You can’t deny it, more and more bloggers are utilizing video content on their blogs. It is becoming much easier to quickly shoot a video and upload it to YouTube, then embed the video into your site.
Lets just take a look at Gideon Shalwick’s blog, who is an authority in video content creation. Gideon averages around 75-100 comments a post. Of course Gideon has built quite a following so he does have quite a bit of traffic, but regardless of traffic, his blogs engagement level is through the roof.
Now I don’t have any statistical data to back me up, but here are the reasons why I believe that visitors are more likely to leave a comment on a video post, compared to a text post.
1. Personality
I think one of the main reasons that more people are apt to leave a comment, is because your personality really can shine through video. Unlike plain text, with video people can actually see that you are a REAL person. It builds instant credibility and a relationship with your reader.
Personality traits through video:
- Voice/Tone
- Race/Ethnicity
- Physical Features
- Mannerisms
- Accent/Language
- Self Presence
- Environment/Location
2. Engaging Medium
Just the simple fact that video is more of an engaging medium, it stimulates more people to want to participate. It has been proven that images and video tend to be shared and encourage participation, more than text.
3. Better Understanding
With video, most of the time you are able to explain something much easier because of the ability to use visual and audio elements. Especially for blogs that produce educational content, using things like screenshots, screen recordings, and powerpoint presentations can help make points and give a visual aid to the user. You can also place emphasis on certain words or concepts, reiterate key points, and paint a better overall picture with your voice.
If a user better understands whatever it is you are training to explain, the are more likely to want to leave a comment, ask a follow up question and give their two cents to the subject.
What Do You Think?
Personally I don’t have much experience with doing video, but have simply made an observation that was very apparent to me. For people that create lots of video content, what are your thoughts? Do you feel that more people comment on video content, compared to text content?
