I know video is all the rage these days — and I don’t honestly “hate-hate” them — but they do present a huge challenge all the same. Here’s what it is (and I bet I’m not the only one with this complaint): I don’t have time to watch all of them!
Watching videos takes time! Photo by abu
See, the way I like to work is to cram some of my learning into odd moments, while I’m in transit for meetings, or between client appointments, or just to clear the air between projects. When it’s something I can read, I can choose when to do that, stop any time I want and pick it up again later on. Cool.
But not so with videos. And that’s why I hate them. Let me count the ways:
- With a video I can stop and come back later, to some extent — but in some videos, you can’t stop where you are and go back when you’re ready; next time you have to start all over again! Arrrrgh! I hate that.
- Some courses come in video format only. There are upwards of 12-25 videos in some of these courses, each of them longer than 15 minutes. Do you have any idea of how many watching hours that is? More than I have available! I hate that. Gimme the book I can read! Do you (Mr./Ms. Product Creator) have any idea when I will be able to view these videos? Real answer = NEVER! Makes me not want to buy the product, even if it’s something I’m desperate to learn. That’s just plain sad — if not stupid marketing.
- Some videos take a long time to load. That cuts into the time I have available to watch them. I am simply NOT going to sit around waiting while the dang thing loads — before I even get to see it. I hate that.
- Some videos stop frequently during the streaming, which again eats up the available time I have to watch it. If the video is 15 minutes long, I may set aside 15 minutes to watch it. So then it takes 3 minutes to load, and stops 6 times. Now I’ve invested twice the time I allotted to it. All together now: “I Hate That!”
I have yet to make a video. I will probably do it sometime this year. But you can be sure I won’t make it the only way for my customers to get the information! Given what I’ve just said — and regardless of which guru is touting what — it just ain’t gonna happen that way here. My videos will be like tasty condiments — or the dessert you just have to try. That will be my goal. Right after I learn how to make a video. Oh and that will NOT be during this 30-day blog challenge, either. . . I may be ambitious but I’m not crazy 🙂
Don’t worry, I’ll let everyone know when I finally have a video of my own that I can show you.
Meanwhile. . . I’ll be happily reading everything I can get my hands on as my preferred learning style. I know that isn’t going to make some of you marketers very happy — unless you are already savvy enough to present your material in multiple formats. If you will do that for me, you will have a happy customer. For life. And I won’t be the only one. You can bank on that 🙂
So. For anyone who is thinking about whether or not to use video, remember message-to-market match! Get it right and your sales will soar; get it wrong and you may not know why it’s not working the way it “should”.