Picture it.
August 1, 1981.
12:01am
The dawning of a new era.
A television station dedicated to showing nothing, but music videos is unveiled in the US.
The first video to debut on that infamous channel was aptly named Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles.
But just how did video kill the radio star and why does it pose a threat to the content marketing star of today?
Video opened up a whole new world in living technicolor within the music industry. Before, music lovers could only listen to their favorite songs over the airwaves. Without the visuals produced by the videos, they were left to their own imaginations to wonder what the song would look like 'in motion' or how the story would play out 'live'.
Once the concept of video was introduced, radios fell by the wayside. Who wants to sit around fiddling with volume buttons, wondering what those cryptic lyrics that you can barely even hear might mean when you can watch them unfold live before your eyes on your television screen?
RIP Radio Star. We won't miss you.
The same logic could be applied to content marketing and the inclusion of videos to get your message across.
The Internet is a place of instant gratification. People want the information they seek at their fingertips, at their disposal. They want to be able to skim and scan your content, glean some takeaways from it and apply what they can to their own lives or business.
A 140 character tweet and a link to your newest blog entry
A few lines on your Facebook page and a link to your website
A blurb on your LinkedIn profile and a link to your portfolio
A well-written blog snippet with bullet points
Short. Sweet. To the point.
With text or image-based content, your readers can give it a once over to determine:
1. Is it relevant to them?
2. Is it interesting or informative?
3. Is it worthy of passing on?
It takes the average Internet user about thirty seconds to determine these things. If the answer to these questions is "No", they simply click on the next link and go on about their browsing.
When you incorporate video to get your message across, you're taking away your readers' instant gratification. You're taking away their ability to skim and scan the content for something that's relevant or helpful to them. In the time it takes your video to load, they could have perused at least two other pages where wordier content would have jumped out at them.
Then once your video loads, they have to sit through some long, drawn out spiel that may or may not be relevant to them. You're hoping they are leaving your page with the impression that you're some kind of Brand Master that really knows your stuff when they are actually thinking, "Gee, there's three (or five or nine) minutes of my life I'm never getting back."
Realize that your readers are coming to your page to READ. Appreciate the fact that if they wanted to watch a video, they would be on YouTube or Hulu or Netflix - not your blog.
Don't be the reason that video killed the content marketing star.
August 1, 1981.
12:01am
The dawning of a new era.
A television station dedicated to showing nothing, but music videos is unveiled in the US.
The first video to debut on that infamous channel was aptly named Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles.
But just how did video kill the radio star and why does it pose a threat to the content marketing star of today?
Video opened up a whole new world in living technicolor within the music industry. Before, music lovers could only listen to their favorite songs over the airwaves. Without the visuals produced by the videos, they were left to their own imaginations to wonder what the song would look like 'in motion' or how the story would play out 'live'.
Once the concept of video was introduced, radios fell by the wayside. Who wants to sit around fiddling with volume buttons, wondering what those cryptic lyrics that you can barely even hear might mean when you can watch them unfold live before your eyes on your television screen?
RIP Radio Star. We won't miss you.
The same logic could be applied to content marketing and the inclusion of videos to get your message across.
The Internet is a place of instant gratification. People want the information they seek at their fingertips, at their disposal. They want to be able to skim and scan your content, glean some takeaways from it and apply what they can to their own lives or business.
A 140 character tweet and a link to your newest blog entry
A few lines on your Facebook page and a link to your website
A blurb on your LinkedIn profile and a link to your portfolio
A well-written blog snippet with bullet points
Short. Sweet. To the point.
With text or image-based content, your readers can give it a once over to determine:
1. Is it relevant to them?
2. Is it interesting or informative?
3. Is it worthy of passing on?
It takes the average Internet user about thirty seconds to determine these things. If the answer to these questions is "No", they simply click on the next link and go on about their browsing.
When you incorporate video to get your message across, you're taking away your readers' instant gratification. You're taking away their ability to skim and scan the content for something that's relevant or helpful to them. In the time it takes your video to load, they could have perused at least two other pages where wordier content would have jumped out at them.
Then once your video loads, they have to sit through some long, drawn out spiel that may or may not be relevant to them. You're hoping they are leaving your page with the impression that you're some kind of Brand Master that really knows your stuff when they are actually thinking, "Gee, there's three (or five or nine) minutes of my life I'm never getting back."
Realize that your readers are coming to your page to READ. Appreciate the fact that if they wanted to watch a video, they would be on YouTube or Hulu or Netflix - not your blog.
Don't be the reason that video killed the content marketing star.