What makes people respond to your content? Not everyone is inspired to act by text, but it’s been proven that photos and videos work better than words. ComScore reported that online video improves sales effectiveness when landing pages and e-commerce sites include them. In fact, social videos work better than television. What is it about video that drives inbound clicks?

The Action Factors:

• Video is more easily found. The major search engines are far more likely to return video findings than text articles, primarily because videos are easier to optimize for SEO. Plus, Google knows how to make money, and it gets a ton of advertising revenue from in-video ads as well as PPC ads on video SERPs.
• Video appeals to more senses. Instead of just reading, viewers also hear what is being said. Another sense humans have is an acumen for motion. It’s why our eyes ignore just about everything going on around them but will suddenly dart to any object that moves. We’ve evolved to respond to motion, so moving images keep us focused.
• Video is more sharable. Because people like to show off, they will be likely to share dynamic content such as a video presentation, especially if it’s good. This means for every text article that gets shared, a dozen or more videos are sent. This drives a great deal more inbound activity.
• Video engages relationships. The New York Times released a study last year showing why people share content – in short, it helps us define ourselves and it nourishes relationships. This isn’t just between friends; it’s also between companies and customers. Video shows the customer what the company really believes in and how it thinks. This builds trust.
• Video implies a next step. In any story, the arc of the storyline leads viewers through an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The latter is the part where the city is saved, the criminal receives his comeuppance, and the hero kisses the girl. The outcome of any story provides closure, so a good video leads the viewer to take the closing action.

Online video has been proven to raise landing page activity and bring customers closer to a business. I’ve gone over several uses for business video, and all of these can drive more clicks, more sales, and more sharing.

We’ll be at Hubspot’s Inbound 2012 Conference next week, where we’ll be talking about how online presentations support any inbound marketing strategy.