Miguel Afonso Gonçalves
– Copywriter e Travel Blogger –
Have you always wondered about the immediate success of platforms like TikTok? Still have doubts that the video format conquered the space of social networks? The infotainment is increasingly shown as a possible guiding thread of a brand’s communication and it is the public that has been dictating the reasons.
Miguel Afonso Gonçalves
– Copywriter e Travel Blogger –
Have you always wondered about the immediate success of platforms like TikTok? Still have doubts that the video format conquered the space of social networks? The infotainment is increasingly shown as a possible guiding thread of a brand’s communication and it is the public that has been dictating the reasons.
Over the past few years, combined with the social networking boom, numerous tools have emerged that help brands in their communication strategies.
Communication and marketing evolve, as does the public, and brands are obliged to adjust the means to reach the desired audience. Over the past few years, combined with the social networking boom, numerous tools have emerged that help brands in their communication strategies. And they have a common feature: they enhance the infotainment.
Today, in the midst of the digital and technological era, some studies – for example, one conducted by Microsoft – have reported, a decreasing attention capacity of the human being on average, a dramatic data for brands that want to get the attention of their audience.
Thus, as is understood, infotainment, which results from the fusion of the words information and entertainment, must be taken into account as a relevant pillar for the success of digital communication of brands. Why? What has been done to this effect?
Video: the exponent of infotainment
Unsurprisingly, video is more susceptible to sharing, interaction and driving brand awareness.
There is little doubt that a good storytelling ability enhances greater interaction and relationship with the public, helps retain the audience for longer and of course, provides a clear advantage in the effective transmission of the message and information.
In light of the concept of “storytelling“, we know that there are two primary formats, through which brands tell stories: text – or copy – and image. As a marketing and communication tool, video combines both formats and is thus the main way to create infotainment. Unsurprisingly, video is more susceptible to sharing, interaction and driving brand awareness.
In Instagram Engagement Report da Mention (a social media monitoring platform), this feature of videos is in clear evidence, overcoming, on a large scale, the ability of static image to generate engagement.
Video’s space on social networks
In another article published on Jelly’s blog, which portray the different features of social networks, it is clearly evident that social networks have understood the relevance of video, as a means of public retention and interaction among users. Take the example of Instastories on Instagram – later replicated on Facebook – and the success of platforms such as TikTok and YouTube – having both “obliged”, for example, Instagram to develop new features to stay relevant – Reels and IGTV.
In a Marktest study on “The Portuguese and social networks” in 2020, there are two very interesting conclusions about how video inevitably attracts users of social networks.
On the one hand, first analyzed in 2020, TikTok not only enters directly into the 9th position in penetration, but also rises to 5th position in spontaneous notoriety. The success of this platform has been instantaneous in Portugal and worldwide. On the other hand, YouTube maintains its relevance in this segment. It is the third social network that more users – almost 95% – of social networks visit at least once a week, being surpassed only by Facebook (96%) and WhatsApp (95.7%).
Paradigm shift… in traditional media
The impact of video on the entertainment industry does not go unnoticed even in the so-called traditional media.
The radio, already accustomed to having “its end” anticipated by so many, has been one of the clear examples of adaptation to reality and the public. Voice is no longer its only distinctive element and we have, especially over the last decade, been associating radio with images, people and moments. Without exception and looking at Portugal, the country’s main radio stations have accustomed the public to sharing videos, which often go viral on social networks.
Likewise, in the last decade, the podcast has become widely popular, enticing several brands, especially in the media sector, to bet on this format. However, if the original concept was based only on audio – as well as radio – in recent years they have been made increasingly popular in the audiovisual format, recognizing the pressing visual dimension in the conquest of infotainment.
Conclusion
The relevance of video – increasingly referred to as video marketing – is unequivocal. It seems, so far, to be the communication formula of excellence for brands to gain notoriety, develop closer relationships with their audience and enjoy the best attributes provided by social networks.
Infotainment is a concept born in the social communication sphere, its assumptions are of great use to the management of communication and marketing of any brand: a competent and remarkable storytelling in the dissemination of a message, in the format, which apparently is more capable of gaining the increasingly fleeting attention of the public.
