Content Marketing: Video or Written
I recently came across a video on YouTube called Ann Handley – Why we need to challenge our assumptions as Content Marketers in which Ann Handley talks about content marketing and some of the different types of content marketing. She specifically talks about video content and written content with an obvious preference for the latter. It got me thinking about what is the better channel. And what is the difference between those channels then and now? I decided to break this up into the three mediums she chooses as her preferred channels and analyzed them one by one. So, let’s dive into it.
Long Form Content
Ann being a writer herself would naturally pick long-form written content as her top pick for content marketing. In the video, she clearly has a preference for written content but has a respect for video and believe it has a place.
Coming from an SEO background, it is undeniable that blogs are an essential marketing tool. Particularly if you want to rank highly on Google as delivering high-quality content that is relevant to viewers will increase your ranking. This coupled with a solid backlink strategy you will skyrocket your way to the top of the rankings and increase sales as a result.
However long-form content is no longer the king it was back in 2018. As Neil Patel notes in this recent article long-form content had been on the rise exceeding word counts of 2000 words during the 10s. But with the advent of AI content and the so-called “TikTok effect” we have seen a scaling back of the word count.
More and more people prefer content that is concise, informative, and relevant to them. This is lending itself to people engaging more with mid-form content with word counts between 1500-2000 words combined with lots of imagery.
That being said as he also points out in the article there is still a place for long-form content. Especially, for more complex topics that can’t be explained in short or mid-form content.
In summary, long-form content is far from dead, but trends are pointing toward lower word counts. Blogs will always provide consistent long-term traffic numbers and sales growth with low investment costs.
The next channel she mentioned was Instagram. She particularly noted it for its fun use as a video application. But again, being a writer, she noted its potential as a tool for excellent story writing. Again, emphasizing the pen over the camera. But not long after this, we would see the rise of a new powerhouse, TikTok
TikTok was still growing at the time but quickly blew up when the Covid pandemic hit, gaining up to 1 billion users and earning up to $4 billion of ad revenue in 2021. With so many people home and bored they quickly tuned to this app to share stories online. This could be done via short-form videos or live streaming. It not only allowed the creation of thousands of influencers but also gave local and small companies a platform to grow their businesses as well.
Around this time, we also saw the creation of YouTube Shorts which was also very successful and also had billions of active users. So, you would be hard-pressed to say that written content is the more effective.
However, when you look at the numbers it starts to paint a different picture. Short-form content has high engagement rates, and high retention rates according to various marketers on the internet. Where it gets tricky is how much of these are converting and that’s where marketers seem to differ. Many online report high numbers of conversions through their short-form videos, while experts like Neil Patel argue that long-form videos have higher ROIs.
In short, this could be a mixed bag for the video side as while having good engagement is great, but in the end conversions, specifically sales is what keep a company going.
Podcasts
The last one Ann mentions is podcasts. She particularly brought up an example of a long-form podcast that she had listened to a praised it for its unique method and storytelling. She believes there are powerful ways of creating narratives and stories that can be told through podcasts.
She’s not wrong about that. Podcasts are great ways of being able to tell stories about people’s unique experiences, tell the news, or share information about a variety of topics. This has become even more engaging recently with video podcasts allowing people to feel like they’re in the room with them listening to these stories.
However, they don’t seem to convert as much. But there is a new video form that seems to be performing way better, Webinars.
If you look at this chart taken from NP Digital, Neil Patel’s digital marketing agency, you can see that webinars have high ROI potentials vs what they cost. If executed well, they have the potential to convert even more than blogs.
Webinars are all around great as they require an email to sign up, which gives you a list of leads. When they attend, they not only are informed of the product we offer but have the opportunity to engage in the process with the hosts and ask questions. Finally, they have decent conversion rates ranging from 20% to 60%.
In summary, podcasts are great, but webinars are better.
The Verdict
So, the questions still stand, which one is better? The answer is always, it depends. As the previous chart indicates, it depends on the business and who your consumers are. Blogs are consistent and will always deliver results at low costs. But they can take time to ramp up and hone in on the right keywords needed to succeed in the SERPs. On the other hand, videos can offer valuable information to customers relatively quickly and offer great engagement. But it can be hard if you don’t have the money to invest in the proper equipment or have the knowledge to edit which can add cost. Platforms like TikTok remedy this but still can come with potentially low conversion rates. The most effective strategy would be utilized both of them in tandem. Listen to your audience and see what content works and doesn’t and you will see growth.
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