When it comes to marketing experimentation is key. The best guinea-pig, always, is ourselves. Marshal McLuhan famously said, “the medium is the message”. While marketing (and marketers) have long cited this, it is frequently overlooked, particularly when we focus on content and the imperatives it presents us with.
Yet, here’s the experiment. In my Free LinkedIn Newsletter I share, each week, actionable business tips about a subject that affects search ranking, business development or branding.
In one of these newsletters I covered the topic of content and content creation. In my YouTube Channel featured I share snippets and video shorts that also help focus attention on specific, actionables, you need for your business, brand development and, often, your self.
About a week after I covered content and content creation on LinkedIn, I visited he same subject on my YouTube channel using, naturally, video. As it happens this wasn’t planned. I am notoriously camera-shy when it comes to promoting myself and having monologues with the camera and while I do it, I always need to have a clear focus on the value I am delivering and the reason I am creating the video. In this particular case I’m releasing a planned series of short videos covering some basic aspects of business, branding and brand promotion.
The video of that is here:
What is interesting is the difference in approach and content of the same subject matter covered for, largely, the same audience. Arguably, once you read the article and watch the video (and it takes roughly the same amount of time to get through each of these) you realize that they are, in many ways, complementary.
The article is more granular and very structured, while the video is maybe a little less structured but also, with actionable points. The video however is more personal and more personally revealing which makes it easier for the viewer to relate to me. What is interesting here is the question of whether one of these, on its own, would be sufficient to do the job?
The article is information-rich. It definitely helps. I think so does the video, but in a different way. Particularly when it comes to branding. This presents a dilemma. Different formats surface different aspects and present different communication opportunities even if the subject matter is identical, which is what has happened here. The reason why this happens has to do with the way information is consumed and how it is retained. On the whole, the written word, is consumed in a much ore attention-intensive way to the exclusion of most other distractions. This prioritization makes it easier to understand even when what is presented is complicated. Add to it the ability, of the reader, to simply go back and re-read sections whenever they want and it clear why it has the format it has.
Video on the other hand, is consumed in smaller snippets, while multi-tasking and maybe, even, on the go. It has to be presented in ways that are more memorable in order to be of value. All this makes the way you market subject to the channel you use.
Here’s what you need to keep in mind then:
- Strive to max-out the information content of your marketing channel.
- Understand what limitations and strengths are provided by each marketing channel you use.
- Don’t try to make one channel do the work of the other.
- Do try to create an information and brand overlap without stepping outside the boundaries of the channel.
- If your message is complicated or the audience is widely distributed understand that no one channel, on its own, is going to deliver everything you want.
I hope this helps.
