In a previous blog (See: To Tweet or Not To Tweet: That is the Question) I talked about tweeting and how it's migrated from "who cares," to providing real business value. I guess the next question is, "to video or not to video?"
Since the introduction of YouTube, we've seen an overload of videos with cats playing pianos, people doing dumb stuff and other people trying to be the next American Idol. The rise of the video as a means of communicating new products and services has accelerated with the proliferation of low-cost video recorders, such as the Flip video cameras.
Should you and your business use videos to communicate to employees, customers, and prospects? Consider this -- Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) says that “Video is the number one opportunity to engage with customers and many customers now trend towards searching video sites when looking for information.”
Research also shows :
70 percent of online users watch video
More than half watch video in the workplace
More than 700 billion videos were viewed in 2010
So my question is, are videos a good way of communicating with employees, potential clients and current customers? Then, do you watch them, and why, and how long?
I have been involved in creating videos since the 1970s with Molex Inc. (Nasdaq: MOLX). I felt the video trend would expand, but talking about and doing something about it are two different thing. Luckily, I have some great people working with me that, just over two years ago, helped launch an electronics distribution-specific video portal. The objective was simple: provide another source of education for our customers. Eighteen months ago, Avnet OnDemand.com became a reality.
When Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) first started, we were the only ones in our industry and distribution who had a tech video portal. Now we’re seeing all of our competitors and industry publications jumping into the game as they see the value of providing these videos.
Avnet and its suppliers now do special training videos to help our engineers, buyers and value added resellers learn more about the products and services we sell. In addition, we’re producing shows internally, some of which feature our CIO interviewing our suppliers on various topics. In just 18 months, we’ve gone from a few videos to 620 active videos and over 10,000 views per month.
Today almost anybody can produce a decent-looking video with the Flip video camera and similar products -- almost all editors have them nowadays. The trick is to have it produced for a relatively low cost while also getting your message out in a professional manner.
Who knows? You could be the next video sensation on YouTube. Like the “Old Spice Man”. Or at the very least, help your business or yourself by communicating with video. What’s your take?
Motion picture technology has increased the volume of information that can be conveyed to the viewer many orders of magnitude over still images. This means not only factual information, but also emotional appeal can be presented. Companies taking up video as a tool for communicating would do well to look at the motion picture and television industry, where production crews shape all aspects of the sight, sound and pacing of images to convey thematic and factual content. The influence of cinema and later television on politics has been transformational. The success of the film industry shows that people will pay generously to view content with a message that appeals to them.
I agree parhakar_deosthali, short and sweet is definitely the way to go with videos. I've noticed even on discussion boards that longer videos -- and here longer is anything beyond 3 minutes -- have far fewer comments than blog posts, probably because the participants only have to devote 2 minutes to reading a blog post and do not want to invest a great deal of time to watching a video.
Whether Video has more impact than just an Audio clip or a textual content depends upon the content itself. While watching a video more attention naturally goes to the presentor and his way of talking, his movements and so on. And sometimes you just get mesmerised with those moving images and have a false sense of listening to everything and having understood everything that is said and shown. But for long video sessions this may turn out to be just an illusion. You may have just absorbed about 5% of what was intened to be conveyed to you. So I would say that videos are good when they are short and sweet!
i would prefer streaming some sessions of information on few topics compared to reading them, once you start reading it gets monotonous and you start loosing interest. always pictures and some voice modulation remains to be captivating type of communication amoung all generations. with the improvement s in technology and voice protocols being developed any thing can be done who know few videos can become doctors tomorrow in cases of emergency.
TamioorZ is correct. Videos take up so much bandwidth that companies may feel they are not worth that particular cost. Now videos are, certainly, popular, but I really wouldn't want the internet to become a vast host of videos. Though I enjoy a good film as well as the next person, I really prefer to take information in the form of text. I can read the words that would be spoken in a video much more quickly than it takes for the video to play. So if I had a choice, I would always opt for reading rather than watching and listening. But for auditory learners who also enjoy visual aids, videos can be a much more effective form of communication for essential information.
I totally agree that videos are a good way for communicating with employees and customers. Video talk gives us a face-to-face real-time conversation effect, by sharing the feelings and emotions. In such cases we can say that a video clip is worth more than million words. The rapid growth of high speed internet, wi-fi mechanism and smart phones or tablets can contribute much in this sector.
Nowadays Video clippings are very much used in many companies to promote their businesses and products. In my opinion it’s a better way of marketing strategy in this fast moving world. It can be used for product demonstrations for explaining, how that particular product works, highlight the special features and how they are different from the competitors etc. MNC’s and corporate giants also started using the video systems for presenting the corporate overview profiles, presentation for board of members, staff presentations, internal communications, marketing etc.
Another major application of video presentation is that it’s one of the best ways for employees training, where the employee can view and practice many times, irrespective of time and place.
@Damilare: I agree with you on this. While it may not be such a big hassle for home users to play videos, lately the IT departments of many organizations have been facing issues in managing the increasing bandwidth requirement. A major reason for this is the use of online video streaming in the enterprise. That's why a lot of companies have still banned online streaming within the company's network. While the use of videos may be very useful in the enterprise, the bandwidth issue is also critical and has to be dealt with.
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Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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