How many videos do you think you’ve watched today? Even if you decided to not watch the entire video, you likely watched a snippet of a longer video through your social media feeds. The reason you watch each video relies highly on your mood and what you are hoping to achieve in that moment. A recent Google study, says people turn to videos for news and information, to feel good, refuel and learn.

Source: Google/Talk Shoppe, U.S., whyVideo post COVID-19 study, n=2003 A18-64 general population video users, May 2020.

According to Facebook’s statistics, 500 million viewers watch 100 million hours of video content on Facebook daily. This figure for Facebook is much lower than the 500 million hours watched daily on YouTube, but that could be partly because the average length of videos on Facebook tends to be lower.  Did you know that more video content gets uploaded in 30 days than what major US television networks have broadcast in 30 years?

Shifting media habits, emerging video technologies and new social media platforms that support digital video content have changed the way companies communicate with consumers. Before the pandemic, Cisco estimated that by 2022 of all created content would be video. The pandemic has since accelerated an already ravenous appetite for video content. Relative newcomers, such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and now Twitter Fleets, are feeding consumer’s insatiable desire for video. TikTok’s growth nearly tripled in size since 2018, now amassing approximately 100 million monthly active users in the US alone.

With all this excitement over video, it is no wonder we always recommend video content to our clients. 47% of brands have said that mobile video has helped them increase brand awareness.  Video is a great way to get your messages across using beautiful imagery and approachable language. For any communication material to be effective for companies, the content must stay consistent with the brand’s identity and tone of voice.

There are a number of styles for digital content and teams are always looking for more creative ways to showcase their brands and messages as the market becomes oversaturated. However, there are a few general forms of digital videos that businesses can think about when creating content, such as a traditional advertisement, how-to videos or tutorials, interviews, user content created, video presentations, shoppable videos or sizzle reels. These premade videos are great to share through multiple communication channels, such as social media, on your website, embedded into e-newsletters or as a link at the bottom of your emails. They can vary between six seconds to 30 minutes, depending on content, audience and goals. Companies can even record their meeting sessions, live video presentations with Q&A and other live-streaming content and repurposing them for different audiences.

These videos are part of a branding strategy, as part of Brand Journalism. The concept of Brand Journalism has been around since 2004 when McDonald’s used it as a way to communicate its new brand message. At PR Consult, we have been working with Brand Journalism concepts over the last 10 years creating multiple stories that bring brand messages together for a digital, mobile world.  According to a Forbes article, “With Brand Journalism the brand messaging is never static or boring. The brand story is delivered in multi-faceted ways across multiple devices and platforms. A consumer (viewer/listener) is not subjected to the excessive repetition of a simple, standard creative message over and over again. And yet, the defining brand experience is the same across all media, across all devices and across all platforms.”

Brand Journalism is and will continue to be an important part of how brands communicate in a digital world, and video is integral to that approach. The pandemic has shown us that the future of video is about creating content viewers find relatable. This relatability will differ for each brand but every company should already be creating content that empowers viewers, helps them build their skills, find joy or happiness and/or mitigate their stress.