B2B Video Production
The power of video is a curious thing, it makes one man weep and another man sing. No, wait. That’s The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. My mistake.
The power of video for business is in its ability to support the attraction process you want visitors to your social platforms or website to experience. When someone lands on your website home page or sees one of your LinkedIn posts, you have about 15 seconds to ensnare their attention. Considering average reading speeds, that’s about 45 words before they bounce. And that’s if they start reading instantly, which many don’t.
Visuals Vying for Attention
The human brain processes visual content, such as pictures and videos, 60,000 times faster than text. Thus, 15 seconds of video can be much more engaging than a block of carefully crafted copy. The human brain loves information, craves it, and 90% of all the information it receives is visual in nature. While words are also visual, there’s an active element to reading, whereas video just happens before your eyes. It’s not wholly passive, but it is easier on the visitor.
This is not to say that video storytelling can go on indefinitely. A 500-word blog is quicker to read than it is to narrate. Videos can capture attention better in the short term, but they shouldn’t outstay their welcome. You need a proper balance between text and videos on your website and your social media channels.
So now that you better understand attention spans, what’s the ideal length for your videos? LinkedIn recommends videos on their platform be between 30 seconds and five minutes, though a 10-minute max is permissible. However, unless you’re presenting a webinar or recapping a complex topic, 10 minutes is likely not going to keep your audience engaged. Bite-sized videos that adequately tell a story in a short amount of time are preferable.
Consider the fact that LinkedIn also counts a video as viewed if three seconds of it is played, declaring this “a meaningful threshold for understanding someone’s interest in the video.” While it’s unlikely you can communicate your story in all of three seconds, you need to be sure that your video captures attention within this timeframe.
Investing in Video Pays Off
One of the main apprehensions for businesses that want to create video content is the perception of the cost required to produce high-quality videos. While some video shoots do require camera people, boom operators, script editors, a gaffer and his best boy, some videos can be created by one person armed with words, ideas and software. Even some television commercial and movie directors are exploring directing on iPhone given the fact that the cameras continue to improve over the years. While professional equipment is preferred, don’t underestimate the power that a smartphone can provide when you’re in a pinch.
Short product or service videos can set your business apart and prove particularly effective on social media platforms. With foreplaning, these individual snippets can be combined into something fuller for your website or even a presentation during an industry event.
In a previous blog I discussed the merits of customer success stories as part of video storytelling, as well as the copious amounts of it some companies engage in. In terms of all video within a consumer’s journey, in 2017, video content marketing made up 69% of all global consumer internet traffic. Consumers watch videos – whether that’s a function of auto-play on a website or a preference for visual content, the result is the same. Consumers watch videos.
What’s more, consumers share videos. This is great news because it means that people are inclined to show videos to other people, which further amplifies the reach of your visual content and gets your brand in front of more prospects.
Consider the fact that when LinkedIn introduced video sharing, Senior Product Manager Peter Roybal offered some statistics about video performance on the platform. Most interesting of these was that LinkedIn users are 20% more likely to share video content than any other kind of post. So not only do people like to see video storytelling, they like to share it with others who may also share it with their long list of connections.
If you’re looking to capture attention with visitors, video is a speedier, easier way to connect your audience with your message, leading them to the next crucial step. Conversion. In today’s competitive landscape, continually acquiring new leads helps your business maintain a healthy bottom line and gives you additional opportunities to create videos that showcase customer success stories.
Is your business looking to create engaging and inspiring video content that you can add to your website and share across your social media channels? Reach out to our team to learn how we can help you develop videos that highlight your products and services, customer success stories, corporate culture and more!
Mike McConnell is a Creative Lead at Mulberry Marketing Communications, an award-winning full-service B2B communications agency based in Chicago, London and Melbourne. He has years of experience creating and editing written work for a diverse range of clients across multiple formats.
