It’s a simple question asked by many a business, organization, or nonprofit. If you are considering investing in video for marketing, employee training or organizational communication, keep reading because as it turns out, the answer is clear. Yes, video does work!
As you will see, there is now very strong evidence of the effectiveness of video in marketing, training, and organizational communication. Of course there is a huge variance in production quality and strategic thinking across the broad scope of what is considered “a video”. This makes the following positive findings all the more compelling. The research below does not differentiate between high quality, strategically produced video and ill-conceived and shoddy video.
It would be reasonable to suggest that the statistics below are averages and that some video content fares better than other video content. That is indeed good news for those who are using video wisely to outperform even these amazing average results.
Does video work in marketing?
Due to the measurable nature of the internet, much data has been collected in an effort to calculate return on investment in “video”. The numbers are in and clearly — video does work! Here are some findings from reputable independent analysts:
- 16% of customers who watch online video ads will purchase. 1
- 21% of video viewers make a purchase.2
- 26% of retail web video viewers visit a store.2
- 21% of retail web video viewers request more information.2
- ShopNBC Customers who watched videos on product pages converted at twice the rate of customers who did not.3
- Video marketing increases sales of services and products by over 70% .4
- Well-optimized video is fifty-three times more likely than text to appear on the front page of Google .5
So reading between the lines, the first statistic is limited to “online video ads” and customers. While 16% conversion rate is great, the next stat (not specifically ads) is better (at 21%) and talks about converting a net new lead into a customer. The takeaway may be that “video ads” are less effective than other types of videos such as reviews, product information, product education, testimonials, etc. Does video work? Clearly. But your mileage may vary depending on your strategy and implementation.
Does video work in education and training?
Once again the independent research suggests that video does work:
- Video holds a learner’s interest, outclassing other training media and increasing information retention by 51% .4
- Children taught with video achieve test scores 54% better than a similar group who was taught by lecture alone .6
- Students engaged in learning that incorporates multimodal designs (including video), on average, outperform students who learn using traditional approaches with single modes.7
Some compelling evidence! Especially when you consider that there is no way to quantify the educational quality of the “video”. A talking head video of an instructor giving a lecture is no better (and arguably worse) than attending the lecture in person. We have all experienced educational videos that could replace sleeping pills for even the most incurable insomniac.
However a well-made video can offer multimodal learning including visual, sound, written, verbal and (to a degree) experiential attributes. Video can be used to reach people of all literacy levels, engage viewers emotionally, and video can be incorporated into interactive video-based e-learning programs.
Once again, as good as these average numbers are, think of how much more learners will retain from your video if they actually have their eyes open!
Does video work as an organizational communication tool?
Clearly many large corporations think video does work. Companies as diverse as Safeway, Nokia, and HP have entire in-house video departments dedicated to internal communication. Smaller companies have long been a substantial part of our San Francisco Bay Area video production business and increasingly we are helping them create high quality videos — mostly on their own.
A 2010 global survey of 1200 internal communications managers 8 found:
- 92.9% believe video is becoming a more important part of internal communication.
- 70% use video to support internal communication.
- 72% See their organization devoting more time and budget to video in the future.
The three most common uses for internal videos:
- 69.3% use video for leadership visibility
- 61.8% use video as part of branding
- 49% use video to communicate values or culture initiatives
Still, we have all seen examples of video used poorly; the “marketing video” with all the finesse of the quintessential old world used car salesman , the “training video” that the staff considers cruel and unusual punishment , the “motivational video” with all the subtlety of a WWII propaganda film. These failures are so abundant that they are nearly clichés.
With so many misguided videos in use, how does the research turn out so positive? I expect that well conceived, appropriately targeted videos work even better than these numbers suggest. Yes, video works, and GOOD video can give you great business results.
Subscribe to this blog. In future articles we’ll cover how to develop and produce a well conceived targeted video with huge ROI.
Sources:
- (Online Publisher’s Association)
- (BIA/Kelsey User View study data, February 2010)
- (Internet Retailer, August 2010)
- (Wharton School of Business)
- (Forrester Research, January 2010)
- (International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2007, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 105-114.)
- (Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says By Metiri Group – Commissioned by Cisco)
- (Strategic Communication Research Forum)
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