Would you believe it if you heard that 59 percent of senior executives prefer video content over text?

You better believe it. According to Forbes Insights, 80 percent of senior executives say they are watching more online videos today than they were a year ago. In addition to the uptick in views, executives are also inclined to take some sort of action after watching a work-related video: 65 percent shared that they visited a vendor’s website after watching.

It’s no question that video possesses a power to make us feel and act, but mastering this power can be a tricky task. With the explosion happening in the video industry, it seemed fitting to consult the experts to provide insight around integrating video into PR campaigns.

Last week at our Communiqué brownbag, Maren Higbee, executive producer at Mighty Media Studios, carved time out of her day to give us the rundown on all things video. As an experienced writer and producer, she is passionate about helping organizations reach their target audiences through video. It was great to have Maren in our office and learn about the trends she is seeing in the space and especially how she perceives that video should align with PR efforts.

The first step in video integration is to ask the question: “Is video the answer?” Maren shared several stipulations critical for our clients (and anyone) considering video to address in order to determine if video is the correct answer:

• Know your audience and understand what they want.
• Determine if incorporating video will improve an existing campaign. If so, how/what is the objective?
• Plan and understand how integrating video would add to the audience’s experience.
• Determine the metrics you would use to measure success. Consider if these are attainable.
• Decide if social media will be part of the campaign. If so, begin to strategize.

Once you’ve tackled the above, the next step is to determine what type of video will work best. This can be the challenging part for many businesses as video production ranges anywhere from $6K to $100M; and depending on the route you chose, will buy a variety of outcomes. Really understanding who your audience is and what they want is key throughout the entire process to ensure your money is spent with strategy and intention. The following are a few of the types of videos that Mighty Media produces and their typical purposes:

• Customer Evidence Videos provide an inside look and share the broad spectrum of your client’s product and/or services. These types of videos allow a glimpse into the real life experiences of those working on new products or real-time uses.
• Event Media / Keynote / Launch Videos inspire awareness. Exciting announcements spread quickly by word of mouth often inspiring people to search for information. Share the story, the energy and bring clarity to everyone interested in your business.
• Creative Concept Videos spread the idea. Connect to your audience through a concept video, futuristic vision or global story. Get the messaging into the hands of the influencers.
• Commercials and Marketing: Show don’t tell. Why try to explain in text alone? Let people across the country see what you have to offer in one quick direct message.
• Motion Design, Graphics and Animation visualize the unseen. Sometimes the message we want to convey is complex and hard to envision. Let a graphic video simplify the material density and allow the message to strike at home with anyone, anywhere. These videos are great for bringing brand awareness to the masses.”

Being unsure of what type of video to roll with, many businesses have even started conducting “rapid testing” with their video content. In these types of experiments, they will whip out a campaign and quickly conduct a read on its metrics. If the target audience does not respond favorably to the video, the company will pull it. This helps companies quickly and accurately test if they are providing content their audience enjoys. Because the driving purpose of sharing video and creating content is to connect with your audience on a deeper level, it’s important to not force video or content if it’s not resonating with them. Doing this will not only waste money, it can also force a wrench between your key messages and customers.

Luckily, there are baby steps businesses can take when integrating video into their marketing suite. If budget and/or equipment is the issue, companies can try using webcasting and iPhone stabilizers for filming. As long as the lighting is right, these methods of filming can be just as effective if in alignment with the audience. The short clips or “how-to” segments commonly seen on Facebook have become a popular type of video. These videos have subtext at the bottom of the screen, allowing the reader to watch and understand the video without having to use volume or listen along. This strategy can expand the number of viewers simply by including individuals who would have closed your video because they didn’t have headphones, or were in an inappropriate setting to listen aloud.

Once you have the footage you can then select your publishing platform. Popular options include YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, twitch, Dailymotion, JWPlayer, INXPO and Skype Meeting Broadcast. Each of these platforms cater to a different audience with different features, and like every step of the production process, the platform should be selected with your audience in mind. From there, PR pros can determine and experiment with the videos that resonate with different types of media.