Why video is king

Way back in 1895 a silent black and white film screened in France is said to have absolutely terrified its audience.

L’arrivée d’un train en gare de La Ciotat showed a train chugging into a station, moving toward the camera.

But according to urban legend many people were convinced the train was about to mow them down and fled the theatre!

Video today

Times have changed dramatically since then and now HD video is increasingly being used online to pull in huge audiences and communicate ideas in a way that is engaging, entertaining and informative.

Before you decide that you don’t have time to create a corporate video for your company’s website, consider this – one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. (Source: Dr. James McQuivey, Forrester Research.)

Do you have the time to write 1.8 million words? Suddenly a business video is looking very appealing, isn’t it?

And if you need an added push to get a video onto your site, know that 75% of executives told Forbes they watch work-related videos on business and business websites at least once a week. That’s a massive audience and by having a video on your company’s website you’ll get the chance to capture these viewers.

So what can video do?

We’ve created a list of advantages a corporate video will bring to your business to show you just why it’s king.

Save time

With video, you can get a message across in a much shorter time frame than the written word. If you have a complex message to tell, video is the perfect medium because as we mentioned before – video can tell a million words!

Distribution is easy too – rather than asking your customers to download a lengthy PDF they have to sift through, instead they can just click on a link and watch a short one minute video. I know what we’d rather do.

Create an impression

Video touches many more senses than the written word. Using sight and sound you’re able to create a greater impact with a corporate video than you could with a written summary. Done well, it can create emotion, meaning you can get a chance to inspire and even motivate your customers.

Show you’re human

Tied in with the emotion is the human element. Think about an About Us page on a website. If there’s a written paragraph or two for a biography it can portray a sense of the person but if there’s a video introducing everyone in the company and what the company is like, you’re more likely to get a much better sense of the business you’re looking at through their video.

Just take a look at how effective this Innocent corporate piece on what it’s like to work at their company for a good example.

Prove you’re modern

Video gives you the chance to ‘wow’ your customers. Having an effective corporate video on your website shows that you’re up-to-date with technology and are a modern business.

More than 81% of customers research a company or a product online before making a purchase (Source: GE Capital Retail Bank’s second annual Major Purchase Shopper Study 2013) meaning you have a good chance of influencing potential buyers. And by having a business video on your website, making your company look modern and fresh, your chances are only going to increase.

Increase your audience

There’s no end to the benefits a video will create for your search rankings. For example, if you have a corporate video on the landing page of your website, your business is more than 53% more likely to show up on the first page of a Google search. (Source: Mist Media)

Video also attracts two to three times more monthly visitors to your website, and a corporate video will double their time on your website. If that wasn’t enough, a business video creates more than a 150% increase in organic traffic from search engines. (Source: MarketingSherpa)

So have we managed to convince you yet that video is king?