the power of video
If a picture paints a thousand words, what could video do?
Video is the fastest growing media across digital channels, and use of video in social media is shifting communication at pace! Not just in terms of how we communicate with each other but also how brands and businesses engage with customers and employees. CMX Associate and videography expert Dan Bryant, shares his insight on the journey of video, and where it could take you.....
It all started in 2011 with Vine, the short-form video service where you could upload 6 second looping videos to share with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, or through Vine's social network. Acquired by Twitter in 2012, due to the success of Snapchat, Instagram stories and other platforms creating longer videos with more innovative features like GIF's text and filters, Vine didn't survive, but the trend of ordinary people capturing and sharing moments of their lives has become an integral part of our culture.
Whether it's documenting your life and uploading the highlights to instagram stories, or watching a video tutorial on YouTube about the latest life hack, we are creating and consuming more content than ever.
FACT:
The average person in the UK watches over an hour and a half of online video content everyday...And around 15% of people (me included!) watch an average of more than 3 hours of online video daily.
Nearly three quarters (72%) of people would opt for video to learn about a product or service when video and text are available on the same page... Video is a great way to communicate as a lot of information can be crammed into less time than it takes to read flat copy, and also, helps many learn. ore effectively.
97% of marketers revealed video has boosted user understanding of their product or service. The psychology of this is pretty simple, seeing something in context is easier to comprehend than in abstract!
(Source:) Wyzowl's State of Video Marketing 2018.
Being where your customers are, in the channels they chose to socialise in digitally is a no brainer for lifestyle marketing and promoting products and services in a visually stimulating and engaging way. The ability to visually create a story packed with imagery has a deeper impact on the viewer, and evoke emotions much more effectively than photography or copy alone.
When I first read those stats above, I thought to myself, do we really consume that much content? But, when I focused on noticing my behaviour I realised just how I consumed in a day: from DIY 'how to's' on YouTube, to news stories on the BBC app, ALL my friends insta stories and even adverts on FB.
This exercise got me thinking about what grabs my attention the most when I’m scrolling passively on social media, what encourages me to 'read more' and 'click' through? Quite simply, its moving images and short stories that get my interest in seconds, and tempt me in.
Video has the power to change perception and win hearts and minds
Remember the 2017 general election campaigns? This election saw all political parties campaigning in a new way – through social media. Videos formed a huge part of online campaigns and several observers passed remark at the time that Labour dominated the digital election.
The Labour group Momentum gained the support of many disillusioned young voters and galvanised them to unite against the Tories through a series of hard hitting videos produced and shared on social media – and it worked…
The youth turnout at the General Election in June 2017 was the highest it had been in 25 years and the majority of them voted for Labour.
But video's application doesn't have to stop there.. how can you harness the power to train and engage employees too?
FACT:
Employees are 75% more likely to watch a video than read documents, emails or web articles (Source: Forrester Research)
A lot of organisations are now harnessing the power of video and using it for employee engagement, training and communication – at all levels. With the rise of mobile technology allowing inspiring and engaging messages to be delivered consistently and quickly, directly into the employees hands.
This opens so many doors for organisations in terms of mass communication and training (and is a very cost effective approach). Good companies use video as part of a blended engagement and training approach to complement and enhance other, more traditional methods. (p.s the best companies have an integrated customer AND employee engagement strategy making best use of technology to generate the greatest impact).
One of the things I love about using video is that it puts employees in control of their experience and allows self-serve comms and learning solutions to be developed. No longer do comms and HR teams have to battle with meeting conflicts and holidays – instead videos and animations can be pushed out for employees to view at a time that works for them.
I recently read a case study about Facebook and how they used video as a tool to reach 12,000 employees around the globe across more than 50 office locations. The goal of the training was to raise awareness of unconscious bias and how it can impact performance and relationships at work. Facebook decided to use video as it allowed them to carefully script and plan scenarios based clips that aided in the delivery of their message. Taking this approach allowed Facebook to effectively target all of their employees in a short space of time and in the most cost effective way, especially in comparison to other, more traditional methods of communication and training.
And as as side note while we are talking about FaceBook, from the consumer angle, you can't help notice how Facebook video is looking more and more like YouTube everyday.. I'm pretty sure their moves with video are no coincidence....
All this got me thinking.. what's next? Augmented and Virtual Reality are no longer a futuristic proposition, how can you be ready for the next wave of communication and engagement through technology. One thing is for sure, the tech is moving fast.. if you aren't on the video journey just yet, it's probably time to turn on the video, and tune into the channels that can unleash new levels of success for your organisation.
Hopefully that got you thinking about how video could work to help you engage your customers and employees now and what the future might hold next. For more info on how CMX can help you build an integrated Customer and employee experience strategy, please get in touch at cmxperience.com.