We can now say with certainty that consumers are far more likely to read and engage with information that includes visual or interactive content. Companies are jumping on board and creating data visualizations and infographics that are increasingly more interactive. Not only does the addition of video and interactivity make content more memorable, but it also can also be an extremely effective way for brands to capture the attention of their target audiences and improve levels of engagement.
We recently spoke with Nadya Khoja, Head of Marketing at Venngage, a data visualization tool, to discuss how the demand for visually-interesting content is rapidly increasing and the marketing shift towards the use of video and interactivity to engage an online audience.
1) Can you please provide a brief description of Venngage?
Venngage is a simple infographics maker that enables anyone to create beautiful infographics in minutes. This easy-to-use tool is a cloud-based platform and allows anyone to create a range of infographics, reports, data visualizations, resumes as well as a number of useful business resources.
2) What role does online video play in the business?
For the most part, we use online video platforms, mainly YouTube, to provide useful tutorials for our users if they prefer watching videos over reading. Venngage also enables people to embed online videos directly into their infographics, which makes for an excellent source of content curation within interactive infographics.
3) In your experience, how important is online video in the overall online marketing space?
I find that using online video in marketing is highly effective since it provides very little friction in terms of accessing new content. Now it’s so simple to share video through a range of social media platforms, making that form of content even more accessible. Online video also makes it a lot easier to present one’s brand in a professional light, without worrying about high production costs. The fact is that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, so there’s no doubt that there is high demand for online video among consumers.
4) In terms of lead generation, which medium of your services do you feel are the most effective and why?
So far, in terms of lead generation, the most effective services for us have been creating “Guestographics” for other bloggers to use on their sites. We provide free infographics, and usually the ones that are interactive (i.e. that contain videos, links or polls and forms) are the most highly received. I think interactive infographics are the most effective since people enjoy engaging with the data presented. They like the fact that the graphs and charts are dynamic and visually enticing.
5) If you were to provide your clients a top tip for integrating visual content such as video into their online marketing strategy what would be your recommendation?
For marketers, I think the most commonly used forms of visual content are videos and infographics. Right now a lot of marketers either integrate video posts into their blogs and social media profiles or create tutorials. If I were to recommend something, I would say: get creative with your videos. Tell a story, don’t just present the fact, and establish a personality. Today’s generation doesn’t care so much for professionalism, they instead seek out link-bait titles and content. If marketers attempt to create content that is funny and slightly absurd, I feel as though it has more potential to generate a lot of traffic.
6) Do you see the future of infographics leaning towards animated graphics or video?
Like I said, our most popular and well-received infographics are interactive ones. These include animated widgets, videos, or elements in which people can interact. For example, people like seeing quizzes in an infographic, or clicking on an icon and discovering a hidden treasure. A “graphic” is conventionally interpreted as a static image. When there is suddenly the possibility that something static can become dynamic, people become curious.
The same thing happened with pictures that are arranged in a sequence. Pictures then become moving images and eventually blockbuster films. So I absolutely see people leaning more towards infographics that are animated and that contain video.
7) How do you think online video has already affected your industry and what future changes do you anticipate in the next 5-10 years?
In terms of marketing, online video has changed the way marketers communicate with their clients or users. For instance, I barely need to use words to explain a concept to someone anymore; I can just direct them to a video that will explain it for me.
In the next 5 or 10 years, if video engagement continues as it is, far more people will be expressing themselves with video and images, and less with common language. Not to say that language will die, but it will simply become easier to express oneself through visual content.
