Why Online Video Is Vital

Why Online Video Is Vital

By: Sean Rosensteel Contributor, Forbes Submitted by: Anne Schwab

If you feel online video is just another over hyped, passing fad, think again. In fact, online video is gaining strength as a source for content marketing. This is just one of the survey topics: Percentage of Marketers Using Each Content or Offer.

The graph below illustrates the percentage of marketing respondents that use each content or offer:

The take-away? Most respondents prefer video over white papers, case studies, even live demos with reps. And you should factor that into your content marketing strategy.

By the way, this survey was compiled by marketing automation giant Eloqua, CMO (Adobe’s content site providing digital marketing news and insight for senior marketing executives around the globe) and Software Advice an online consultancy which publishes product profiles, comparisons and best practices guides to help buyers find the right software for their business. 

So, Why Video?

The web trending towards video is made obvious by much more than the example above. After all, YouTube is the number two search engine in the world. This may lead you to the conclusion that we simply don’t like to read anymore. But the video preference situation we’re witnessing is much more detailed than that. So the question you may be asking yourself (or your boss may be asking you) is: Why video?

For this, let’s reference an expert. A real Ph.D. level expert, Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.— also known as The “Brain Lady.” As a leading speaker, author and consultant to brands like Amazon, Disney, Walmart and South By Southwest, she brings a deep understanding of the psychology of customers and why they do what they do.

She has uncovered four core, very human reasons we are drawn to video:

#1: The Fusiform Facial area makes us pay attention to faces – this is an actual brain function that hard-wires us to use the human face as a gathering point for information and believability.

#2: Voice conveys rich information – yes, the simple sound of a human voice speaking to us has an amazing way of converting information into meaningful content.

#3: Emotions are contagious – here’s a subtle but powerful aspect that we may take for granted. The body language of emotions is an appealing and we naturally love to share.

#4: Movement grabs attention – another trait that runs deep in our collective anthropological DNA is the power of peripheral motion. Since the stone age, we’ve survived by noticing things in motion – looks like we still do!