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Why Video? How We Live in a Visual World

Graphics. GIFs. Photos. Presentations. Video.

Our culture relies on visual expression to send and receive information and content, and if content is king, then video is the crown.

According to Brandwatch.com, 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and Cisco projects that by 2021, videos will make up 82% of global consumer internet traffic.

People spend more time watching videos online than ever before, and humans can process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.

We live in a rapidly evolving world with more visual content than ever, and your brand is constantly evolving. So, how do you communicate that evolution to customers? Video is one of the best ways to tell a compelling story and engage with your audience. It is an essential component in a complete marketing strategy.

“Did you see that video?”

Users are more engaged with visuals, specifically with video, on the Internet than they are with text and graphics. They are more likely to pay attention to, comment, like, share, and remember.

So while you may be producing well-intended webinars, creating gorgeous data-filled infographics, and writing whitepapers or case studies filled with bullet points, facts, and statistics, are your customers really parsing through all that information to learn the story of your brand?

When asked how they’d most like to learn about a brand, product or service… man-filming-video-on-camera

– 66% of people said they prefer to watch a video.

– 18% would rather read a text-based article, website, or post.

– 4% prefer to view an infographic.

– 3% would download an eBook or manual.

– 3% would attend an online seminar or pitch.

– 2% like to receive a sales call or demo.

So why do customers want video?

 

It Connects Us

The power and possibility of video is unquestionable. Video does what graphics and text do not. It tells a story through immediacy and through an immersive experience. Videos spark curiosity.

Videos can move people to laugh, cry, learn, empathize, and feel inspired. Movement gets our attention. Music generates emotions. Inflection can build trust, and trust is a foundational element of sales.

The idea is to not produce a video that sounds like a pitch, but one that causes the viewer to feel like their lives will change because of what they just watched. With the right tone and messaging you can build a powerful connection with your audience, and help them understand and relate to your brand, product, and services.

On top of that, while the quantity of Internet content is increasing, our attention spans are decreasing. Holding a viewer’s interest is essential to resonate with audiences. Yes, video can spark your audiences’ curiosity. Is that enough to not only keep them engaged, but to hold their attention and cause them to share your video content?

Want an example? Check out Mercedes-Benz’s “Poop Tweet” video for Smart Car, and tell us you were not hooked almost immediately.

smart-car-poop-tweet

Videos Explain Everything

Videos are a terrific way to show and pitch how your brand, product, or service works because they show things in action. Cat videos aside, the most commonly created types of videos are…

woman-learning-to-cook-from-video

  • Explainer videos (72%) – a short animated video that quickly tells a story.
  • Presentation videos (49%) – a video of a slideshow with the slides played sequentially that can have voiceover narration.
  • Testimonials (48%) – in which a customer or client talks about how a product or service has helped them.
  • Sales videos (42%) – short, personalized outreach videos for prospecting.
  • Video ads (42%) – promotional content that plays before, during, and/or after streaming content.

You can use video in a sales pitch to deliver news and important announcements, give a product demo, and set up your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

Videos are Accessible

Video is accessible and shareable anywhere there is an Internet connection. The number of smartphone users is increasing dramatically, and with video integrated into social media and search engine platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, there are plenty of ways for audiences to access it, comment, like it, and share it.

Video content as a marketing tool is not new but taking the opportunity to engage with audiences means creating appealing, useful video content that is easy to share with others. It is about tapping into social capital.

Shareable content spreads when audiences connect with a topic, idea, or story, and click to share it with their friends and followers.

Social capital refers to the connections between people, and the social norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that those connections cultivate.

It seems safe to say that people want to gain social capital by impressing others, right? Thereby it makes sense that people are more likely to share content that makes them look knowledgeable, socially responsible, or cool.

Pro Tips: Users can engage, embed, share and comment on video content all at the touch of a button, so be sure to include calls-to-action in the video and in any supporting content. Also, many people watch video content silently in public, so be sure to use subtitles and call outs.

When we think of video accessibility, we should also think beyond how we as individuals access it. Take a moment to access your content through the experience of differently abled folks. These potential customers are often overlooked. Can everyone see your video? Can everyone hear it? Assistive technologies like 508-compliant video players and screen readers help make content accessible and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Adding captions helps deaf or hearing-impaired users, and audio transcriptions that describe what is happening in your video, help blind or vision-impaired audiences.

woman-looking-at-apple-phone

Video Differentiates You

The Internet is a crowded place and differentiating your brand can be a true challenge. The key to creating engaging campaigns is to realize video’s ability to connect and produce real storytelling and emotion that speaks directly to your intended target audience. When visual content sparks curiosity, fosters trust, and inspires people to act , it’s a powerful way of outdoing the competition.

 

Content marketing can and will  help you grow. Contact us! We will be glad to help you execute your campaign!

If you’re looking for solutions right now during COVID-19 check out our blog on

Recycling Video: 5 Ways to Repurpose Your Existing Video Content

ABOUT US

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

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CATMEDIA Takes Home 3 Wins from the 41st Annual Telly Awards

Press Release June 5, 2020 –

CATMEDIA is once again a triple winner at the 41st Annual Telly Awards. This year for their work with the Air National Guard’s 194th Wing and DeKalb County Fire Rescue. This marks the second year the creative agency has won for work done with the DeKalb County Fire Rescue. The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks, production companies and including Dow Jones, Duplass Brothers Productions, Complex Networks, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, ESPN Films, RYOT, Vice+ and Vimeo. Check out all of CATMEDIA’s Tellys here.

Telly-Awards-Winners-2020

Winning Work

With over 20 years of media and branding experience, CATMEDIA provides full-service creative capabilities that propel brands forward and rise to the top of their industries. By virtue of our top-top notch media solutions and creative services, their clients are able to communicate effectively and deliver their branded message with fine-tuned intent and precision.

This year’s wins are a reflection of the strides CATMEDIA is taking in video production, animation and branded content development. Their work for DeKalb County Fire Rescue has continued to be recognized for their outstanding approach to capturing the fire department and its personnel. This year’s winner was for the Physical Agility Test Training video. The step-by-step video was made to educate future firefighters on how to successfully complete and pass the rigorous test. The video won in the categories for Craft Videography/Cinematography and Instructional Branded Content. Last year they won for the DCFR Recruitment video produced for the department.

DCFR-PAT-video-hose-drag

CATMEDIA also won in the category for Online Commercials for the production of an animation series for the Air National Guard’s 194th Wing. “The purpose of the series is to show the different initiatives of the 194th Wing on the Wing’s website and on social media,” said Amy Ferzoco, Director of Creative Services at CATMEDIA. “Using a mix of animation and photographs we produced five animations, each of which highlight the individual Groups that the Wing is comprised of. We delivered creative treatments, scripts, pre-production, production, post-production, voiceover narration, music and sound effects mixing, and 508 compliances.”

“Pushing Boundaries”

”CATMEDIA is pushing the boundaries for video and television innovation and creativity at a time when the industry is both rapidly changing and heavily impacted by the current crisis,” said Sabrina Dridje, Managing Director of the Telly Awards. “Our theme for this season, Telly Award Winners Tell Great Stories is a true reflection of the diversity of stories the community is skillfully able to tell. Now, more than ever, do we need to celebrate them and those that bring global stories to our attention. This award is a tribute to the talent and vision of these creators.”

Today’s winners announcement caps a year-long celebration of creators around the globe and across all screens. Continuing on from the inaugural Film & Video Screening Tour last season, The Telly Awards toured a selection of Telly Award winning work to London, NYC, Amsterdam and Toronto, culminating with an online event. This year also saw the continued expansion of new categories further to the awards’ recent initiative to rebuild the honors for the multi-screen era. New categories included serialized Branded Content and expanded Social Video and Immersive & Mixed Reality categories, alongside new categories honoring important work in Social Impact and Diversity & Inclusion.

Last year, The Telly Awards attracted more than 12,000 entries from top video content producers including Adult Swim, the BBC, Condé Nast, Complex Networks, Netflix, Refinery29, RadicalMedia, T Brand Studio and Ogilvy & Mather.

The full list of the 41st Annual Telly Awards winners can be found at
https://www.tellyawards.com/winners/2020/branded-content/campaign-branding

About CATMEDIA

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

About The Telly Awards:

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry The Telly Awards celebrates. Partners of The Telly Awards include Catalyst, LAPPG, NAB, Stash, Storyhunter, NYWIFT, Production Hub, IFP, Social Media Week and VidCon.

Recycling Video: 5 Ways to Repurpose Your Existing Video Content

When promoting your brand, creating a continuous stream of engaging, original video content can be challenging; but that’s what your audience has come to expect.

Still, it begs the question: What should we do when production hiccups or uncertain times make shooting a new video impossible?

The answer may come from the content you already have on hand.

Here are five ways to repurpose your existing video assets:

1. Reframe Your Videos for Mobile

Think about your mobile audience.

Chances are if you’ve created video content for a YouTube or Vimeo audience, you probably did so in a standard 16:9 format – the dimensions you’re most likely to see in television and commercial work. While this aspect ratio is ideal for playback on laptops and smart TVs, it’s not as readily consumable in a mobile environment, which means you could be missing out on millions of potential customers.

The solution? Reframe your existing content for mobile.

Vertical video is on the rise, with more and more original content rolling out from studios and influencers every day. The two most popular mobile aspect ratios you’re likely to see are 1:1 and 9:16, with 1:1 being square video and 9:16 being the reverse of the standard 16:9 format we’re used to (think hotdog rather than hamburger).

vertical-video-on-mobile-device-desk

Whichever ratio you choose, by reframing your videos to be viewable on a taller screen, you open your content up to a wider audience.

Can reframing take time? Sure. As much time as shooting a new video? Not by a long shot.

Bonus: If you edit your own videos in Adobe Premiere, the job of reframing just got even easier. Premiere has a new feature called Auto-Reframe that does the heavy lifting for you – tracking the action to intelligently reframe your videos automatically.

Going mobile has never been easier!

 

2. Cut Down Longer Videos into Smaller Pieces

Think long-term with short-form video.

Let’s face it, no matter how interested we are in a topic, there’s an upper limit to our attention spans. It happens all the time. We find the perfect video we’ve been looking for, our interest is peaked, we go to press play, then we see the runtime.

video-editing-on-desktop

We decide we’ll watch it later.

When it’s your brand behind the video, the last place you want to be is in a potential customer’s bookmarks bar. Instead, consider cutting down some of your longer pieces into smaller, more digestible videos.

Think about your content from the user’s experience. Short-form videos are easier to finish, easier to share, and  most importantly – easier to remember.

 

3. Branch Out to New Social Media Platforms

If a piece of your marketing content lives solely on your website, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for exposure. The same is true if you’re only posting your content to one platform.

Diversity is king when it comes to marketing. The more places you are, the more customers you can reach. And those customers are everywhere.

social-media-on-mobile-device

Over 40 percent  of the world uses social media, with more than 350 million having joined in 2019 alone. With new users materializing every day, the more visible your videos are on these platforms, the better.

If you’ve cut down and reframed your videos as we discussed in the previous sections, then reaching into new markets should be a breeze. Just keep in mind the maximum video runtimes for your platform of choice:

  • Facebook: 240 minutes
  • Twitter: 140 seconds
  • Instagram: 60 seconds
  • Snapchat: 10 seconds

Whichever route you take, take the time to familiarize yourself with the platform, and be sure to share the videos most relatable to your target audience.

 

4. Repurpose Your Videos as Podcasts

Consider releasing your old videos as podcasts. It might seem like these two mediums are as similar as night and day, but you may be surprised by how much crossover you find between them.

If the intent of your existing video is to educate or inform your audience, there’s a good chance the audio may stand up on its own without video support. If that proves true, creating a podcast from your existing content can be as simple as exporting an audio file.

women-conducting-podcast

Can audio content really compare to video? In 2019, 32 percent of the U.S. population reported listening to podcasts on a monthly basis, with the average listener subscribing to an average of six shows. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Having a regular podcast not only opens this powerful new channel for users to find your content. The subscription-based nature of podcasting also opens up the possibility of reliable listenership for the foreseeable future.

 

5. Repurpose Your Video as a Blog Entry

Speaking of audio, in this day and age, we should all be transcribing our videos for closed captioning purposes. After all, many of our viewers are hearing impaired, and those who aren’t still report regular use of closed captioning to help with everything from overcoming environmental noise to increasing productivity.

If you haven’t yet gotten into the habit of captioning, YouTube is a great resource. Each video you upload to the site is automatically closed-captioned – though it’s wise to look over the final product for accuracy.

Once your video is transcribed, it’s ready to reach a whole new audience. But you can take this process one step further.

By reformatting your transcriptions as blog posts, you can create unique written content to help drive more traffic to your website.

Simply by having the text on your page, you improve your SEO by increasing your content’s searchability. And by adding your own flair to each post, you can connect to your audience on a more personal level.

Don’t forget to embed your video at the top of the blog. After all, it’s all about the content.

In times when producing new content is difficult, it’s helpful to know there’s always more we can do with the materials at our disposal. The most important thing is to think outside the box and keep creating!

Need help developing a strategy? Check out our blog Customer Engagement: The Go-to-Guide For Developing Your Strategy

Learn more about how we can help you to leverage your existing content by clicking here!

ABOUT US

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
For more information, please visit CATMEDIA

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Video Marketing: Capturing Attention and Keeping It

Video as a medium is one of the most efficient ways you can communicate to a mass audience and convey information. Within seconds, a viewer learns almost everything you want them to know about your brand, your goals, and your benefit to them. High-quality videos with engaging subjects and the right messaging can increase traffic to your website significantly. Content that both impresses and draws in your target audience. Below are five video marketing strategies that will capture your audience’s attention.

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HIGH VISIBILITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

using-instagram-outsideMany social media platforms, notably Facebook, use algorithms that favor video formats. However, even without the boost from these algorithms, evidence suggests that people are simply more likely to share and engage with video content than other kinds of posts. A video is 53x more likely to populate a Google search than a text article and 40x more likely to be shared on social media. This means that if you have a message you want to get out, video offers the best chances of being seen on major social media platforms.

STORIES ARE YOUR FRIENDS

video-marketing-capturingStories are videos or photos that play for approximately ten seconds on various social media platforms, notably Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. They disappear after 24 hours and can’t be liked or shared, but people are more likely to watch them than to scroll to a post. I can say I am more likely to watch a chain of Instagram stories than scroll through the feed. It’s a great way to get your brand seen and to message in a concise format.

SPONSORED VIDEO ADS

types-of-youtube-adsIn the last decade, competition for attention online has gotten tougher than ever. In 2017 alone, video content took up 74 percent of online traffic. Companies are competing just as much within their industries as without to get attention and boost their brands. For instance, paid ads can be a leg up on the competition. This puts in a boost on social media platforms to get your content at the top of the stack and in front of people’s eyeballs.

EDUCATION AND TUTORIALS

woman-makeup-tutorialA great way you can connect with your audience is by posting educational tutorials or tips relevant to your industry. This simultaneously shows off your expertise in a subject. Subsequently, also engaging viewers to learn more about you and your business. They are also easy to serialize, as there is never just one thing people need or want to learn about in your industry.

CALL TO ACTION

conan-subscribe-video-pageFailing to stick the ending is a common video marketing mistake. Your audience might be fully engaged in the content you put out. However, if you fail to use that to motivate them into taking the next step, it will be all for naught. A call to action gives your viewers a next-step once they’ve watched your video. It can be as simple as directing your audience to your website for more information, or the ever present “Like, Share, or Subscribe.”

 

Video marketing is an exciting and interactive way for you to reach an audience. It is more important and more cost-effective than ever to create video content for your brand. Do you want more information about video-marketing? Check out our website and tell us if we can use video to take your online marketing strategy to the next level.

ABOUT US

CATMEDIA is an award-winning Inc. 500 company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1997, the company specializes in advertising, creative services, media production, program management, training, and human resource management. As a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB), CATMEDIA provides world-class customer service and innovative solutions to government and commercial clients. Current CATMEDIA clients include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Stay Connected with CATMEDIA:
For more information, please visit CATMEDIA

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