and faster to process than something that takes more effort.
Reading and watching video involves different processes in the brain. When you read a blog post or article, you actively use your brain not just to look at the symbols and words you see, but also to connect the text with existing ideas to form new ones. As such, reading requires a higher level of concentration.
In contrast, watching a video is passive, requiring less of your attention span. Since you’re using your sense of sight and hearing when watching a video, information takes less time and effort to interpret, and is a much more automatic process.
Reason No. 2: Videos are shareable
Internet users are drawn towards videos, meaning they’re more likely to pay attention to a video than a wall of text. More important, they’re also more likely to want to share the instant gratification they experienced with a video they just saw – this explains why videos (especially short videos) have a higher tendency of making the rounds on social networking sites.
If text-based content plays a critical role in your content marketing campaigns, you might want to try pairing it with video to boost your message’s coverage.
Reason No. 3: Videos appeal to emotion
Case studies and white papers are effective at providing comprehensive information about a topic, but they don’t make the emotional connection the same way a video does. For instance, try to compare a case study detailing the product/service experience of one of your customers and a video testimonial.
The case study can dive into the details of your customer’s experiences, but the video lets the customer talk about her emotions and experience in her own words, giving prospects a personal look into your products or service.
To learn more about the ins and outs of videos for content marketing, talk to the experts at SR&B advertising today.
