Technology is constantly evolving. Obvious statement, right? Well, not so obvious, if you aren’t evolving with it. Right now, one of the key evolutions in the tech and business worlds is video, and experts are quick to say that everyone should be getting on board.
The Business of Video
The Huffington Post reports that, “According to Syndacast, 74 percent of all Internet traffic in 2017 will be video.”
That’s no small feat. Over the past year the big boom of video has risen with automatic playback features. As you scroll through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, videos are queued up to start without prompt to draw you in immediately. Because of this, engagement rates are through the roof.
We are in the age where we want to wait as little as possible. When you click an external link on Facebook to read an article and it doesn’t load within 30 seconds, do you move on? Most of us do. So when these videos start playing and we don’t have to press play or wait for them to load, we are more likely to watch them—especially if they aren’t a video we would usually click on to watch—just because of the instant feedback and gratification we get.
When it comes to the rise of video, more and more companies are starting to integrate this medium into their marketing plans. Hotels and restaurants are listed as businesses that should be taking advantage of this technology in a recent article from Business 2 Community. We couldn’t agree more.
Businesses should be building authentic relationships with their customers and a huge part of that involves transparency. Even with video editing software, you can’t make a room look bigger than it is with video like you can with photos. You can’t help the person literally see themselves in your venue with a simple image. Video provides a deeper connection and experience.
Why Event Spaces Need Video
When designing an event, you want everything to be perfect. Searching for a venue that will be the foundation of your event is a big part of that. Photos are great—but often retouched—and people are starting to see through these seemingly perfect photos presented online. Mark Zuckerberg explained that idea in his keynote at Barcelona’s Mobile World Conference.
“There’s this increasing pressure to do well [on social media],” he said. “In 2016, if you’re sharing a photo you want it to be a good photo. What is really powerful about messaging platforms… and live video now, too, is that it gives people more intimate environments and more raw environments where you have a reason to just be yourself. It doesn’t need to feel like it’s super curated.”
People want to know when they see photos of a space that they are getting what they are seeing and sometimes, that cannot always be guaranteed. Video opens your business up in a vulnerable way, yes, but it gives a real and intimate view of your space in a way other mediums can’t.
Not all venues have the capability to make videos themselves, but whether you are doing it in-house or bringing someone in to make videos for you, you still have control over the process. You can show your venue in an everyday light so people can envision their event there. Otherwise, the only video they may see has been taken by an event photographer hired by someone else to capture memories from the meeting or wedding or party. Those photographers aren’t focusing on your space or answering to you, so it makes it harder for people to imagine themselves in the space and see the bare bones they can build their dream event on. They only see what someone else envisioned. If they are planning a corporate event and only see photos from event photographers of weddings in the space, they probably won’t even consider your space. The images they have seen don’t reflect what they want to do and cloud their vision.
If you are the one planning the event, you are able to quickly narrow down venues—should you be in a race against time—without having to drive all over town to see a space in-person. Videos can serve as a site visit. You can also connect with a space visually, giving you the mental connection between rooms and allowing you to understand the full layout. Additionally, you can easily manage expectations of key players involved in the event by allowing them to virtually walk through the site with you, all from the comfort of your home or office.
Closing
At Spacesift, we believe in the importance of video and power it has for spaces so much that we are helping venues showcase their space. Here is a peak at what we offer—and the perfect example of how video can be used to help draw people in and connect them with your space.
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