I love video content. I love everything about it, from actively writing scripts to being on set or in the edit bay to just passively consuming already produced content. Video content captivates and excites me. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth at least a million.

It should come as no surprise that video is a major part of many marketing efforts. It makes sense, video’s a powerful medium that can express a thought or an emotion in a matter of seconds. It can be a passive yet impactful experience that can make a huge impact on consumer decisions.

In case you need a few more stats to convince you that video is a worthwhile endeavor here are three video facts from Wordstream that I believe show why video is a force that cannot be ignored:

1. Users retain 95% of a message when it is consumed through watching video as opposed to 10% when consumed by reading it in text form.
2. By 2019 video traffic will account for more than 80% of all online consumer traffic.
3. The average user spends 88% more time on a website that has video content.

Visual content marketing

Content Marketing is a proven marketing strategy that has shown great results and will continue to grow. It makes sense that when evaluating different types of content to create as part of your content strategy that video is pretty high on the list. Yes, video can be expensive. No, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve been on large and small sets and have seen/created quality content for practically nothing. There are those high budget productions that we all drool over, but advances in affordable cameras and lenses combined with the accessibility of great editing and graphics software have really brought the cost of good video production down.

So, are you convinced to go out and start creating video content yet?

In a post from Think with Google, Travis Chambers discusses tactics used to create successful video based campaigns based on his experience. Those tactics are great, but I want to take a step back and discuss a few things you should keep in mind as you’re creating video content with the intent of it becoming a part of your marketing strategy.

Grab ‘em by the…

There’s a lot of content out there as the Wordstream article I referenced above indicates. This means when you’re creating your video content do your research. Spend time to know what’s out there and what you’re competing against. You don’t have to be the funniest, but if you have something unique that you can showcase use that as your hook.

With all digital content, we try to get the audience’s attention early. From attention-grabbing headlines to large images, this tactic can be seen pretty much anywhere you go online. This is especially true in video. Do something memorable in the beginning.

So, what’s your hook?

Do What?

Digital content consumers need to be given clear, simple directions. This is even truer with video consumers than other digital content consumers.

Digital video consumption is often passive. I press play and then have to do nothing while the message is presented to me (in some cases I don’t even have to press play). This means that users may be less engaged from time to time during their video viewing experience.

Video is also a more linear medium. This means that it’s not like a page of content that I can easily jump between sections or scan for specific words. It’s important to make sure that next steps and desired actions are simple and easy to follow.

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.”

This saying comes to mind here. No one can guarantee a certain user behavior, but I can increase the odds of getting a certain behavior by making sure that the action I want users to take is clearly defined and the next steps are simple and easy to follow.

Evolution, will it ever stop?

One of my favorite things about the digital world is that it’s always evolving. I’m often asked when my team will stop doing scheduled deployments after a new digital project has launched. My answer is always, “Never.” Things are always changing and being updated, so there’s always room for imporavement.

This evolution is a great reason to as Nike says, “Just do it.” You’re always going to be trying to hit a moving target. That’s why it’s important to be nimble. To track data and analyze it. To try something new. Yes, patterns and trends emerge and we should pay attention to them. At the same time, we should always be looking at data for patterns on the horizon so that we’re prepared.