5 Reasons You Need To Learn Video Production
1. Adds Value to Your Company
No matter what industry you are in, there will come a time when it will become either necessary or beneficial to have a video created. Whether it is to promote the business, train employees, or conveniently communicate direction, videos are a great way to do that effectively, and will be in high demand.Now, you could go take the route many companies do and hire freelancers for that area of work, but it says a lot about your value as an employee and your dedication to quality when you have such a necessary skill ready to use at the drop of a hat. Not only that, but if you become adept at it, you could save your company the time, money, and resources it would take to hire a freelancer.
2. Times Are Changing
My thirteenth birthday was the day I was finally permitted by my parents to get a Facebook account. While I mainly just played "Words With Friends", I soon found it to be an amazing tool for keeping up with what friends were doing. It was a seemingly endless feed of updates, jokes, and fun!It was a far cry from the Facebook we know today. News articles and videos now dominate the majority of the Facebook feed. This style of sharing has only grown ever since Facebook video started gaining speed in 2014. Facebook executive Nicola Mendelsohn even predicted that Facebook would be all video in 5 years. Regardless, Facebook remains the most popular social network.With similar networks such as Twitter also integrating video into their feeds at growing rates, the best option for promoting ideas and building brands is to adapt to those changes. The use of video in social media is a train that's leaving the station, and unless you climb aboard, it'll be tough to catch up later.
3. Science
Fun fact: Human beings instinctively respond to video in a way like no other type of online media. This is because of formal features (effects) such as zooms, cuts, pans, and others literally forces us to keep watching. TVsmarter.com reports, "Because these 'formal features' are so novel, and different from normal everyday reality, they trigger the brain's 'orienting response'... an important brain reflex that alerts us when there is a change in the environment... it forces us to pay attention to any (potentially dangerous) changes in the environment."When presented with both text and a video, our brains will force us to give special attention to the video because of the moving pictures.The thing about social media is that it is competitive. The difference being that you aren't competing for the hottest new client or the business partnership everyone is trying to get their hands on. You're competing for the attention of people during their personal time. Whether you are promoting a product, a brand, or even just an idea, video will be the best way to gain the attention of people across the board.
4. Opens New Doors
I've been posting content regularly since January of 2015. Call it a resolution of sorts. Whenever possible, I release a video every week on YouTube. This ranges from entertaining, to thought provoking, to anywhere in between. Think of it as a personal blog, but in the format of 5 minute video.Recently, an acquaintance found one of these videos and really liked the message and production value of it. So much so that he pulled some strings to get it featured on a very well-known Facebook page, as well as backed by funding to promote it further throughout Facebook. Within 24 hours it had gotten thousands of views, hundreds of shares, and loads of comments as well as direct messages from people who enjoyed the video.This also opened up a few networking opportunities! I was asked to speak for the Degree Free Careers "Digital Entrepreneur Career Fair", and connected with someone interested in hiring me for production work.Had I written a blog post with the same content as my 7 minute video, I doubt it would have gotten nearly the same amount of attention. With all the link bait and trash articles being shared on Facebook, people are wary to click on links, much less bother with an article if it looks like it will take too long to read.Video production speaks volumes about your personal skills, both in video production and regarding your ability to communicate and engage an audience.
5. You Can Break the Internet Barrier
The internet has opened up doors and led to growth in ways nobody could have dreamed of a century ago. That being said, it also comes with a certain handicap. Blog posts and instant messaging can convey an idea, but very rarely does it establish a strong connection with your reader. This is because humans are wired for interaction. Things like body language, tone of voice, and facial cues are what make that real connection and allow you to grasp intent and gain understanding much better.While online text falls short of this (Let's face it, an emoji can't replace a human being with a soul), video can overcome this.I recently had the chance to travel to Tennessee for an event where I met my friend Chris, a fellow YouTube content creator. We've both produced videos sharing funny stories, presenting engaging ideas, etc., all while talking to the camera. I had the chance to meet a lot of people during this trip who I had engaged with online, but meeting Chris for the first time in real life was really easy. We had both viewed each other's content for years, so we already had a good grasp on each other's personalities, and were able to talk like we'd been friends forever.Human beings have a natural desire for human interaction. Solitude drives people insane, and too much reliance on the internet for communication often leaves people with confusing depression. It isn't that they necessarily have anything to be depressed about, they simply lack physical, human interaction that humans so desperately need.To put it simply, video is the closest you can get through the internet to making a connection with an audience that will keep their attention now, and maybe even bring it back to you later on.So whether you want to provide value for your company, display your skills for potential employers, or engage an audience in the best way possible, it might be worth it to look into the art of creating videos. Whether you look up tutorials on YouTube, take a course on Lynda.com , or learn on your own, I wish you the best.Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go turn this article into a video.