How Video Content Is Emerging As the Next Big Thing Videos lend credibility to a business and helps build an emotional connection with the customers

The impact of video engagement can be gauged from the fact that in 2017, it is estimated that users on an average spend 5.8 hours of watching video content daily. By 2018, 72% of the internet traffic will be diverted towards videos, and 50% of advertisers have already started focusing their investment from TV to digital videos.

Specifically for India, touted to become the youngest country by 2020, the proliferation of the 4G network and smart-phones together has meant the availability of a huge market for video consumption. Various metrics are available to quantify the impact made on a consumer through video engagement, such as view count, click-through rate, conversion rate, social sharing etc. These metrics are important to express the benefits accrued through video engagement and track how successful the content has been.

Videos facilitate learning in a shorter time

According to Abhishek Patil, CEO, Co-founder, Oliveboard, India's largest online test preparation platform for Banking and Govt courses, videos have always been a popular mode of content consumption whether for entertainment or even education. However, he feels that infrastructural issues around expensive data plans and low internet speeds have slowed the adoption.

But with the continuous increase in smartphone penetration and the disruption that Jio has created, video content consumption has more than doubled in the last one year on Oliveboard. "Videos on Oliveboard work well because students can learn a lot more in a shorter time. By incorporating audio and visual cues, which appeal to more senses and convey more information, students learn important concepts quickly and more efficiently," he affirmed.

Video-based learning and teaching are already gaining massive momentum

As far as delivering education to students goes video mode is going to dominate in India. Videos are better suited to millennial attention spans, as students are able to grasp the information in ways that they find engaging and appealing.

Genext Students, India's 1st hybrid tutoring platform, conducts video-based orientation & training modules for tutors across geographies without being present physically. Tutors also use video-based online content at the time of tutoring. "Video-based learning has facilitated collaboration, stimulated discussions and increased student as well as tutor's motivation. We are able to invest more in resources and infrastructure, reduce cost and scale up in an efficient way thanks to the video-based content," shares Ali Asgar, Co-Founder, Genext Students.

Animated stickers and GIFs are also driving engagement on social media platforms. In fact, GIFs are the most appealing and effective visual content formats that are currently trending on social media. From text-based posts to image-based and now video-based content, ed-tech companies are able to engage better with their target groups on several platforms.

All this has been largely possible due to the penetration of low-cost and high performing smartphones that come with faster network speeds than ever before. Several network operators are offering data packs either for free or at affordable prices, driving the internet traffic and making video-based content easy to access and affordable for all sections across the country.

Videos lend greater credibility to a business and build an emotional connection with customers

Shubh Bansal, Co-Founder and Marketing Head, Truebil, an omnichannel platform for buying and selling of pre-owned cars, says "keeping feedback mechanisms handy helps a business to understand the customer response and try to rectify the problems if any. While it is easy to generate the first view on a video, it is the quality of the content that keeps a user glued till the end, which is what gives any content a high engagement rate."

That's why in Truebil has an in-house team that develops quality contents, that serves the effective branding with a limited budget. These days, even client testimonials are being recorded and uploaded in a video format, which lends greater credibility to a business and builds an emotional connection with customers.

Bansal identified the trend at an early stage and has been creating creative digital videos for branding on a digital platform. "With visits, likes, views, comments, shares, and much more - videos today promise the highest amount of engagement with customers. With social networking sites and media platforms abuzz with video content, it is the ideal tool to earn the highest traction at minimal cost," shared Bansal.

However, it is not a case of only smoke without any fire, as with greater engagement, come leads with greater potential ultimately leading to higher sales and revenue as well.