Open your eyes to using video to win business
7 February 2011 By Northern Lights
A key theme at the recent Learning Technologies Exhibition 2011 (which I went along to with my client MyKnowledgeMap, a learning software and consultancy provider) was the use of video in learning, staff training and engagement, internal communications and marketing.
The power of video in learning and training and in enticing consumers isn’t a new concept but the business case for using it as the key medium to educate, inform, engage, build relationships and market your product or service is stronger than ever: 5.5bn videos were viewed online in UK in Feb 2010, up 37% on Feb 2009, and youtube is now the second largest search engine in the world. It’s official, people are getting primary info by looking at video rather than text. Well, consumers are, but is video as powerful a business tool for the b2b market?
Here’s three reasons why I think so based on what I learnt:
1. Video content drives traffic to your website
It is easier than you think to create and upload video clips and once you do, they will help drive traffic to your website. When you create and upload a simple video clip to youtube you can link it back to your website, which means that people using it as a search engine will find you. And it doesn’t need to be high quality video, just high quality content. Content is king when it comes to search engine optimisation and the more varied, high quality content, the more likely you are to be found.
2. Share your expertise in “bite size chunks”
Busy professionals are getting more and more used to digesting information and insight in “bite size” chunks, using things such as blackberry instant messaging and twitter to communicate – and video is the perfect medium for this. In learning and training it has been proven that people are more likely to remember small chunks of visual information as opposed to longer passages of text that take more words to say the same thing. Not to mention the fact that video is much more engaging and stimulating and gives your message personality. A two minute informative video on the latest business trends can add more value to potential clients than an article or briefing paper.
3. Using video can get your message to a wider audience
In the professional world, people are using social media like LinkedIn and getting more and more used to sharing and passing on information about new industry trends or upcoming legislation, for example. If someone sees an interesting video, they are more likely to pass it on to colleagues and business contacts as it is standalone and doesn’t require any explanation, helping you to reach out to a wider audience and gain credibility through endorsement from others in the process.
Have you opened your eyes to how video can help win business? Share your thoughts and examples with us…
3 Comments
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First off let me declare a vested interest —– We are a video production company
So I totally agree with Helen, a picture paints a thousand words, a moving picture paints untold millions, The correct use of dynamic, thoughtful, engaging, informative video content, to present a clear and concise message will deliver results Consider this
around 80 percent of U.S. Internet users watched videos for roughly five hours in December 2008, with an average duration of 3.2 minutes per video. (source Comscore)
Nielson online reported that 65 percent of online video views were streamed between the hours 9 a.m. & 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, i.e whilst people are at work.
Vovici Corp.’s September 2008 research for Internet Retailer.quoted that over one-third of online retailers offer video on their sites What’s that figure now?
The trend is upwards, mobile viewing is increasing, faster broadband speeds plus the continued growth of digital TV all point towards a future more and more driven by the visual medium.
So plan what you have to say, say it, upload it and watch it, but watch the quality both in terms of content and video. Poorly shot and edited footage will dilute your message and could potentially turn folk away from you.
,
Helen, an interesting post. I tend to tell clients that video is the new eye into your world. I find a lot of marketers want slick looking videos like they were back in the 80s but they don’t need to be like that anymore. Sure a video that is well presented and shared cleverly can be very powerful but sometimes the best video examples are the ones that aren’t carefully staged and help bring some real personality to the brand. I agree with the bite-sized chunks element too. I am personally bored after two-minutes so I tend to recommend that videos should be short and punchy and give people what they want quickly. Please refrain from telling us how old the company is etc etc. It is the useful stuff the visitors want now and they want it quickly or they will go somewhere else to get it.
Thanks Paul and Chris,
Think we can conclude that when it comes to video quality, there’s a balance – it doesn’t have to be Hollywood standard but good enough visually to be engaging and not turn people off.
Does anyone have any good / bad examples to share?