As we prepare to exit our third lockdown of this pandemic, it’s important to look at the lessons learned from over a year of living – and working – in a socially distanced world. While people will start attending meetings once it is safe to do so, it is also true that many of us have seen the benefits of working from home. Video technology has a huge part to play in the future working environment, allowing us to show up without being physically present and ultimately maximising our time.

• The importance of video in a socially distanced world
• What video can do
• Why video works for your audience
• Video is successful in providing a better online experience when used well and can give you a great return on investment

Video in the spotlight

As coronavirus has forced so many to adapt to different ways of working, so too has it driven innovation in the way people engage online. Video content has become more necessary than ever – people are at home more, online for longer and a larger demographic of people now feel comfortable in using a wider range of media.

Fact Check

• In 2021 people watched on average 2.5 hours per day/18 hours a week of online video [ref]
• Kantar’s global study into consumer attitudes, media habits and expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that social media engagement has grown around 61% since the pandemic began
• In this article for Forbes the way in which social media is used by businesses is shown to be changing, with ways to connect one-to-one favoured over more traditional advertising and marketing
• 96% of consumers say the amount of video content they’ve watched online has increased due to the pandemic [ref]

And this doesn’t look likely to change… Recent research has found the majority of employees don’t want to return to their old way of working.

What does this mean for your audience?

Making CONNECTIONS 

Lockdown has left all of us lacking in connection. Clients and candidates are looking for companies who are familiar, and are more likely to use those they know and trust. 

Video can do this by…

Creating COMMUNITY

Videos feel more personal and can replace some of the face-to-face interaction that is missing. 

CAPTIVATING audiences

Video works in a practical sense due to the way people behave online; text is skim read and cannot capture attention anything like as much as video. 

• People are twice as likely to share video than any other content [ref]
• 69% of those asked said they’d choose watching a short video over any other marketing tool to learn about a product or a service [ref]
• 84% of people say they’ve bought into a service or product solely due to watching the brand video [ref]

Instilling CONFIDENCE

Familiarity with the technology is another reason why video makes sense now more than ever. In a time of Zoom calls with the office and FaceTime with family, there are simply more people using video tech in everyday life, changing preconceptions about video being complicated to use or ‘something for the younger generation’. All this adds up to more confidence in using video, creating a wider range of people with the ability to consume this type of content.

Video – giving you a starring role

• Video is used online everywhere; more and more people are becoming confident users and consumers
• It can help create connection and community in a world where we are physically separated or less willing to travel
• This gives you more opportunity to show off more of what you do and how well you do it. 
• There are many different ways to use video to complement a recruitment marketing strategy that fits your company

For an in-depth look at why video works well for a recruitment business, and how you can best use it as an important addition to your marketing strategy, check out our final part of this series on video…