Last Updated on February 14, 2024 by Lifevif Team and JC Franco
We all know that content rules the world – influencing everything from prospects and sales opportunities to customers. The more content you create, the greater your chance to stand out in this highly competitive business world. But a big question we face is this: “What kind of content is the right choice?” Videos are one of the hottest trends out there. But does that mean written content has become irrelevant?
Each type of content comes with its own benefits. This is why today’s most successful businesses choose to produce content in a variety of forms. Considering the pros and cons of both video and written content is the first step.
What type of content is more effective for your marketing strategy? Here is a breakdown of the advantages and disadvantages of video and written content for marketing! Read on.
1. Videos Have Strong Engagement
One of the most significant advantages of creating video content is that it generates high engagement rates. And that is precisely what you need for successful marketing! Many people prefer to learn about products and services through video content.
Additionally, people are more likely to watch a video and share it than any other type of content! As if that was not enough, videos improve conversion and open rates.
Professional content marketers well know and do not hesitate to say that video content is the best medium to grab and keep people’s attention. As a result, about 90% of online marketers include video content in their marketing strategy.
2. Videos Have Higher Conversion Rates
Another great reason to use video content is that it significantly increases conversion rates. Including a video on your landing page is a great way to catch your visitor’s interest and keep them hanging around longer. Videos on landing pages help increase conversion by a significant amount.
On the other hand, a page saturated with text may drive visitors away. So, it’s always a good idea to mix written and video content on your landing pages. It’s no doubt that videos do a great job in pushing customers closer and closer to purchase.
3. Videos Are More Attractive
Our brains process visual info much faster than written text. No wonder humans are so visual. On top of that, according to Forbes, people retain 95% of a message when it is watched, compared to 10% when reading it.
Good visuals capture viewer attention and help foster a positive association while also encouraging further research. Using video content is a smart idea for your marketing strategy to reach a broader audience and connect with them.
4. Videos Appeal To Mobile Devices
It’s no secret that videos and smartphones go hand in hand. Most mobile users have their devices within arms reach. As a result, mobile users spend a considerable amount of time watching videos on their devices. In addition, people are continually consuming content on their devices, whether on the way to work, during lunch break, standing in a line, or before dozing off in bed.
People spend an average of many hours on online videos per week. And most of those video views come from mobile devices. So considering how consumers gravitate toward it, creating excellent video content for mobile devices is a step closer to your success in online marketing.
5. Videos Expand Your Reach
Creating engaging video content is an excellent way to increase your reach when building a wider audience for your products and services. Consumers love videos that are interesting and informative.
People watch billions of videos each day, and videos have a high chance of getting viral, opposed to written content. On top of that, viewers are more likely to purchase a product after watching a video about it! So video content is undoubtedly an effective way to expose yourself to a broader market.
6. Videos Can Be Costly
Any type of content comes with some cost. However, producing a video can hit your budget much harder than written content. Videos can have pretty high production overheads – even a low-end video production setup can cost several thousand dollars.
It’s always a good idea to assess your costs, skills, and experience to ensure that you won’t end up making costly mistakes or screwing up the entire thing. Hiring interns and passionate young creators who are willing to create stellar content for you at minimal costs can be an excellent option to reduce the expense of producing video content.
7. Videos Can Be Time Consuming
Unlike writing content, video production can be a lengthy process. Making a video includes multiple steps, such as pre-production, production, and post-production. Even if you shoot a video in a single day, the editing, coloring, audio syncing, etc., would take some time.
Professional video creators say that it takes a considerable amount of time just to edit a single minute of video. You can’t skip steps or cut corners to end up with a great video, and that means you will have to allow all the necessary time to cover all the bases.
8. Videos Are Difficult to Update
Another downside of videos to consider is that they are notoriously difficult, if not impossible, to update. Once you publish a video, it’s out there, and you can’t change it anymore. On the other hand, a blog post can be kept evergreen by continually updating and editing whenever needed. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy with videos, and you would have to release a new video.
9. Written Content Is Affordable
When it comes to online marketing, cost is always a significant concern, especially for small businesses. But, here is good news: written content is much more affordable than you think. If you have a laptop and can write, you can produce written content without any costs whatsoever.
If you hire a content writer, the only cost would be the pay – no expensive equipment is required at all. As long as your content is consistent and great, you are all set to drive traffic and increase sales.
10. Written Content is Easy to Produce
Compared to videos, informational written content is easier to produce – more so if you have a skilled writer at hand. The ease and cost of creating written content are some of the main reasons companies run blogs and choose written content for smaller announcements while resorting to videos for major announcements.
11. Written Content Is Skimmable
A super advantage of written content is that it conveys information much faster than a video. People across the internet are seeking instant information. People get frustrated and click off if a video doesn’t address their question immediately or seems to wander around.
On the other hand, a well-written blog post can be quickly skimmed, mainly if it is divided into sections with headings and subheadings. Besides, how many times have you sat through a video feeling like you wasted 5 minutes of your life? So the power to skim and find information speedily is one of the main reasons people still seek written content.
12. Written Content Helps SEO
One of the major reasons content writing still is and will be essential for online marketing is SEO. Although there have been incredible advancements in ranking content according to its value, SEO cannot work without written keywords. For example, you can include a few keywords in your video’s title and caption. However, you can distribute multiple keywords through a blog article, which drastically helps improve your ranking.
Since people rely on search engines and keywords to research the web, written content has a higher chance to show up than a video.
13. Written Content Is Reuseable
Written content is extremely versatile. You can easily reuse written content by tweaking a few things, posting it to different platforms, and adapting it for various purposes. For example, you can take texts from your blog posts and Tweet them, make an Instagram caption, record a video, or make audio content! You are also able to create a blog series and social media posts from the written content. The options are wide open.
14. The Internet Is Saturated With Written Content
A downside of written content is that the internet is already saturated with text. Nowadays, almost every business has a blog or website where they publish information. So, if you want to make your written content stand out, you have to be prepared to fight a tough competition and make an effort to craft relevant and engaging content.
15. Not All People Enjoy Reading
In today’s fast-paced age, attention spans have significantly decreased. With the rise of videos, many people simply don’t like to spend their time reading. Even the majority of those who read do not read much beyond the headlines. Therefore, to reach all types of people, it’s essential to use both written and video content in your marketing strategy.
16. Written Content Is Less Attractive
Visuals naturally attract humans. This is one reason why many people choose videos over text most of the time. Even though you add images and other infographics to your written content, it can’t be as appealing as a video.
All things considered
Both videos and written content have pros and cons. However, both offer their advantages, which is why many big companies include both in their online marketing. Now that you know all about video content vs. written content, you can decide when is the right time to use these two types of content.
This article was co-authored by our team of in-house and freelance writers, and reviewed by our editors, who share their experiences and knowledge about the "Seven F's of Life".
JC Franco
JC Franco is a New York-based editor for Lifevif. He mainly focuses on content about faith, spirituality, personal growth, finance, and sports. He graduated from Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business, majoring in Marketing. He is a certified tennis instructor who teaches in the New York City Metropolitan area. In terms of finance, he has passed the Level I exam of the CFA program.