Luan WiseAccording to Wikipedia ‘A Picture Tells a Thousand Words‘ refers to a concept that a “complex idea can be conveyed with a still image”, it also aptly describes one of the main goals of visualisation, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly. If that is the power of a still image, imagine what that means for the moving image! A Trifecta is “a situation when three elements come together at the same time” – in the case of video; visuals + audio + words!
Information Overload
Everyday as soon as we turn on our computers or reach for our smartphones, we are confronted with a massive amount of information overload, this constant feeling that time and money is wasted as we try and devour this tidal wave of “important” information that we try and digest every day. We have yet to find a way of dealing with this enormous amount of conflicting and dynamic data, we know a lot of it is useful but how do we prioritise what to read now?
Use Video to Cut Through Noise
A well thought out and produced video has the power to cut through this noise by allowing the viewer to not frantically search through text to find the relevant information. Video is consumed easily. Regardless if it's an educational video, or a promotional video, a well-made video doesn’t ask anything of the viewer other than to sit back and allow them 90 seconds or so to passively tell them all they need to know – which is exactly what the viewer wants!
Nowadays, the acquisition of raw data is no longer the driving problem: It is the ability to identify methods and models, which can turn the data into reliable and provable knowledge. Remember that feeling of information overload ‘panic' and you can become that source of relevant information to your industry and your consumers will begin to trust you and won’t need to look elsewhere.
How can we use that sense of panic to effectively get our messages across in our marketing, often words can be misconstrued in print, it is over thought and sometimes the point of the message is lost in fancy words and doesn’t mean anything, we use marketing speak and jargon that we would never use in daily conversation and that puts people off.
Video has a certain refreshing honesty about putting a face, voice and a personality to a company, it doesn’t use shiny corporate jargon that appears in printed marketing material that is over-thought and sounds like a robot is speaking. There is something to be said from looking in someone’s eye when you are going to buy from them.
Content is King
It is important to have a proper video strategy, a script, a purpose, an end result that you want your audience to feel or do after they have watched it.
The purpose of video is to educate, entertain and spur people into some form of action, make sure your target audience is spurred into calling you!
The content should provide details of your product/service as well as evoke interest from the viewers. One thing that you need to keep in mind is that the content may need to vary depending on where you plan to post your video. For instance, you can give complete information about your products on your website.
Remember – only 7% of communication are the words that we actually speak, the rest comes from body language, facial expressions and tone of voice… video gives you all three!
Your website can also contain video testimonials and promotions. However, when you post your clips to a wider online audience, it shouldn't be about branding, it should be such that it evokes the interest of the viewer enough to click on a link to check for more details.
For Maximum Effect, Create a Series of Videos
One off videos are great, but the key to attracting a larger audience is to create series of several videos that deal with certain topics. Plan each video to follow on from the next, in a logical manner. This is especially effective for educational videos in specific niche markets. It also gives you the opportunity to promote the entire series, instead of a single video.
People will spend hours watching your videos, like they watch series on television – and all because you've made the effort to package them like this!
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Luan – what a gorgeous name! What a compelling statement you’ve made here; you’re absolutely right about video! I never considered it to be so powerful, but you’ve spelt out how it works so throughly. Okay, I’m convinced I need to get on board – what’s my first step?
Luan – what a gorgeous name! What a compelling statement you’ve made here; you’re absolutely right about video! I never considered it to be so powerful, but you’ve spelt out how it works so throughly. Okay, I’m convinced I need to get on board – what’s my first step?
Yes, you are right that it’s very convenient to export/import lists between two competing platforms on your iTouch and HTC.