I feel as though there is a place for both forms of media.
Let us look at audio first. It is far easier to record audio than it is video. You may be able to produce ten minutes of audio in an hour or so. Were you to produce a ten minute video this could take an entire day (maybe even two). Plus you could record an audio with a headset into your computer or remotely from any phone for that matter. If you recorded ten minutes of video just staring into your webcam, can you say boring?
Another consideration is bandwidth. Audio takes up far less bandwidth than a video. Have you ever started to watch a streaming video when all of a sudden it stops or slows to a trickle? What is more annoying than that? Usually with audio this does not occur. (I say usually does not occur however there were times when I experienced gaps or stoppage in audio. Not as frequently as video though.)
For the most part, video holds true to the old phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Is there a better way to capture a person’s attention and take them away: on an ocean voyage or at the scene of a breaking news story than a video? Or is there a better way besides video to demonstrate one of your company’s products?
In spite of what has been recorded in your audio message, I doubt it would have the tremendous viral internet potential as a humorous video. Some videos have gone so viral that those that receive them as an email link pass them to their entire email list. Total cost to achieve this viral status to the advertiser? Zero.
In defense of audio, there are cases when audio has gone viral. I recall receiving a few spliced Judge Judy audio messages. These too were hilarious.
One study estimates that a website using audio or video has only a few seconds to capture the visitor’s attention. Another study on the use of video showed that 98% attention was held for the first 10 seconds 86% attention was held for the first 30 seconds dropping to 69% at 1 minute, 38% at 2 minutes, after 4 minutes less than 9% of the viewers were still watching.
Bottom line: There is a place for both audio and video on your website or your marketing efforts. Use audio when a lengthy message (over 10 minutes) is called for and use video to deliver a shorter message (under 10 minutes) and those messages where you want to attract the viewer’s full attention while you present your product(s) or service(s) and the reasons to conduct business with you.
Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com
About The Author:
Andy Acciaioli has been a marketing and advertising strategist for over 30 years. He is a member of GlobalMarketersOnline.com and encourages you to join us.
