Partner Article

Feeding our video addiction: Why the world can’t resist a killer marketing video

I have a confession to make, writes Joe Livingstone, head of content at Axonn Media. I’m addicted to digital video (camera zoom, close-up shot).

For me and the millions of other video junkies, this dependence is very similar to society’s relationship with coffee (sips from steaming mug). This new addiction to digital video is by no means as widely acknowledged as our centuries-old coffee obsession, although it is far more ingrained into our lives than most of us admit.

Axonn Research’s Video in Content Marketing survey reveals that three-quarters of people now share video content, and a similar proportion of organisations (78.3 per cent) are planning to make more use of video in their marketing strategies in the future.

Meh. Big deal. People like to share videos and marketers want a piece of the pie. What’s new?

Here’s what I think. A new age of video dominance has dawned (cut to shot of a sunrise). To marketers who say “meh” to video, I say “meh yourself, I’ve got some other brand’s video to watch”.

Marketers need to wake up and smell the coffee. Today’s mobile hyperconnected society provides marketers with constant access to digital video addicts ‘on tap’. Even the most prolific high street coffee chains fall short of that sort of access to caffeine junkies.

To demonstrate this point, let me replay my typical morning routine for you, which starts with me scanning YouTube or Netflix on my iPad while grinding coffee beans. A vision of prim consumer luxury. Later on, when I’m settled in the office, I’ll be at it again, watching something over my porridge, accompanied (of course) by my second aromatic coffee of the day.

Now I’ve set the scene with my first three waking hours of the day, let’s take a pause to consider the social impact of video addiction.

This isn’t simply a personal obsession. The video junkies in our survey routinely expect the same level of commitment from others and share their best finds with friends (68.7 per cent) or colleagues (44.8 per cent). Anywhere, anytime. We are both supplier and consumer rolled into one.

Our survey showed one in five people watch daily video content to do with their work. I fit the profile here too, and rely on video blogs like Moz.com’s Whiteboard Friday for industry insights, which I then share with colleagues. Video is the eminent visual learning tool of the modern era, the kind of dependency we’re all too happy to embrace.

Similarly - and like a third of those surveyed - video for entertainment is a daily routine of mine, too. I’ve settled for Netflix over LoveFilm and Sky Go (both of which I’ve tried) and a Friday night in will often see my wife and I sharing chuckles over viral video gems. Last Friday, we got hooked for hours watching old Guinness adverts - that’s 100 per cent prime-time brand exposure for the Livingstone household (turns to camera, doffs cap to Guinness’s marketing team).

So let’s refresh, and re-view the serious point in all this, because I want to be absolutely explicit. This is a blockbuster opportunity for marketers.

Aside from being very embarrassed with themselves, any brands that have yet to integrate video into their marketing strategies should take a look at what competitors are up to. With 67.3 per cent of companies already using video, so one of them is bound to be at it, in one shape or form. If they’re doing it, you should really be trying to do it better.

So, from one video addict to another, let me finish with three video marketing tips:

1) Create excellent videos

Video may be our weakness, but we’ll not goggle at any old tosh. We want the good stuff. One hundred hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute - that’s roughly 2 hours worth in the time it’s taken you to read this sentence. More daunting is the breadth of competition. Content Marketing Association research shows the average person has 379,000 brand experiences each year, and on a typical journey to work, a commuter will have 170 company interactions.

2) Make videos easy to watch and find

An obvious one really. Depriving me of my morning coffee puts me in a grotty mood, but not being able to find or view a video I want to share, or which has been shared with me, has me routinely climbing the walls.

3) Video is a gateway, not an end in itself

Supporting video with other content (as is done by 69 per cent of those surveyed by Axonn) will make videos easier to find and generate opportunities for deeper engagement with your brand. The best videos invite you to explore a topic, read about the company that created it and keep you coming back for more.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Axonn Media .