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Yes, you read that right. Video makes up 82% of all content consumed online. While a big chunk of that may be for entertainment, it should give any small business owner some serious food for thought about their marketing.
Fair enough, the consumption percentage of video probably differs according to demographics, device usage and availability.
Why is video content so popular?
1. Video is convenient:
Yes, many people will argue that people have become inherently lazy. Be that as it may, the bottom line is that people’s behavioral patterns change over time. We do things differently from how we did things 20 years ago. That’s just how life is.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most people now use their phones for browsing the internet, and reading a lot of text on a small screen can quickly become a tedious task.
Today, video is (almost) “everything”. That’s what people want. In 20 years from now, it will probably be virtual reality. We can all just speculate about how it will be delivered – although the Neuralink (TM) technology from Elon Musk (or whatever similar technology evolves) is likely to play a big part in it.
Today, video is what (most) people want. We have to adapt to it.
2. Video provides a more immersive experience:
There is an old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words”…
When you watch video, the most common display rate is 24 frames per second, meaning you see 24 different pictures every second.
How much is THAT worth?
On top of that, a picture captures a moment. A video captures a story. Videos allow context, sequential events, and of course, audio.
A simple 5-second video can, depending on the topic, say so, so much more than a picture of the scene.
The reality is that video is just a lot more engaging than looking at a bunch of pictures. You can look at a series of photos of someone doing a silly dance, or you can look at a short video clip about it. 5 Seconds of video will say more than 20 pictures.
3. Video enables you to convey more information in a shorter period of time:
In just one short video clip about, say, your small business venture, you can tell people what you do, show pictures of your business and people at work, include a few testimonials, and do it all in a way that projects a very specific perception at a very specific target audience.
The same amount of information in text format would take longer to consume, because everything would have to be explained so much better – to make up for the lack of the immersive experience of video.
4. In many cases, video content is more convenient to create:
There are many coaches, small business owners and course creators out there who often simply record a quick selfie video to bring a quick message to their audiences.
At the same time, it just comes across as being more personal than any other content format.
Twenty years ago we didn’t have that. Today, anybody can do it. All it takes is a minute on your phone while you are out walking, whatever your destination may be. You don’t need to be at your keyboard, or to write a script before you start recording – you just need an idea, turn on your phone and start speaking.
5. There are numerous video distribution channels:
Twenty years ago, having video on your website meant that you needed to have plenty of hosting space, a lot of monthly bandwidth, and a fast hosting server.
Today…
You can upload your video to any of a number of places, and simply embed it into your website.
In fact, there are many micro-businesses and small service providers who don’t even bother to have a website – they just continue to expand their audiences on social media.
After all, if you create a mobile format video of 60 seconds or less, you can distribute it to Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook reels and Pinterest.
From there you can share it (or upload it) to Facebook groups, Linkedin, Twitter, and a host of other social networks and social bookmarking sites.
6. Video attracts more social media engagement:
It has been proven over and over again that, given that the quality of the content is similar, video consistently outperforms pictures, which significantly outperforms text.
7. Video engages the brain – more so than text or pictures:
Due to the sheer volume of data contained in some videos, it stimulates the brain. When you move on from pictures to video, you not only add movement and 3-dimensional perception, but also audio, which can be complex and include music (which in itself fires up the brain).
It is a lot to process, and often results in the brain shutting out everything else – giving you as the video creator a much better connection to the viewer than text ever could.
8. There are many things you can do with video:
Video, used in different ways, have opened up a multitude of marketing- and product opportunities, and given rise to many successful businesses.
For instance:
a. Infotainment – using entertaining videos to bring useful information across.
b. Edutainment – educating people in an entertaining way. Try to do THAT with text; you may find it somewhat challenging.
c. Online courses.
d. How-to videos.
e. Different video formats and presentations, including (but not limited to) portrait, landscape or square, talking head, slide show, live video, animation, etc.
9. You can get more eyeballs on a short video than on short text:
Aside from the fact that Google doesn’t send visitors to any short content any more, ask yourself this: What is the last time you saw a text post on social media with a million or more views?
Yet you regularly see TikTok-, Youtube and other short form videos that have racked up millions of views.
10. Creating video content is more affordable now than ever before:
Between smart phones, AI text to video tools like Pictory and Synthesia, and video creation tools like Canva and Capcut, creating videos and distributing them online is available to anyone with an internet connection.
Gone are the days when you had to contact a film studio and spend thousands for a short video clip.
In conclusion:
Video has become the (content) medium of choice of our time. While it may mean stepping out of your comfort zone to get into it, video marketing comes with a multitude of possibilities and opportunities.
Not making use of the opportunity could mean shutting out a large part of your target market.