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In a world where phones are getting bigger and movies are getting longer, it is within the online world where we as consumers, customers or internet users want the information we need instantly with a click of the button.
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Search has played a massive part in that; when we want to know something we open up our browsers and search for what we need, getting an answer back straight away.
Social media has also played a leading role with Facebook connecting friends into one big personal commnunity and twitter connceting us to celebrities and news given in only 140 characters. Even within social media we have seen our need for immediacy dictate what we use as we know cut out all of the statuses and just have images with Instagram.
Within video, the YouTube generation has changed the way we view and digest video differing to the way we would watch a movie for example. Why is that? Are they that different? Movies are for entertainment and for that sense of escapism, but you could also argue that 95% of online videos are too, just on a smaller scale.
Producing a video for marketing purposes have different intentions in a way where we don't want to take our audience on a journey and entertain them. Sure we can do that by making a cool video, but going back to search and a lot of social media platforms it is about information, and getting that information to your audience as quickly as possible.
If somebody finds your video via search or social media, they have an interest in either your product or your company. There could be an interest to buy, to request a quote, or to find out more information such as, is the product they are looking at suitable for their marketplace? Finding a two minute video can give them that information plus much more in an instant.
With interest gained their next step may be to speak to a sales person, download a brochure or request a quote. If you have a testimonial video, you never know that could even complete the process but I will go through those type of videos in more detail within another post!
Ask a question about video
Some might say that you can not cram all product information within a couple of minutes and to that fact I would totally agree with them but that's not what you want with this type of video. If you wanted to include every piece of information you could end up with a fifteen minute video and your viewer has already switched off a minute into it - missing the most valuable piece of information which you have in minute six.
What you want to do is to pull your audience in within a couple of minutes with the 'cliff notes' so to speak, the highlights - and when the video ends they want to know more! Then it's up to your literature and your product managers to take it to the next level.
You may not just use your video for marketing purposes. Having short, snappy videos for training purposes could be a great way for new staff to learn about your products or for product managers to use as aids when pitching. If the videos are short, it's easier to digest information and it will be a real help to those that use the videos within the selling process.
Will videos get shorter? My guess is yes! We have seen with the emergence of video on SnapChat, Vine and Instagram we may even have a time when we have product videos that are ten to fifteen seconds long! After all, TV adverts are only thirty seconds long and when online they are much shorter! Or, you never know, it could go like the movies and you could have a three hour product video!
