In the world we live in, there’s no shortage of channels to communicate your message. With the click of a “Share” button, people all over the world can serve as ambassadors for your cause. Whether they’re sharing your content on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or Pinterest, these users are vouching for you by putting your content in the hands of people you may never have the opportunity to meet. When producing content for your website, we’ve come up with five great reasons you need to invest in website video pieces.
1. Personal Connection
Website video pieces allow you to create personal connections with viewers. They convey emotion in a powerful way. Not only are viewers able to see facial expressions as they would in a photo, but they can better decipher body language and raw emotion. By providing your online audience with a video, you’re giving them more than just facts. You’re giving them a glimpse into the “why” behind your mission.
2. Urgency
Video allows you to communicate the urgency of a cause in a way that other mediums may not be able to adequately express. Your website audience may never travel to the places where you serve, and they may never work among the people you serve. But by providing them with a video, you’re inviting them to stand among those you serve, in a virtual sense. When your online viewers understand the plight of those you work among, they will better understand the urgency behind what you do.
3. Exposure
When you embed a video in your site by uploading it to YouTube, you’re increasing your potential reach by over a billion viewers! YouTube gives you access to an audience that may not otherwise know of your organization or visit your website. By including a good description and keyword tags, your video could appear in searches related to your content. Additionally, YouTube has a special program for registered 501(c)3 organizations, which allows you to add a donate button to your channel. Learn more here.
4. Engagement
When you publish a website video, you provide visitors with another option to engage with your content. Since people engage with content differently, some will prefer reading, while others prefer watching or listening. Some of your visitors may not take the time to read an “About us” post, but if given the opportunity, they may watch a 2-3 minute video. Similarly, your visitors may not be compelled to share an article they read on your site, but they may find one of your videos so compelling, that they choose to become brand ambassadors by posting it to their social networks.
5. Cost Effectiveness
If you have the resources to hire a professional videographer, you will quickly find that a high quality, compelling video is well worth the investment. Just be sure to first check out some samples of the videographer’s work to ensure your expectations are achievable by the producer. However, if your resources are limited, an added benefit of video is the fact that you can still produce compelling content at a minimal cost. Be sure to find some online resources for the best methods of shooting high quality video, and pay particular attention to capturing good quality audio. YouTube even provides some free online video editing tools at http://youtube.com/editor.
Do you have stories of successful video campaigns on your site? Let us know in the comments below.