Marketing videos still stand out.

In a world where we are saturated by media. It is increasingly difficult to stand out from the rest of the pack. As striking photos become more and more common, getting a leg up on the competition is becoming more and more challenging to do, with still images alone. And this is coming from a photographer! I’d rather not admit it, but it is the truth. The online world is moving towards video, more each day.

With decreasing attention spans, it becomes hard to get your message across. Even this paragraph for example, it might be too long. How many people don’t read all the way to this line.

So why does video work so well? 

Its about the energy that it takes to do well. Photos are getting easier. A recent iPhone and an artful eye will go a long way today, in terms of getting you great results. As a professional photographer, I have to admit. Many times it’s just not justifiable for a potential client to hire me, if they are looking for something simple. They can shoot it themselves. However, that is not currently the case in the video realm. A shaky hand held video with muffled audio from your phone, just does not compete with a properly shot and edited video. The production quality, and what it says about your brand cannot be overstated.

Video still has the “wow” factor.

Let’s take for example the humble, mac n cheese. We all know what it is. A great photo of it can do a lot. Or you can shoot a video on it. Which would you rather see, on Facebook or Instagram? Which is more likely to capture your attention? Make you share the content with a friend?

That video took 40 seconds out of your life to watch.

Would you have taken 40 seconds to dwell on a photo? Read a paragraph?

Video still has the power to capture us. Stunning visuals and sounds let you communicate your message more quickly and with more impact than any other method of communication we have today, in the online world.

Perhaps you have a class, or a service to promote? These things can be complex, and take a lot of text to accurately describe. You can hope your potential customer is going to stick around a read a paragraph, or you can show them with a video instead.

A simple overview

Sometimes you have a lot of information to convey, and you only have a short time in which to do it. Take the example of The Green Room in Stratford. It is a super cool store, filled with an interesting mix of merchandise. However one of the largest problems is to convey the contents of the eclectic mix to people who have never been inside before. A quick video does the trick to illustrate not only the store’s contents, but the vibe of its merchandise.

Product Videos - Hotels, Real Estate, Food, Widgets

Much like our food example above. Sometimes you have a product that just needs more attention. It could be a hotel room, or a widget or a food item of anything in between.

Creating a video, for something that is usually only displayed with photos, can make a huge impact. Take this hotel room, in a boutique hotel. Customer on the hunt have likely been to numerous hotel websites, or trip advisors and seen lots of still images of hotel rooms. However, this short video displays the relevant information, about what the hotel is like, while simultaneously really standing out. “remember that one hotel, with the video? Yea!”

At some point this sort of thing will be the norm. And you’ll have to have it. But for now, it is ahead of the game. And makes a HUGE impact.