Hot topic: Fronting up – why video matters

I spent 20 years as a print journalist and my first love will always be the written word.

But you might have noticed we’ve switched our Hot Topic articles from being a purely written affair, to something that we deliver primarily by video.

There’s a very simple reason for this.

Video gets more views. Way more views.

So switching the medium we use, enables us to reach more people.

Why is this?

People simply find video more engaging than text.

As a result, social media algorithms probably reward video more.

And thanks to the likes YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, video is becoming the default way people consume information.

This trend is being felt across the whole media landscape.

“Newspapers” – and I use the word advisedly, because they are really multi-media companies now – are doing it.

Tabloids like The Sun and Daily Mirror are aggressively pursuing video because they know it’s what attracts eyeballs. The Sun’s videos had 1.2 billion views last December.

Broadsheets are doing it too. I was reading a comment piece by William Hague in The Times the other day, and embedded in the piece was a short video of him giving a brief outline of his argument.

So, more and more, people are consuming news and information via video, rather than via the written word.

The take-out for companies that want to get their message out, be that in biotech or elsewhere, is simple.

You can’t ignore video.

You’ve got to get comfortable in front of the camera.

Be that publishing your own content, like clips of you at a scientific conference, or talking to the media in a video interview, you’ve got to get “video ready”.

Otherwise, you’re not going to get your message out there, as effectively as you could. Get in touch with Optimum if you’d like us to help you.

Watch this week’s hot topic below!