3 Ways Video Makes the Sale
In an evolving, golden age of technology, our world is becoming unbelievably fast paced. To compete, global giants like Amazon and Google must work hard to retain online consumer traffic, by ensuring that their content is readily accessible and relevant.
Often, the best way for today’s marketers to communicate their message is through video. Meaningful and often emotionally engaging, visual presentation is the way of the future, but not all video is equally effective. Below are 3 ways that video can help your business stand out and effectively present your story.
- Make your point, at lightning speed.
Today’s marketers must understand that keeping content relevant involves making sure it loads at as fast as possible, to counteract rapidly dwindling attention spans. Forbes notes that consumers’ average attention span is about 8 seconds. (McCoy, 2017) When presenting ads, marketers must bring their content up to speed and from award-winning first impressions. Consumers, (who are often multitasking), don’t have time to watch that clever video you posted, if it takes longer than 15 seconds to load. A Google study confirms this, showing that “53% of mobile site visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.” (Wertz, J., 2017)
Professional videographers who understand these factors can help you reduce the loading time of your video, to ensure you grab and maintain consumers’ attention and boost sales. Further, if they are good at what they do, they’ll be able to help you creatively produce a video that is most cost-effective for your business needs, rather than using shortcuts that cost you more. Sometimes, is worthwhile to invest in a professional job, especially if doing so helps present your story quickly and memorably, without overloading your website.
- Show, don’t tell.
Within a video, you have the opportunity to show consumers what your business does best, rather than simply telling them. If they see you doing what you do best – in action – it leaves a lasting impression when they approach a buying decision. Further, your video can use carefully selected actors and rich, staging effects to emotionally connect with your audience, in a way text cannot. It means a lot more to families with pets, for example, if they see (rather than read) an ad that shows a happy family, gathered around their dog—while placing a spotlight on the ad’s featured, award-winning, dog food.
Even today’s high-level CEOs would rather watch a video than read a well-crafted presentation, according to Forbes (Templeman, M., 2017). If a video effectively drives your point home, you already have the support of your target audience, and with today’s technology, such support can spread like wildfire. Again, consider that professional videographers exist to help you achieve this very goal, in a cost-effective manner!
- Do more, in less time.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine how much “moving pictures” can say! Video can more quickly connect with your audience than stock photos and text. Essentially, a well-crafted video accomplishes more in less time, by sharing your story, and leading your viewers to connect with your product or service, on a number of levels.
Further, videos allow you to find creative ways to show how your message works. Intuit understands this, and has done a phenomenal job with its video campaign strategy, by creating videos that helps us remember what QuickBooks can do for our specific businesses. Intuit has brilliantly captured 80% of the small business accounting market, and evidently their campaign has allowed them to command such market reach. (Clements, Michal, 2015)
As we have seen, it is critically important that your business maintain a relevant connection with today’s world, which will continue evolving with technology. The question is: are you willing to invest in making a video that makes your message go viral, and are you willing to professionally invest in strategies that help you sell your point?
Mark Jumes
References:
Clements, Michal (2015). “QuickBooks Enjoys 80% Market Share With 29 Million Small Business but Keeps on Growing,” Chicago Now, Retrieved from http://www.chicagonow.com/marketing-strategist/2015/04/quickbooks-enjoys-80-market-share-with-29-million-small-businesses-but-keeps-on-growing/
McCoy, Eric (2017). “Visual Communication is Transforming Marketing – Are You up to Speed,” Forbes , Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/05/12/visual-communication-is-transforming-marketing-are-you-up-to-speed/
Templeman, Mike (2017). “17 Stats and Facts Every Marketer Should Know About Video Marketing,” Forbes, Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/miketempleman/2017/09/06/17-stats-about-video-marketing/#3f0759fd567f
Wertz, Jia (2017). “How to Compete for Consumers Online While Attention Spans Diminish,” Forbes, Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2017/03/17/how-to-compete-for-consumers-online-while-attention-spans-diminish/#aa5011666791
