Video content is not a passing trend. It has solidified its position as a widely used medium. A Cisco study says that in 2019, 80% of global Internet consumption will be video content. This is not a coincidence. Video content has proven to be the most effective marketing tool, capturing and retaining the audience’s attention through its unique storytelling ability.
A study by James Richie from Idea Rocket showed that 95% of subjects retained the message of short videos compared to only 10% when reading the text. Video naturally does a better job of grabbing one’s attention as the human eye is attracted to movement. Good video content makes static content seem daunting to a reader. Richie also found that 59% of senior executives said if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video.
Ask any great marketer, and they’ll tell you that telling a story is the key to an effective message. To pull in your audience, they need to understand how the message applies to them and why they should care. This is where video content shines. It tells a story, engaging the audience and communicating the message effectively. Static text and images leave the audience to tell their own story using the information given to them. Besides creating more work for an audience that is rapidly losing its attention span, this also creates the risk of the audience telling the wrong story.
Video tells a story while taking out any heavy lifting for your audience. Video also eliminates most opportunities for misunderstanding. According to Hubspot, even consumers know this! 85% of consumers want to see more video content from brands. It’s hard not to use the word “goldmine” when finding a more effective tool that your audience prefers!
For any of you “wait and see” skeptics out there, Video isn’t going anywhere. It does too good of a job of capturing an audience, retaining their attention, and communicating a message to fade away. I believe we will continue to see a drastic rise in more complex and interactive video formats with a continual decrease in text-based content.
