Lab Assignment 4.1 · WordPress
Social Media Marketing (Aug. – Dec. 2022), MKT 232, FTCC, Fayetteville, NC. Publish your post to make sure it will be available to readers online (double-check that it is also published and visible online when not logged in to WordPress in your web browser).
Discussion Asgt. 4 · What are the advantages of using video in social media?
Video metaphorically represents “where it’s at” when gaining attention and ascending the value ladder (or descending the marketing funnel). On p. 157 of the text, the authors cite research that bemoans the shrinking attention span of the average person, less “than that of a goldfish, or less than 12 seconds.”
Do we have today shorter attention spans? Or do we have less patience? And why? Maybe because today we experience many more competing requests for attention than before? Thus, wouldn’t that require faster decision-making about how to spend one’s attention?
If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video speaks a chapter or more. If a marketer wants to compete for attention, he must quickly deliver as much utility to the consumer as possible. Video does that more than text alone.
Video, too, also expands a marketer’s reach beyond one language. My phone settings and history signal advertisers that I consume content in Spanish and sometimes Tagalog. I remember seeing a video commercial for cellular service in Spanish on my phone.
At first, what struck me, was the interracial romance in the commercial between an Asian male and a White female, which is rare in American programming. Spanish language text appeared, and I disregarded it as “interracial,” as Hispanic culture does not typically place much weight on demographic differences.
Then I saw the same commercial again, with English language text. It was genius. The characters did not speak. They could be anywhere. Anyone watching the video, regardless of language, would likely connect emotionally with the content. The advertiser easily localized the text. One does not get this kind of impact with text alone.
Brian Delrosario 