In a World of Premium Video Content, the Written Word is King

In a world of premium video content, viral notoriety is not the only measure of success.

Video is beautiful, fun, and vibrant, and while both film and television are two forms of beloved media, each with a historically sound return on advertising investment, branded video content for the web is a different ball game.

With Vine, Instagram video, and major new video platform acquisitions occurring left and right, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype tornado of visual, rather than written, content. This year, half of all online content was video, and by 2016, the number is expected to be 86 percent of all online content.

By 2017, online video traffic is expected to account for 69 percent of all consumer internet usage—although this particular stat fails to exclude daylong Netflix binges on a lazy Sunday from 30-second viral video clips users glance at while eating lunch in the office.

Video isn’t only overtaking consumers; 73 percent of business-to-business marketers now say they utilize video as a content marketing tactic. So, what’s the better investment, premium written content or premium visual, video content?

The debate over written content versus video content ultimately comes down to the degree of control available over written content, which is more easily created from a cost perspective than premium video content. But that doesn’t mean video should be shied away from.

Video is undoubtedly an amazing medium that can drive strong user engagement and a massive potential return on investment. While everyone hopes to go viral, we should start thinking about video differently.

A video doesn’t need to go viral to resonate, entertain, and inform its viewers—a brand can make an impact with a methodical production plan that focuses on value and message, and ultimately results in increased sales.

Everybody knows content is king, but as video becomes synonymous with content, we’ll need to begin looking at video outside the viral sphere. A video, just like a feature-length article, can be important without 10 million hits. Leave that to Jimmy Kimmel and his twerking stunt girl.

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/1hsSTJQ