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Online video content has skyrocketed in popularity and become a foundational element for digital marketing strategies. HubSpot Blog’s 2023 Video Marketing Report reported the top 5 marketing goals in using video were:
| Increasing revenue/sales | 33% |
| Raising brand awareness/reaching new audiences | 32% |
| Advertising products/services | 32% |
| Improving customer's understanding of products/services | 27% |
| Improving customer service and retention | 23% |
The last of these top five should grab the attention of credit union decision-makers aiming to increase member engagement. Yet, what is it about video content that can positively influence engagement?
Attention Capture
Videos capture attention more effectively than text or images alone. For example, according to Forbes, online videos are shared 1,200% more often than links and text combined. There are several reasons for this.
- Dynamic Content - Video content draws attention since humans are naturally drawn to movement, sound, and visual elements.
- Emotional Impact - Videos spark more intense emotional reactions through images and sounds that tell a story.
- Multi-Sensory - When videos are consumed, both sight and hearing are engaged. Multi-sensory engagement creates a more immersive experience that keeps an audience's attention longer than text and static images alone.
- Manages Short Attention Spans - People often prefer quick, easily consumable content. Videos communicate complex information faster compared to reading in plain text.
Storytelling = Trust
When it comes to fostering better engagement with members, trust is an essential building block. According to Business.com:
“Building trust with customers makes them far more likely to buy your products and services and continue doing business with you long term. Established businesses succeed because they’ve built trust in their brand reputation and forged a genuine bond with their customers.”
But how does video relate to trust? The Business.com article concludes:
“The intimacy of a video marketing campaign makes it uniquely well-suited to building trust.”
Why is this? The reason is videos excel in telling a story. That’s important because, according to BB&Co Strategic Storytelling, Inc.:
“Storytelling is one of the best ways a person or a brand can establish trust. When we tell stories, we reveal and share a part of ourselves that might not otherwise be apparent, making ourselves vulnerable, and people can’t help but respond positively to that.”
Specifically, video storytelling is compelling for several reasons. Among these are:
- Humankind has conveyed information via stories for many thousands of years. Stories capture our attention like few other communication techniques.
- Stories often emphasize collaboration and connection. They engage us through our emotions, thereby connecting us with others.
- Humans think in terms of stories. They provide us with patterns for living everyday life as well as models and metaphors for solving our most significant problems.
Memory Retention
Online content must be memorable to increase member engagement. Video is the clear leader in this regard. Studies show that viewers retain 95% of a message in a video compared to 10% from text alone.
Memory retention can be attributed to the fact that humans tend to exhibit superior recall when more than one sense is engaged. Dual Coding Theory proposes the idea of separate verbal and imagery systems within the brain. These work together to enhance memory, which explains the exceptional information retention phenomenon.
Another scientific basis for video’s better memory retention is cognitive load. Cognitive load theory suggests that the human brain can only process so much information at one time. That’s why researchers have found that reading text requires more brain bandwidth than watching a video. Therefore, information in a video is more easily remembered.
Members Like Videos
It’s a simple fact that people like viewing online videos. Some impressive statistics bear this out:
| Video proportion of global internet traffic | 83% |
| People who say they want to see more video content from brands | 89% |
| Percent saying that a video influenced a purchase decision | 82% |
| Those saying they spend more time on websites that have videos | 88% |
| Consumers reporting short-form videos as the most engaging content | 66% |
What is it about videos your members find so engaging?
Visual Interest and Accessibility
Videos hold viewers' interest longer than static content because they contain multiple visual, auditory, and textual elements. Studies show that 82% of marketers surveyed say video content keeps viewers on their pages longer.
Mobile Friendly
Mobile devices make video content consumption easier, increasing the potential for member engagement. Most users in the U.S. (85%) access the internet via mobile devices. Globally, mobile devices account for around 75% of video consumption.
Shorter Videos
Everyone is pressed for time these days, so it’s no surprise that viewers prefer shorter videos. However, the specific preferred length depends on the type of online experience. For example, for social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, HubSpot reports that users most liked videos of 60 seconds or less. The video marketing experts at Vidyard offer these findings to support the virtue of brevity:
| Average length of all business-related videos | 15.5 minutes |
| The share of videos less than 2 minutes long | 60% |
| Viewers who watched business videos of 10 to 20 minutes long | 3% |
| Viewers watching a business video if it’s less than 60 seconds | 66% |
| Viewers who stop watching a business video that’s longer than 20 minutes | 22% |
| Percent of viewers who say they’d rather not watch an overly long video | 60% |
Interactive Features
Popular features of videos are comments, shares, and live-streaming options. Viewers enjoy the resulting sense of community, which allows them to engage with content creators and other viewers.
A UK study found that respondents interacted more with video content compared to text.
|
|
Content Type |
|
|
|
Video |
Text |
|
“Liked” |
56% |
40% |
|
Shared |
39% |
26% |
|
Commented |
36% |
27% |
Lifestyle Content
Videos focused on “lifestyle” content can serve as a popular component of an overall digital marketing strategy. The digital agency Modern Foundry puts it this way:
“In today’s fast-paced digital world, establishing a strong brand presence has never been more critical. Consumers don’t just want products or services; they want an experience, a connection, and a lifestyle that resonates with their values, aspirations, and interests. That’s why lifestyle content is so important. It connects your brand to your customer organically, creating a narrative that goes far beyond traditional advertising.”
Lifestyle content subjects do not necessarily need to focus exclusively on the company’s products and services. Simply creating a sense in a member’s mind that the credit union “gets me” can be the key to multiple benefits like:
- Heightening Engagement: Lifestyle content stimulates interaction between viewers and content creators. This creates a sense of belonging and affinity, which in turn builds trust between the member and the credit union.
- Brand Loyalty: The member feels an emotional attachment to the credit union, which reduces the likelihood of being attracted to competing brands.
- Dollars and Cents: Publishing lifestyle content could be described as “selling without selling.” Providing valued content over the long term promotes continual engagement, which in turn sets the stage for a higher potential for positive responses to calls to action messaging.
