If you own a small business and are asking yourself whether it’s worth investing in video production, stop for a moment and pick up your phone. The answer is right in front of you: Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Google, and Tik Tok. How is this an answer, you ask. These are all popular platforms that carry video content.
The days where video production meant ad spots on TV or a promotional tape that could be distributed are gone. Today’s video content is immediate and everywhere. Did you know that by 2023 North America will have 345 million internet users as well as 329 million mobile device users? And those users increasingly seek video content. But why?
The answer, in part, comes from science. Our brains receive 90% of their information through visual means. Perhaps even more important is that we retain 80% of what we see while we only hold onto about 20% of what we read. That might explain why over 70% of business to business marketers and nearly 65% of business to consumer marketers use video content.
It’s just a smart choice when current forecasts show that the 75 million consumers watch online videos each day and that average person watches 100 minutes of video per day. If you’re still not convinced, consider some of the other advantages to using video production.
- Videos convey information quickly: a short video production is able to utilize music, visuals, faces, and actions to convey much more information in a short space of time then print can convey.
- Video builds brand personality: video allows customers to put a face with the brand and feel more of a personal connection to the product/company. You can build content that is personal, funny, heartwarming, educational, and that speaks to your target audience.
- Video provides greater visual possibilities: forget two-dimensional representations of your product! Video allows for 3D presentation and demonstrations of use. Furthermore, you can quickly and easily display specific features, color palettes, uses, and more.
- Video increases website retention: Let’s face it, the popularity of videos for online platforms means it’s what customers are looking for. Want to draw customers to your site, keep them there, and convert views to sales? Video is the answer. Almost 90% of marketers in a recent survey said that video provided a positive return on investment.
- Video translates to greater brand awareness: viewers are almost 10 times more more likely to engage with, share, and comment on video content. That means more people seeing and talking about your product.
- Video is versatile: video production is not just about ad spots anymore. You certainly can still use videos to promote products, but today’s content also allows for long or short pieces that inform consumers about who you are as a company. Demos, how-to videos, webinars, customer testimonials, and interviews only begin to scratch the surface of the video possibilities available to you.
So what are you waiting for? Video production can be as cheap and easy as using a quality phone and learning some production basics, or, or even better, budget a bit for a professional to produce your content. Research your audience, build a story that speaks to them and that is true to you, pick a platform(s) that best targets your group, and get started on creating video content that is almost sure to boost your sales and awareness of your business.
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Ivan Young is a writer from Happy Writers, Co. in partnership with Viking Rental, an event rental supplier.
