Video! Does It Matter in Business? Yes!
Have you been ignoring video, hoping it will just go away? Or worse, thinking you can accomplish the same goals without it?
I’m here to tell you, video is going nowhere.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and thousands of hours of video are uploaded each and every day. Video clips on social platforms on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn enjoy far more engagement than do plain text or even image-based updates.
When it comes to training programs, most people prefer video to text—or at least a combination of the two.
And now with streaming video, this rapidly growing marketing channel has become even more crucial to your marketing strategy.
- Live video lets viewers get to know you better and trust you.
- Your personality and brand shine through in ways written words or pre-recorded video simply cannot manage
- A built-in sense of urgency makes it easy to connect with your action takers
- Repurposing video for other channels is easy and super productive
- Instagram and other social networks appear to give more weight to video, showing it in more newsfeeds than other post formats
In addition to all of that, video is easy to produce—contrary to what some people may think.
Simply prop up your smartphone, log into your preferred app, and viola! You’re live. And because it’s a live, streaming video, your viewers likely have less expectation of perfection.
For example, with a scripted webinar, they expect a certain polish. But with streaming video, you can get away with a much more lighthearted, go-with-the-flow style. It’s perfect for Q&A sessions, special announcements, group coaching, or anything else where you simply want to connect with your audience, and there’s no agenda.
If you’re recording videos for Instagram Reels, Stories, Facebook, or LinkedIn you can simply grab your phone to prop it up on something as well – and also invest in a microphone. There are a variety of microphones on Amazon. And lastly, when it comes to presentation, make sure your lighting is on point. You can film near a window or invest in a ring light. I also have a couple of these that I got from Amazon.
Don’t Abandon Your Other Marketing Methods.
We see this happen a lot—a popular trend or strategy comes along, and all of a sudden everyone is on board.
However, you must not forget to incorporate other methods like photos, carousel posts, or email marketing into your marketing strategy. Recorded video and live video can complement these methods.
So while Instagram Reels and Live video in general definitely matters when it comes to your overall marketing efforts, it’s not the end-all, be-all tool that will outshine everything else in your marketing strategy.