Video Evolution & The Rise of The Content Strategist
The amount of video content that will be uploaded in the next 30 days will be greater than the amount of content created by the
three major US TV networks combined over the past 30 years.**
While User Generated Content uploaded via YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter may have driven video volumes to current levels, it will be the global Enterprise brands that will be responsible for the next "squaring" of video bits/bytes with the Content Strategists at the helm. Strategic video content is becoming an invaluable C-Suite "must have" tool and moving well beyond the walls of marketing/advertising into other corporate channels like HR, Legal, Customer Service and Sales.
The Video Evolution & Rise of The Content Strategist
The year was 2012. I just moved from an “ages old” technology sector to a hip, cool and high-flying start-up in the healthcare arena. Population Health, Wearables and Patient Engagement were buzzwords of the time. We had an amazing marketing team and a social media director. We tweeted. We blogged. We garnered praise from our industry peers for getting big recognition in the space. Our PR firm had us speaking, moderating and engaged in all the best places. We were doing cutting edge things and using cutting edge marketing and strategy tools of the day. I recall thinking back then, “Wow, I can’t believe how things have changed.” Changed from my days of the previous 20 years when branding, marketing and success wore a different suit and even the stodgy old tie of print media that went along with it!
Well, here were are in 2016 and with the continuing explosion of video, ubiquitous devices, smarter content and the Content Strategist it seems we have leap frogged yet another decade. Companies have expanded their C-Suites to include titles like “Chief Innovation Officer”, “Chief Content Strategist” and “Chief Digital Officer”. Universities are evolving, revising curriculum and creating degree programs to reflect the digital times. Content, and not just dull, old, boring, non-digital content of yesteryear, is king again and more strategic than ever. The amount of video content that will be uploaded in the next 30 days will be greater than the amount of content created by the three major US TV networks combined over the past 30 years.** We see of the impact of this smart strategic content all around us in the form of compelling video campaigns from some of the world’s most coveted brands. I likely don’t have to say it out loud, but will, “Wow, the marketing and digital/video content strategy worlds have morphed and evolved exponentially again.”
My personal epiphany happened about a year ago when I was at a conference listening to a speaker <a savvy content strategist> overwhelm me with statistics on video, growth and what it takes to create amazing content. She talked about how brands have also evolved and how much smarter we all have to be if we expect to win their business. She talked about how video needed to be incorporated beyond the walls of the marketing and into other business channels. She talked about how your current and future customers will vet you, research you, press you and engage you to make sure they are partnering with the right team. Then I listened as brand after brand took the stage to talk about their growing investment in creating strategic content, video and the value they placed on “The Content Strategist”.
With the year 2016 just cresting over the halfway point it is clear that video content is a Triple Crown Winner when it comes to being an innovative, relevant and effective business tool for C-Suites to have in their quiver. The “Video For Business Evolution” continues to grow roots beyond marketing with content strategists paving the path into Human Resources, Customer Service, Sales and Corporate applications in the public and private domain. While User Generated Content (UGC) via YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter may have grown world video content bits/bytes to current levels, it will be the Enterprises with their Content Strategist teams that fuel the next squaring of video content volume. The sun still rises in the East and sets in the West, but if video content tracks to where the numbers suggest then 2017 and beyond will be looking rather fruitful for those positioned at the intersection of video content, technology, analytics and strategy.
**Statistic taken from www.insivia.com/50 Must Know Stats About Video Marketing 2016