Why is video useful for marketing activities?

Using video as a marketing tool is an old practice that marketers worldwide are embracing or already operating. Video production sometimes includes a considerable crew; camera operators, lights, sound technicians, makeup artists, special effects, location managers, and many more crew members. In other cases, you can produce a great story with a good smartphone camera and a planned concept.

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High-Definition video capabilities in your hand

Video production can be complicated, but as the world has gone digital, the new smartphones are armed with HD cameras, even an 8-year-old kid can create a great video.

Producing videos with a smartphone might sound crazy ten years ago, but so are many other things. These examples prove that when done right, it has a fantastic effect.

Video production can be well-funded and complex (feature film production style). Productions like Equiano stories from Stelo Stories (the same studio that produced Eva Stories) are rich and complex to create authenticity. The smartphones, in this case, were used to speak the medium’s language.

The other side of that coin is millions of short, simple, "home-made" production-style videos.

NasDaily is a great example, created by Nuseir Yassin. This Arab Muslim Israeli man captured his around-the-world experiences in a 1 min video every day for 1000 days after quitting his job.

Picking up the smartphone and shooting a short video is easy. If you are lucky to convince one of your executives to do so, it can bring a lot of positive feedback.

But all this is not new!

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How are marketers/organizations using videos?

According to recent research from wyzowl, marketers say that video is essential for marketing strategy. It's more affordable, Easy to create in-house, you can see the engagement in the number of views, shares, likes, and comments, increasing brand awareness and traffic.

The most created video types are “Explainer," where customers can learn more about the product, solution, or service. (Check out HubSpot Academy).

More numbers? You got it!

80% of marketers say that video increases sales, 89% say that video gives them a good ROI. 84% say that video has been effective for lead generation.

From the customer side, the stats look positive as well. According to wyzowl research, 96% of the people asked: "watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service." In addition, close to 70% of the customers said they would watch a full video; it's up to 1 min long.

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How to do it?

Many editing tools can help you create amazing videos! Here are only a few:

1.?????Magisto – enables you to create short videos using templates in various themes, including music themes, captions, texts, adding photos, and visual effects.

2.?????Mmhmm – let you turn your video into a show. Add special effects to your video presentation, including slides, texts, images, video slides GIF, and even a second camera.

3.?????Wevideo – An easy-to-use online video editor. Editing, trimming video online, adding music, mask green screen background, recording your screen using video templates, etc.

4.?????Canva – besides the photos, gifs, posters, presentations, business cards, and social media posts. Canva also offers short video editing tools you can use to promote your business. Including all the great Canva cool templates and designs.

5.?????Synthesia – This solution enables you to create a demo video using avatars that looks close to a real human being by simply adding a text to the video editor, choosing an avatar, and their machine does the rest. Deepfake is here!

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Why does video work?

It has to do with the fact that we are humans. As such, we are looking for something to identify with. Video is a tool to create a narrative and associations from a combination of visuals. Putting together different shots and creating scenes enables marketers to tell various stories. A story that the audience can relate to. Adding to the correct audio, you have a dramatic, funny, serious, or scary video.

As humans, we interpret videos personally. Internal and external factors can affect our reactions to the video. Our mood, the medium, or the company we are in a while watching the video.

When planned correctly and done right, videos are a great tool to engage your audience.

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To sum it up!

Video can be useful for marketing activities since it allows marketers to create a narrative that their audience can relate to. In addition, there are endless, cost-effective tools you can use to make a good enough video to tell your story.

The audience prefers videos on texts (U.S citizens spend a little more than 30 min' reading every day and watching video content on digital mediums three times more than that. They use videos to learn about a product company and feel more connected with the brand.

Understanding the medium, the audience, how to convey the message, and the importance of sound is something marketers today need to know.

Start planning your company video strategy.