He Shows Video Content Doesn’t Take an Army to Produce
A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a 60-second video, experts say, equals 1.8 billion words in value and impact.
Even though video viewership is astronomical, the common excuse for skipping over video for marketing or corporate communications is that it’s too hard to produce. A 19-year-old University of Oregon freshman has proven that presumption wrong.
As part of a winter term motion graphics class, Quinn Connell created a 30-second video that was selected by a panel of judges to open the World Athletics Championship this Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene. The video is a tightly edited sequence of athletes competing in multiple events, amped up by special effects and energetic music, while remaining within the confines of WAC’s branding guidelines.
Connell, who is from Lake Oswego, calls himself a “video editing nerd” isn’t a sports fan. You would never know it based on his video that emphasizes the speed, agility and strength of athletes. “It’s a very simple concept. It’s how far can you go, how high can you go, and how fast can someone go,” Connell explained to Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian. “All the events are inherently cinematic.”
If a college freshman who isn’t into sports can create a world-class video about athletics, chances are pretty good you can find help to produce video content that would tell your story or market your product. You just have to try.
Making professional-caliber videos seems out of reach to many older adults, but it is second nature to young people who combined an interest in video games with video creation. Powerful tools accessible on laptop computers make video editing less imposing. Content acquisition or creation is easier, too.
The biggest stumbling block to video production is a negative mindset. If you think you can’t do it or can’t afford, you don’t do it, regardless of the lost opportunity cost. There’s a reason 87 percent of online marketers rely on video content. That reason: 78 percent of people with internet access watch online videos every week and 55 percent watch them every day.
The value of content is in its power to convert, not just its popularity on online platforms. That power to convert flows from the ease in consuming video content. It takes less effort to view a video than to read an ad or listen to a podcast. Conversion is aided because video content is easier to remember, especially if it has production value, and can be viewed comfortably on mobile devices. Those are gigantic advantages that should dwarf any fears that you can’t dream up an idea for a video or figure out how to create one.
If the deck wasn’t already stacked in favor of video content, then consider Google’s algorithmic love of video. That goes hand in hand with analytic data showing viewers spend more time on a page if it contains video content.
There’s a reason 87 percent of online marketers rely on video content. That reason: 78 percent of people with internet access watch online videos every week and 55 percent watch them every day.
With plenty of reason to pursue video content, how do you get over the obstacle of finding someone who can create it for you? That’s a fair question, but a relatively easy one to answer. You need to look. Check out public relations and advertising firm websites. Make an inquiry on LinkedIn or Pinterest. Ask colleagues where they found video content creators. Don’t shy away from contacting four-year and community colleges with cinema or related programs, especially if you are a nonprofit looking for help.
Don’t wait for help to start thinking what your video content should contain. You know more about your product or service than anyone else, so you are best qualified to judge the value or uses of your product or service. You are the expert on your value proposition and target customer personas, so you can imagine how best to show that value to your most likely customers in a video.
Even a crude concept provides a reliable starting point for third-party assistance, whether it’s from a PR firm, a freelancer or your own kid who is a whiz on computers. With Connell’s portfolio, you might try to hire him.
