Someone with an uncluttered mind said content is still the king of online marketing, but the king of content is video! And video is leaving written content racing to catch up. If written content is tailored to the needs and interests of customers, video is made to please the eye of the customer and keep him engaged.

That said, a “fierce battle” is being fought between video and written content. But the written when accompanied by video stands out. In fact, video has an unfair advantage over written. The audio-visual is always more engaging.

One survey said over 70% of customers wanted to see product/service launches in video. In fact, video is increasingly becoming the mainstay of marketing strategies. Customers like to watch online.

Pros and cons of video marketing

• Higher engagement

Video guarantees higher engagement. There are enough surveys that show that customers choose videos on products and services too written content. The overwhelming number of marketers also wants videos in their marketing strategy. Compared to written content, 10 times more people wanted video content.

• High conversion rates

Video content also increases conversions. Particularly when videos are slapped on the landing pages of business websites. Conversions increased by as much as 80 percent. Videos keep visitors glued to the page—soaking in all the information about a product or service. If the video is being shared, then more people are getting engaged, and converted. If the videos are educational, engagement will increase and conversions will rise. Ditto when text content on landing pages is accompanied by video.

• Attractive

‘Visual’ is always more attractive. If elegantly made, viewers will stay glued to videos right to the very end. Videos also make marketing attractive. Customer engagement is easy and remarkably faster.

• Watch on any devices

Almost everyone has a smartphone and videos can be watched on them. Video marketing content on mobile phones results in a fantastic rise in sales. Nowadays nearly 75% of mobile marketing is by video.

• Video increases your reach

Compared to written content marketing, video marketing is costlier. But more businesses want video marketing to be part of their marketing strategy. One reason is video marketing increases reach. Especially, if the videos are engaging and slickly made! There is a fierce competition between companies producing similar goods and offering the same services. And videos make all the difference. YouTube videos and video marketing on smartphones have increased reach to stupendous levels. It not only keeps current customers engaged but also exposes products and services to new markets.

Downsides of video marketing

There are a few reasons why you should think before plunging into video marketing.

• Compared to written content, video making is costly even if return on investment is higher. Mistakes will be costly. Hiring an outside production agency will be costly.
• Making videos takes time! It is a lengthy process, involving several stages: pre-production, production, post-production.
• Updating videos is complicated compared to updating written content. In fact, video gets outdated faster.

Content marketing pros

Many people still prefer written to video content. Even marketers want to make written content their marketing strategy. Here are the pros of written content.

• Inexpensive, easy to produce

Compared to video, written content is inexpensive. Cost of making videos is relative to getting a blog written. Video production is also time-consuming and time is money. The blog should be good, that is all.

• Reusable

Video content cannot be easily remade without doing harm to content. Written content can be reused with minor corrections.

• Skimmable

People usually skim through content. And written content is eminently skimmable. Customers love this aspect of content.

• Searchable

It is an impatient world we live in. Written content saves time because it allows the customer to “search” content using keywords. There is no search option with videos.

• Doesn’t take too long to edit
• Publish and sit back

With written content, all you have to do is to publish content on your website or blog and share it on your social media platforms.

Content Marketing cons

Yes, there are downsides to written content also.

• Internet up to the brim with written content

Every business has a website with a blog. Every business is shouting to be read, and found! Besides, producing “lovable” content is not easy.

• Written content doesn’t attract

Unlike visuals, plain text isn’t attractive. It has to be mixed with video and still-photographs.

• Everybody is not a good reader

By that we mean there are people who can read but don’t like to read. They would rather skim through text than go from line to line, sentence to sentence, word to word! The world is full of the impatient people who cannot stand at one spot for more than a minute, people who skim through life, and skim through posts and blogs.

 In conclusion

So, who is the victor? News video marketing is in pole position, and written content is lagging behind though it is unlikely that either will vanish or perish.