A 10 second video by a teenage boy – who happens to be the son of a Comit team member – about ‘popping’ Nike shoes gobbled up more than 15 million views on TikTok . The video reach spanned the globe and engaged almost a million people who liked it and more than 5000 people who commented on it. It evoked a surprisingly strong emotion from the shoe loving community!
His video was short, engaging, but the key to its success was that it polarized viewers who debated whether he really ‘popped’ his Nikes or not. Now imagine using that as a social media tool and its potential to enable your message to go global on a viral wave.
So the answer to the question in the headline of this blog is a huge yes! The goal of PR is to engage and interest people in what you have to offer and showcase what your brand/business is all about. Video is a fantastic tool for this.
5 reasons why you should produce video content for your business
1. Video content can explain everything
A video is like a show and tell. You can show your story, and tell the audience exactly what it’s about, just like the TikTok video did.
The brain can pr
ocess visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Video uses visual aesthetics and audio to paint the whole picture, and better convey the whole story. Most people need visual aids to learn, which could be a main factor as to why many prefer video over text.
Viewers retain 10% of a message if reading it in text, whereas viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch a video. Your video can explain everything in a short time. If you’re introducing a new product or gadget, you can physically show what it looks like, how it works, what it can be used for. You can encompass the how, what, when, where and why, all in one.
2. Video improves SEO
Video content will rank higher in Google and therefore, the more video content you can create for your brand, the higher your website will rank.
Video helps other metrics that we know Google takes into consideration for ranking. Two of the most important metrics for SEO are how much time a user spends on your page or site and the number of backlinks referring to your domain.
Video almost always improves both of these figures. According to video hosting platform Wistia, people spend more than twice as long on a page with video than without, and the higher the quality of your content, the more likely you are to get backlinks.
Google’s algorithms are increasingly prioritising websites with video content. The Search Engine Journal shows us that around 93 percent of online experiences start with a search engine, so you want to do everything you can to appear on that crucial first page.
3. Video engages us
You have the chance to grab attention immediately in the first few seconds of your video and build trust. Or in the case of the TikTok example – anticipation! Through video content, you can be transparent by putting your face, voice, and personality on display. In the case of a business, you’re putting your brand on display.
The first few seconds of your video needs to be active unless you’re using an interview that holds visual cues for your audience. Start your video with footage that is full of motion and that catches the viewer’s eye immediately. Don’t start with silence, use sound straight away.
4. Video holds your attention
Recent trends show us the shorter the better. On average, 5% of viewers stop watching a video after one minute, and 60% of viewers drop off after two minutes. Therefore, short videos can boost the amount of people that actually make it to the end of the video. The example of the shoe TikTok was only 10 seconds long.
55% of videos viewed on mobile devices run under 5 minutes, so think of your smartphone users. Always keep watch time in mind and lay out your video accordingly.
TikTok has over 1 billion users, and the maximum length for a video is 3 minutes. It became the most popular social media platform in the world in 2020 and remains highly popular in 2021. Therefore, a clear indication that short and snappy videos are a very strong engagement tool.
5. Videos can go viral
You can reach an international audience and you have the chance to show a different side to your company by creating an emotive video. Although the Nike shoe TikTok wasn’t for Nike, it definitely put those shoes and that brand in the minds of a lot of people.
Videos wh
ich elicit strong emotions from viewers are twice as likely to be shared as those that provide a weak emotional response according to Wistia.
We’re attracted to emotion, whether it’s positive or negative, a more highly-charged emotion is more likely to capture attention than something neutral. A good tip is to seek out footage that has an emotional charge and use a script or imagery that evokes emotion. Is your company sponsoring a charity event? Why not create a video that delves into the human story behind the event, and why your company has chosen to support it.
Harnessing your digital skills and using creative tools like video for online can vastly improve PR for your business. Do you want to show a different side to your company, convey an important message, engage with your audience, reach an international market and improve SEO? If so, video is the way to go.
At Comit, we have a team of highly creative PR specialists. To find out how we can help you bring your technology PR campaigns to life, contact us today.