As a practice, marketing, the promotion of buying and selling a product
or service, has been known for millennia. But the term marketing
appeared in the late nineteenth century and became an academic field in the
early twentieth century. Since then, marketing has dominated the modern
business world and has passed through many transitional phases. From printed
marketing material to telemarketing to the extravagant power-hungry billboards on
busy avenues like the Times Square, marketing has essentially remained the
same.
But, in the last couple of years, with smartphone usage and social media
proliferation, marketing has shifted to a more informational marketing type. The
so-called educational video marketing is the latest marketing trend for the
past few years with great potential for businesses.
The educational video came into popularity simultaneously as social
media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These social media platforms allow the easier
shareability of videos in a matter of few clicks and to a larger audience.
These heavily populated social media platforms and the qualities that a video
brings to the table are the main reasons behind video marketing success. The
internet is flooded with information that the users can search for almost
anything and get instant results. Consequently, the internet is a great way to inform
yourself about anything, and what is a better way to do that than seeing a video?
Educational videos are also known as "how-to" videos. These videos
are literally everywhere on the web, and that popularity gave rise to what we
call now educational video marketing. But what really makes a video such a powerful
tool?
A video's qualities make it the perfect medium for teaching or informing
someone about something new. First, videos combine two essential elements that distinguish
them from other mediums. What makes videos superior is that they combine both
visual and audio components that come with advantages on their own.
A video creates a more engaging sensory experience that enhances
learning, especially when it comes to difficult topics. The visual part of the
video makes it easy for the audience to grasp information more quickly, corresponding
best to visual learners' needs. Furthermore, even if their subject lies more to
the acoustic side, a video will allow their viewers to better understand their body language's nuances.
Therefore, an educational video is an excellent way for someone to learn
something on the web because it makes the process really easy and, why not,
fun. But all these are more relevant to the side of the consumer. So, what is
going on with the businesses? How can they utilize educational videos,
especially when they lack the experience to create them in the first place?
The majority of businesses have nothing to do with the creation of
educational videos. For that reason, it must sound weird to companies that they
can, or better should invest, in creating a video through which they will
inform their potential customers about something that relates to them as a business.
By doing so, they will gain considerable benefits that will improve their brand
overall and will achieve to:
- Answer
directly or indirectly common questions relating to their business
- Explain more
effectively their business model
- Build
trust around their brand as you they are trying to inform about something rather than
sell
- Generate
leads
- Increase
their authority
But, because businesses typically do not possess the know-how to create educational
videos, or better still, the equipment to do so, there are organizations like iED Academy. iED Academy, except
being a Knowledge Hub on European Entrepreneurship, also provides the expertise
to help businesses create their own
educational videos for marketing purposes.
Educational video marketing is an effective way to reach a vast audience
and do that effectively. It is not only an excellent way to inform their audience about their business or about something that relates closely to them,
but it also adds value. It is not just another marketing campaign which tries
to aggressively sell something and will get old after some time. An educational video will last longer on the web and, depending on the quality of the video it will have replayability. Video marketing is an
indirect yet effective way to improve and raise their brand awareness.
