Does Video Actually Make a Difference?

You sit down to make a call to someone in another country – perhaps a member of a team in a different sales department in your company’s headquarters in another region – and you wonder whether you two really have to sacrifice bandwidth and connectivity for video.

Why not just make a simple call, and communicate over high-definition audio without the use of imagery? It might even give you the time to wordlessly communicate and strategize with your present team, and take some tension out of what could be a stressful formal meeting.

Truth is, there are several very good arguments towards simple telecommunication. And there are more arguments that weigh in favor of video calling. It’s not just that video is a more complex and thus better medium for communication, since that’s the path all content is taking – first starting with purely text-based information, moving on to shared macro images and infographics, and finally to today’s world of video snippets and short video advertisements.

Sure, video is ultimately far more informative. A picture tells a thousand words, and at thirty frames per second, you can do the math on the projected word count and be impressed. Clichés and exaggerations aside, video communication is fundamentally different from conversing over the phone for reasons that simply make it superior in every single way – and with today’s technology, it’s far easier and more cost-effective than you’d think.

 

It’s Not the ‘90s Anymore 

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Cheap and high-quality video conferencing stopped being a real issue for small and large businesses alike almost a decade ago. We’ve been living in the realm of smartphones and FaceTime since the beginning of Barack Obama’s first term as POTUS, and from the rather humble beginnings of today’s VOIP giant Skype to far more advanced premium business technology offered by the likes of Blue Jeans, today’s video conferencing tech is capable of facilitating a high-definition video call while sharing files, streaming recorded video, and having a software automatically and safely register the crucial minutes of the meeting in a lightweight fashion.

Ten years ago, all that might’ve been science fiction. Today, it’s just part of an app. One single simple smartphone app. And in another ten years, virtual reality conference calling will be the norm in schools, small businesses and international corporate headquarters alike.

But until we get to that, let’s fully explore why video is so useful – just because something is cheap or easily implemented doesn’t mean it automatically begs effective usage.

 

Move Your Body

 Easily the biggest hallmark and most important factor for why video begs to be implemented in any business that can easily afford its usage is that it simply makes communication so much easier. We’re creatures that are used to communicating face-to-face, and a person’s body language is a natural and understated part of how to do business. We react naturally to countless body messages and physical clues, to the point where a video conversation can easily remove misunderstandings and do away with a lack of clarity through physical context. After all, as per Business Insider, half of business communication comes through the unspoken.

Furthermore, being in a high-definition video group chat with a tool like BlueJeans means actively participating in a very visual experience which helps with concentration, as per TechTarget. This means you actually have a chance of properly following the line of thought and understanding the gist of the call, without the need for further explanation. Less repetition, groups can come together to come to an agreement much faster, and distance is no longer a hindrance on the clarity or quality of a conversation between business individuals.

 

More Than Just the Face

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With more modern video calling options, you have the ability to not just engage in a video group call, or launch a high-quality video conference meeting between two rooms – you also have the ability to share information whilst in a call, through the same application, and jointly view and edit said documents and files. This way you can easily demonstrate specific strategies and project changes, make suggestions and live edits, and come to better understand each other’s goals and needs in any given situation.

It’s a multimedia relationship, where a call can turn into an extended meeting with files and details and changes – all streamlined and made deceptively simple. No need for complicated tech shenanigans or the juggling of a hundred different applications – a single, well-designed premium video communications tool can do the trick very effectively, without so much as a shred of worry.

 

Through the new age of video communication, your business can facilitate both department-to-department calls and daily team meetings, as well as client conversations with long-term clients where you feel long-distance communication isn’t just apt, but far more effective.

You can complement real face-to-face meetings with more video conferences, cutting down on travel time and money, and the overall investment will yield massive monetary returns in the long run.

 

And you?

Are you using videos as part of your marketing and communication strategy?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below, thanks!