Lessons from Mobile Matters: Stop Avoiding Video

Michelle Lawrence Picture

by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Jul 21, 2020

Who’s up for a quick game of ‘Would You Rather’? Let’s say you’re interested in learning more about a particular topic; for this example, it’s citizen developers. Would you rather learn about citizen developers through a blog or a one-minute video? I’ll bet most of you chose video. 65 percent of us are visual learners, meaning visuals are the way most of us absorb information the best. We know how crucial it is to have video in our mobile marketing strategy, yet many of us have yet to actually act on it. When Doug Tatum, Executive Director of Digital Media at the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans, appeared on Mobile Matters, he reminded listeners how powerful video can be. Here are a few reminders from our conversation with Doug. Stop Avoiding Video Is your organization currently doing video? If your answer was, “no” were these some of your excuses? These excuses are no longer valid. You’ve got all of the equipment you need, right in the pocket of your sweatpants (because who’s wearing jeans these days?). Don’t sweat it if you don’t have the resources to edit your video as well as you would like. Consumers like authenticity, especially in today’s world. It’s okay if the lighting isn’t quite right, or people in your house aren’t as quiet as you’d like them to be (no matter how much you pleaded for just 15 minutes of silence 🙏 ). So unless you called dibs on the fancy video equipment, we’re all using webcams and smartphone cameras these days. Content Ideas Are Endless  If you’re like most marketing departments, your budget probably got slashed this year. But the good news is you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to push out great content. Video can be whatever you want it to be. Got a new product release? Pull out your phone and record what you’re excited about. Did your team just spend weeks writing a new piece of content? Then film highlights of what people can expect to uncover in the eBook. Or maybe you just added a new employee to your team. Hold a ‘press conference’ to introduce them. Whatever it is, remember that any video is better than no video. While we’re on the subject of content, let’s talk about video length. Doug shared that Facebook videos longer than five minutes have an average watch time of 12 seconds. People are mindlessly scrolling on social media; they’re not interested in watching a Lord of the Rings’ length video on Facebook. A good rule of thumb: keep the longer videos on YouTube. Conversely, people will watch great content. Take the Super Bowl. I actually prefer watching the commercials over the actual game. The ads are compelling and well thought out (they should be for a price tag of $52 million for a 30-second spot). So you can make something long but it better be good. Make It Mobile More than 75 percent of videos are watched on mobile. So it's safe to say that’s where your video will be played too. Stop and look at your video on mobile. How does it look on your phone? And while you’re at it, you’ve got to check it on both Android and iOS. Here’s a few best practices for video on mobile: Steal Good Ideas What does an airline company have in common with an NFL team? At first glance, the answer might seem like zero, so let me give you a hint. What do you need for both things? Tickets. Doug revealed his team looked at how the airline industry used mobile ticketing and modified it to make it work for them. We have a natural tendency to look at companies similar to ours for inspiration because they often have a similar audience. But at the end of the day, aren’t we all just selling to people? Spend an hour each week looking at an industry completely different than yours. What inspiration can you take from those brands and apply it to your business? Think you’ve got video mastered and need a new challenge? Check out other mobile marketing channels to start incorporating into your digital strategy. I’ll bet there’s at least a few you haven’t tried.

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