27 Dec The Video Myth

I have a confession to make. Video annoys me.
Don’t get me wrong. It definitely has its place in marketing. But sometimes…It just really annoys me.
Like when you’re browsing the internet and have multiple browser tabs open, and out of nowhere you hear an obnoxiously loud advertisement blaring through your speakers. So you frantically search each tab so you can mute the ad before it plays again on its infinite loop cycle.
Or when you are trying to find information about a product, but instead of a sales letter, they have a long and drawn out video playing. And to make matters worse, the person speaking in the video is talking excruciatingly slow. Sometimes you just want to find out about the product without having to deal with an incredibly boring lecture embedded with predictable sales tactics.
The truth is…video is getting abused; and its abuse is causing people to get desensitized to it. More and more people are ignoring video presentations, and yet more and more marketers are relying on video to share important information.  As you can tell, that is not a winning combination.
So does this mean we should never use video? Absolutely not.
As I said previously, video has its place in marketing. It can be extremely helpful in getting certain points across. In fact, a well placed video can be the difference between a sale for you or a sale for your competitor.
They key is to not exclusively depend on video. For example, what if you had a sales letter that explained the benefits of your product and used video to show you using the product in real time? Imagine how informative and powerful that would be. Or what if you had a sales letter explain the benefits of your service and had a video that showed real testimonials from real customers.
See the difference? Notice how influential the combination of copy and video can be?
Unfortunately, no one is using video in this manner anymore. Instead, they are trying to put as much information as possible into a 30-40 minute video. Who has time for that? I know I don’t.
The fact is, we need to start putting the needs and wants of our customers in the forefront of our marketing campaigns.
If your target audience is those looking for high quality videos, then yes, a video sales page is very appropriate in this situation.
If your target audience is busy moms, then perhaps you might want to think about what would be most convenient for them. Rarely is a long, drawn out video the right platform for this demographic.
I’m not saying let’s get rid of video. I’m just saying, let’s use video more intelligently. Our customers and our bank account will thank us for it.