Reasons why your business needs to embrace video

Written by Andrew Silverstein, Talk Fusion

Online interaction is constantly evolving. From the olden days of complex codeing to ultra-modern emails and instant messaging, businesses and individuals are constantly finding new ways to communicate over the web. Video is clearly emerging as the next wave in communications technology. As the evidence clearly indicates, this developing medium has a wealth of practical benefits for information-seekers as well as those looking to captivate and create loyal audiences.  

Why video? Why now?

An increasing amount of information is consumed through 140-character tweets, quick-bite status updates and headlines. The signs are obvious - attention spans are shrinking across the board. This study, commissioned by Lloyds TSB, found that the average attention has dropped from 12 minutes down to an astonishing five minutes in the past 10 years.

As our need for immediacy grows, video becomes the obvious choice for concise communication. It’s instant, engaging and interactive. It’s also capable of including a load of information into a small amount of time. According to video presentation company Brainshark, the information contained in one minute of online video is equals about 1.8 million written words, making the medium ideal for anyone looking to convey an abundance of information quickly to an audience of increasingly impatient web users.

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Audiences prefer the real-time properties of video communication as well. So much so, that the second most popular search engine today isn’t Yahoo or Bing, it’s YouTube. According to behavioral psychologist Dr. Susan Weinschenk, video is so compelling to so many for four reasons:

1. The fusiform facial area makes us pay attention to faces: This part of the human brain helps us to make emotional connections with the faces we see.

2. Voice conveys rich information: Whether it’s excitement or sarcasm, the tone of a voice on video conveys a wealth of information beyond the words being spoken, or already written, on the page.                                                                                                                            

3. Emotions are contagious: Research indicates that we tend to absorb the feelings of those who interact with us, even over video.

4. Movement grabs attention: We’re naturally inclined to pay attention to movement much more than static text on a screen.

As you can see, humans are practically hard-wired to prefer video when it comes to online interaction. That makes communicating effectively over this medium vitally important.

Email and video: A powerful pairing

Connecting on a personal level with video starts with engaging people where it matters most: their inbox. Think about it - most people check their email every day. Even if they’re one of the select few who opt-out of social media, you can bet they’re probably still interacting with the world through email.

Statistics show that the mere inclusion of video in your message is enough to outpace any person or organization that only utilizes plain text in their email correspondence. Adding video to an email can increase click-through rates by as much as two to three times according to Smart Insights. Experian’s 2012 Benchmark and Trend Report found that just using the word “video” in your email’s subject line is enough to increase your click-through rates by seven to 13 percent.

These metrics have real-world applications that can benefit a variety of fields. Say you’re an educator and you want a way to keep students engaged outside the classroom. By incorporating video into email, you can deliver a recording of the day’s lecture straight to your students’ inboxes; send additional videos relevant to your teachings; even give individual students helpful and personalized tips you might not otherwise have the means to convey.

By incorporating video into email, individuals and organizations are equipped with a new way to connect and exchange in ways that plain text just can’t match. Across the board - from education to entertainment, personal communications and business - people are engaging with this developing medium more in their everyday lives, which makes for a future that looks to be more video-driven than ever.

About Talk Fusion

Talk Fusion is a leading provider of advanced video communication products using WebRTC.  With reach in over 140 countries worldwide, Talk Fusion's unique offerings are leveraged by some of the most well-known brand names.  Learn more about Talk Fusion at www.TalkFusion.com.