Vlogs and other video content can be a highly effective way to influence and engage prospective customers, as well as journalists, bloggers and analysts. But that effectiveness depends on the quality of distribution and production.
A recent Brightcove blog post – “YouTube and The High Cost of Free” – does a great job of covering the delivery aspects, including how frequent buffering affects brand reputation. Brightcove hired a research firm to poll consumers, and one key finding was that poor-quality video makes them 62 percent more likely to have a negative perception of the brand that published the video.
The post is chock full of more stats to help convince your CFO or marcom VP that if your organization is going to produce videos, trying to do them on the cheap can backfire in terms of lost sales. For example, 23 percent of respondents said they’d hesitate to buy from a brand that gives them a poor-quality video experience. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and this is one of those times.
Production is the other half of the equation. Richard Nixon didn’t lose the first-ever televised presidential debate because people disliked his platform. Just the opposite: People who listened to the debate on radio gave the night to Nixon. But those who watched the debate said John F. Kennedy won because Nixon looked bad – literally. He had makeup troweled on to cover a 5 o’clock shadow, sweated profusely and was pale because he just got out of the hospital. By comparison, Kennedy was tan from touring in open motorcades.
Looks still count. Your message won’t resonate when journalists, bloggers, analysts and prospective customers are distracted by amateurish mistakes such as poor lighting that shadows your nose into a sundial, or your voice echoing off the drywall. Sure, it’s tempting to use your laptop’s built-in webcam to shoot vlogs, but if the lid angle and lighting are wrong, it can look like a scene from Blair Witch.
If your company has a video conferencing suite, that’s one alternative for shooting vlogs, training videos and other content. Assuming it was professionally designed and installed, the room’s lighting and acoustics should be ideal and ready to go. Don’t have one? Another option is to rent a video conferencing suite from a day-office company such as Regus. It’s a small price to pay for credibility.