Comments on: Did video kill the copywriting star?

By: Jewel

Jewel — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:24:08 +0000

So many excellent points made. I, too, frequently avoid videos like the plague! I find that many of them just don’t get to the point I’m in search of quickly enough.

It’s easier to scroll down a page than skip back ‘n forth in a video, looking for just the snippet I need.

By: Marjory

Marjory — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:39:38 +0000

Nothing irks me more than when I’m looking for a quick answer, I have to watch a video – with a minute and a half of ads at the beginning. But you’re right in that sometimes a video is important – particularly if it’s a how-to or tutorial. Video will never kill text – not unless we all suddenly get a lot more spare time.

By: Ryan Boots

Ryan Boots — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:07:31 +0000

Good points all around. Two other thoughts:

-Trying to get videos to rank for long-tail keywords – which is where the action tends to be for conversions – can be a significant challenge. Copy, particularly blogging, is a much simpler and quicker route to success.

-Videos are expensive to produce. Yes, they can be repurposed for other venues, such as trade shows and the like, which helps to amortize the costs. But smaller businesses, which generally don’t do those sorts of events (because, well, they’re expensive!) will find that a good, high-quality video is just out of reach.

By: Heather Georgoudiou

Heather Georgoudiou — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:46:19 +0000

Great post. You cannot deny the power of video marketing. We recently did a contest and combined an informational video with email and social media posts. The promotion worked out well, people clicked through to watch the video but also looked at our social media sites and website. Video marketing may bring people to your site, but it’s the copy that will move your product! Yeah copywriters!

By: Amy C. Teeple

Amy C. Teeple — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:13:49 +0000

Great point Heather. Video doesn’t have to replace text, but it can be a great supplement.

It’s so true that some people can’t – or don’t want to – watch videos. Plus, sometimes you just want to scan a page for your answer, not sit through a video hoping your answer is in there.

Many times, if I need to sift through videos for info, I tend to start the video and then open other tabs/windows on my computer and start working on something else while I try to listen – my A.D.D. (OK, not diagnosed as such, but I feel it!) kicks in and I get bored. I feel like there is something else I should be doing.

I’ve even read a Tweet from someone who said if she clicks on a link and it turns out to be a video, she closes the window and doesn’t even give it a chance.

That being said, I know there are a lot of people – especially the younger generation who 1) never knew life before MTV and 2) probably didn’t get the song reference in your title – who want to be given their information in videos. However, they probably want a lot more than a talking head. (I have yet to see a talking head video go viral.)

One last thought – people need to produce videos that are helpful – not just have a video for video’s sake. For example, if I’m on a website for a weight loss/bariatric surgeon (I’ve written a few), I might want to see videos that include testimonials (but not drawn out), before and after transformations, procedure information, and even some educational videos, like “how to measure portion size when you are at a restaurant.” I wouldn’t want to see just a “welcome to my website” talking head video or a video where the doctor is telling me how great he is.