Video: The Advertising Pot of Gold at the End of your Fiscal Rainbow by Derek Lau

Want to put a little magic in your business plan? Consider incorporating video into your company’s website.

As a businessman, you instinctively know that nothing sells itself. Even the most revolutionary product or desirable service wont make you a dime if no one knows about it, so like everyone from Fortune 500 CEOs to start-up mavericks dreaming of a post-IPO retirement bash, you try to promote your brand any and every way imaginable and then try to imagine even further. Unlike the CEO however, your promotional budget probably doesn’t extend past four digits, if not three, so you’re forced to play it safe and advertise the old-fashioned way, with print ads and maybe a radio spot or two. After all, its not like there’s a perfect ad campaign that will suddenly get everyone’s attention and drive up demand for your product like magic, right?

Well no, but there may be something just as good that you haven’t tried yet, something that, while it may not cast a spell over your target audience, could at least lead you to a pot of gold filled with increased visibility and a revamped company image: video. Over the past few years, the percentage of online traffic occupied by videos steadily increased, with a peak of just over 50% in November. Experts predict that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, making it a valuable and perhaps even essential tool for any business to utilize.

First among videos strengths is its streamlined creative process. A simple pitch video for a company website can be shot in just a few days and uploaded a few weeks later, depending on post-production needs. Even if you’re not looking to produce videos for your company, posting popular videos on your website can go a long way towards increasing traffic and giving your site a hip, modern feel. Embedding a video requires no technical know-how beyond finding an HTML code, which can be found on YouTube by clicking Share and then Embed beneath the video you want to put on your site.

On a more basic level, video is the most mentally stimulating medium available to you. Although watching one may appear to be a wholly passive experience, a good video fully engages both the eyes and the ears to create an immersive experience which impacts the viewer on a visceral level. Text, on the other hand, requires a more intellectual approach for proper processing and does not truly stimulate our sense of sight, as its an extension of spoken language.

By providing your potential customers with videos, you’re offering them the best possible chance to learn about your company and taking your first step towards that pot of gold.