Video: the new champion in the content division

Why is video the best solution for your brand's digital marketing strategy?

On most of our favorite platforms nowadays, video and especially the kind of videos called short-form videos that are no more than 60 seconds long reign supreme.

This is not a recent development of a few months, since over the last few years the growth in video demand and consumption has been rising steadily without showing any signs of slowing down in the foreseeable future. So let's look at some of the reasons why video has excelled so much compared to other types of content.?

Covid-19?

Without a doubt, the global events and lockdowns that took place in many parts of the world during the Covid-19 epidemic acted as a catalyst in terms of mutating the content that had previously been enough for users into something different.?

People's need to "see" each other, feel connected to the world and share their experience made the demand for video skyrocket, while TikTok's platform and its highly dynamic and personalised algorithm using video only? also played its part.?

With a renewed tendency towards relatable content worldwide, it is no wonder that digital marketing was directly affected and has adopted this shift towards more authentic, relatable and direct content.?

Rise of User-Generated Content

The rise of eCommerce in recent years has been nothing short of dramatic and has resulted in a number of different forms of content aimed at evaluating/categorizing/critiquing products and services that are found online. At the same time, the dynamics of tutorials and DIY videos multiplied equally throughout the time of the quarantine and limited human contact, presenting a new opportunity for digital marketing expansion.?

Partnering with companies and creating branded content is seen more and more often and has a much greater resonance with audiences compared to traditional advertising methods.?

Some reasons for that is that branded content is perceived as more authentic content than an advertising heavily edited text, especially when it involves a person who (depending on the account in question) has built a relationship of trust with their audience.?

Short Attention Span?

The truth is, unfortunately, that many online advertising methods have been used so extensively that they can be considered (at least until now) kind of saturated.???

They are familiar to the audience and they are separated too quickly from the content people are actually interested in, especially when the number of businesses advertising online is multiplying by the hour.?

With the constant and perpetual flow of information that the internet and social media has brought into our lives, it's no wonder we've adapted our attention span so that we don't get distracted by every kind of content.?

With attention spans nowadays reaching only as long as 8 seconds, each user will probably spend little time on your written or static content, inevitably spending more time on videos that could have already conveyed the same message in those 8 seconds .

And they will certainly remember it better, since research shows that memory retains up to 50% of the information provided in a video, but only 10% when the information is given in the form of text.?

Much Higher Engagement

Another factor that will convince you to prefer video as a form of content is its "shareability".

If you do engagement-oriented social media marketing or digital marketing in general, you probably know that the share button is one of the most useful and effective features when it comes to boosting a brand and its product awareness.?

If we suppose for a moment that you not only chose to produce content in video format, but also that you managed to have satisfactory results in terms of creative inspiration, here are some statistics that would be on your side:

92% of social media users share videos they come across on their respective platforms

Users are 50% more likely to share video than other forms of content

The human brain processes video 60,000 times faster than it processes text

Therefore, it is not just a trend based on subjective observation and preference. It is a phenomenon confirmed by technical evidence that in any case support that shift from traditional to video content.?

But simply making any kind of video isn't enough. It has to be the right kind of video according to the trends of the market and the industry you belong to.?

What types of short-form video are particularly popular today?

User-generated content

As we mentioned above, it's a matter of trust. Users trust the opinion of other users more than other promotional material that is " flagged" outright as overly staged and pretentious.?

Reviews, hauls, ratings, tutorials, how-to-videos, product comparisons and many more have your customers' attention much more than a simple post of yours.

Soundless Optimized Videos?

What does that mean?

It's about creating videos by simultaneously choosing to include on-screen text, subtitles and other similar elements, in order not to lose the interest of users who have the sound turned down too low or even completely off when scrolling on your platforms of choice.

These users are quite a larger percentage compared to what you might think, while admittedly even the ones who have the audio set on higher levels seem to appreciate this type of content more.

A note on this particular genre: you should make conscious choices about the language of the text, and the information you choose to include, since it will directly affect the user's viewing time and final opinion on the content you create. Wrong spelling, distinct translations and other mistakes that could distract from the main message could work against you and sabotage your good intentions.

Behind-the-scenes videos

Show the people that are behind-the-scenes of your brand or your products, the steps of fun processes included in your brand's daily life, the facilities, the parts of production that make you special or anything else you want to show your audience in order to be transparent, inspire trust and show authenticity.?

Product Teasers

How do you build up interest for one of your upcoming products? By showing just a sneak peek of what you'll be offering soon.?

Whether you're in the service or material products industry, don't neglect to promote your brand before, during and after the release of new items. As humans we are curious creatures and we re more likely to spend time on something that peaks our innate curiosity. Build up the wait by giving just enough information to give space for questions and let the power of curiosity work its magic.?

Explainers & Educational Videos

When you make your products and put them on the market, you know exactly what their uses and utility are and how they can make your customers' lives better.?

But do they know all of those things? Take it a step further and take your ideas, focus and passion for the value of your products to your customers. Show how you would use the products, ask customers how they use your product to make their lives better and generally try not to forget that an item's value is not always obvious and is not always convincing enough on its own.

In this category you can even include answers to FAQs about your products and services.?

Therefore...

If you haven't started producing short-form video content, better late than ever. And in this case, it's not too late.?

Promote your brand with content that will help it take off and take advantage of market trends.?

You can make the decision today. Contact our team to see exactly which one of the above options best suits your brand, your needs and your capabilities and we'll design the ideal content strategy for you on the right content distribution platforms.