More than words, or still images, videos can capture the most out of anything. Given their amazing power to illustrate life, these are the most appreciated forms of advertising, viewed and bought by more and more online visitors every year.

Given a choice, users would more rapidly watch a 20 second clip then read a 20 word phrase. It's just the way our minds work – our visual system is more likely to recognize moving objects, which stand out distinctly, even against moving background, explains professor Joseph S. Lappin, in an article for the journal Nature.

Considering our natural ability to watch moving images, but also to quickly adapt to the amount of information available, it is no wonder video ads are everywhere now, reaching over 50 % of the US population in the past 12 months.

One after another

Even social media has bowed to the power of video.

After Youtube's skipable ads included in video play, Twitter is considering putting up more video ads through Viacom or Comcast this summer, additionally to their current partnerships with ESPN, The Weather Channel, and Turner Broadcasting.

Shockingly for some Facebook users, even the news feeds will become home for video adverts starting this July.. “ Adverts will pop up in your News Feed, along with your pals' status updates, baby photos, cats, food, engagement rings and more babies. Videos will apparently play automatically when the page loads, but will be muted by default. If you choose to unmute, the video will start afresh. Each advert will be limited to a mere 15 seconds” states, Luke Westaway, in an article for Cnet.

So, starting this summer everywhere you'll look, there will be tons of new content available.

“The question is, can brands make the content that makes it worth watching? If they don't, we're going to be seeing a lot of "video ads annoy viewers into oblivion", believes Chris Atkinson from Reel Seo
Read ahead for some good steps you can follow to create excellent videos, to make sure your audience stays tuned, despite all video advert mania:

Find a story focus

“The single most important part of telling a good story is asking throughout the entire process:

<<What is the story all about?>>”, states KVIE Producer, Bryan Shadden. So start with finding your story's subject and focus through research and observation. The subject can shift throughout the process and turn into something else. Write down a story outline, with the most important facts you want to extract from the video making. Actual, interesting facts, usually make good stories.

Ready for interviewing?

Stories are told by people and your story should not be an exception. Look for people most qualified to talk about your subject ( who are involved with it in any way, are authorized to give an opinion, etc). Interview them and then write an the most interesting facts you've found into the video-log. Include some extra information you may need to complete these stories ( info from the archives, graphics, statistics)

B-roll is on

Which is, basically the cover-shots tape, used to fill in any empty or irrelevant space in the interviewing. It can contain shots of the people being interviewed, doing something related to the story, shots of the story's locations, objects mentioned in the story, other still images or clips, but also archive statements connected to the subject.

Voice-over and review

Write down any narration you want included in the video, then voice-over all written text. Before you start gluing all the pieces together, edit and review all images, text and audio you want used, to make sure there are no mistakes and you haven't missed anything.

Have your say!

Do you think video advertising on social media is a good idea?

Photo credit : Reel SEO