Text or Video Content: Which is More Effective for Marketing?

If you are looking to build an effective digital marketing strategy, it can often be tricky to know where you should start.

13:14 17 December 2020

There are many different ways that you can share a message, from simple text (known as “copy” in marketing), to images, to video and audio content. While video content is usually much more difficult to produce, it can be well worth the time and effort. Here is a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the uses of text and video content for marketing.

 

Advantages of Text

 

Despite the clear advantages of video over text, text is still useful for a number of different purposes. Written text can be skim-read, and readers can often pick up the same amount of information when it is written down as they can when they have to watch a video that usually shares the same information at a speaking pace, which is usually slower. Text also has the advantage of not needing to be listened to, which is beneficial to those hard of hearing, and to people who simply don’t want to pause their music or TV show to engage with your content.

 

Disadvantages of Text

 

It can be difficult to explain concepts or your products via text when compared to video. A lot of information may need a visual representation to be effectively marketed, or even to be explained at all. Many people also don’t want to read text, especially if they have been at work reading emails or documents all day!

 

Advantages of Video Content

 

A study in 2012 showed that internet users are over 27 times more likely to click on video advertisements than simple images. Video content can be an incredibly powerful tool in your arsenal when it comes to marketing your business, and it has been estimated that websites that include video content receive over 40% more traffic than those that only feature written text. The eye is naturally drawn to movement, which means that video ads are more likely to be seen and clicked on by internet users than still images are. Producing video content also allows you to upload your videos to YouTube and social networking sites as well as just to your own site; therefore reaching a far wider audience. Video content also allows you to use music and graphics that can appeal to your target market.

 

Disadvantages of Video Content

 

There are some potential limitations when it comes to video content, and some advantages of text over video content. For example, people who are deaf, hard of hearing or simply unable to play sound through their device will likely find it much easier to read a piece of text than they would to watch and listen to a video. Thankfully, there is a way around this: subtitles! Many companies offer transcription and closed captioning services, with some even offering real time transcription for live video content such as webinars.

 

Overall, there are plenty of different reasons to use video content as well as written text. While it is most likely a mistake to not create videos for marketing your business, it is also a mistake to neglect to use text as well. The most effective digital marketing strategy is likely to include a combination of text, video and still images. There is no reason not to cover all bases!