The Power of Video

CEBU, Philippines — “A picture paints a thousand words…” the first line of a popular song goes. And pictures are more eye-catching than printed words. The added appeal of pictures is the fact that the viewer feel he or she is not simply being told a story – he or she gets to get it firsthand.

And what if the picture comes to life? Movement is another factor that arrests attention. Then what more if matching sounds are employed to set the mood of the viewing experience? These elements all make a powerful combination to sustain the viewer’s interest.

These elements are basically what video is about – plus, modern technology has added in a lot more. When it comes to conveying a certain‘message’ to an audience, video is one of the most effective mediums there are. It can communicate even without the benefit of words.

With modern technology, making video is now accessible to everyone.And the internet, an equally novel technology, has since largely changed. While it started as primarily text-based, the internet is now replete with video posts.

These developments are affecting other areas of the human experience. Video is now being widely used, as well, in education, in media, in training, in marketing. On the internet, this year video is forecasted to account for a massive 79 percent of all online traffic.

By the look of it, video is really a force to reckon with. Where does video draw its power from? The website www.replayscience.com proposes an answer, breaking down some of the key reasons why video is such a great way to get the message across, and why it’s becoming the preferred way of consuming information by internet users.

Grabs Attention

Video is great at grabbing users’ attention. If a video is available, 60 percent of visitors will opt to watch it before reading any text.

Effective Delivery

The brain processes imagery 60,000 times faster than text. Whatever is the message to convey, it’s likely that a couple of minutes of video are going to be more effective in getting it across than the vast amount of text that could be cluttering up a site, for example.

Video helps convey factors that written words cannot, such as emotion and personality, and also speeds up the explanation of visual concepts.

Better Recall

In addition to explaining more, visual imagery has the added benefit of being recalled easier, with studies showing that users recall six times more information from video than from text.

A message that’s conveyed through video is more likely to stick in the audience’s heads. Video is particularly helpful in marketing, where 80 percent of marketers see video as important (although, unfortunately, only 10 percent are actively using it, according to studies).

This advantage of video over written words works so well for now, and is worth taking advantage of. Eventually, as the use of video gets more and more popular, written wordswill no longer be the competitor of video for the audience’s attention – but it would be video versus video. When that happens, the challenge would now be in making the message leap out of the screen.