3 min read
Our initial results from Videate’s State of SaaS Video Survey show three major things:
Businesses...
1. Know how important video is
2. Dedicate a lot of time and resources towards video production
3. Are constantly behind on video production.
Obviously, this is a big issue. Most businesses’ video libraries cover less than half of their product inventory, and most products update at least every month.
And 1-in-4 companies update products every 2 weeks.
It’s easy to see why companies are constantly scrambling (and failing) to deliver the video content they know is important. Companies struggling to keep up often do so because they rely on the same old tools – like manual editing.
Manual editing takes money, manpower, and time. It's clear that hard decisions must be made about which products and features get video coverage and which do not. Especially if you need to reach people on a global scale.
But it doesn’t have to be this way, thanks to video automation. As we wrote in a previous blog, video automation “uses documents, images, and assets to produce video without manual editing. With the right tool, video creators can produce and publish a video within seconds.”
For companies that recognize the need for video production but keep falling behind, video automation is the only option that will increase video production speed and scale. Yet, some businesses are still sleeping on it.
Why do people still do manual video editing?
We get it. The old ways are familiar and comfortable. Whenever a brand changes their look or name or taste, there is always pushback. We’re all guilty of embodying a metaphorical old man yelling from his porch about how things used to be...
Video automation is still rather new. Some may consider it to be an unknown commodity. And companies that offer this service may vary in capability (Videate provides video automation, by the way, and we’re great!).
Currently, most businesses tackle their video challenges by hiring more people to work on it. But there are a few problems with that way of scaling up video production. The first, and most obvious, is money. Video specialists are expensive.
Unfortunately, manually producing videos is not as simple as hitting “record screen” on their computer. Videos also need editing, voiceover, sound design, and graphics. Then with every new release of a product, service, or update, you have to go through the same process all over again.
In 2021, almost half the businesses surveyed said it took two days to produce a single 3min video. And that's just to produce it the first time-- with regular software releases, it's impossible to keep up without automation.
Why it’s worth it to make the jump to video automation
Video is tremendously important, so it’s worth the energy. The vast majority of businesses agree– according to the upcoming 2022 survey results (stay tuned!), 90% of customers want videos for new products, services and updates. It’s not only beneficial for businesses and customers alike, it’s expected.
Video is the best way to provide this customer education. Your customers want information, video-style, and they want it now. Finding the time to create your video library has never been more important.
With video automation, once you’ve set up a new system and integrated automation into your workflow, you’re saving countless hours of time. Especially for your Subject Matter Experts, who tend to be the ones making these videos with an already full schedule. Free up that time so they can focus on the big picture stuff.
Then there’s scale. Not only can you quickly and easily cover more of your product with automated videos than doing it manually, but it becomes orders of magnitude easier to keep that video library updated. For businesses with continuous delivery, this is a no-brainer.
The same goes for businesses making videos in multiple languages. Using automation for multiple language versions opens up the world – literally. While some businesses mostly have to settle for just English only videos, with automation they’d be able to support their global customers in their own languages. Since 75% want product information in their native language, this is a game-changer for many companies looking to expand globally.
Why wait? Automate your software videos now
Automation is the key to solving your video scaling problems.
Videate makes it easy to produce and maintain software videos through automation. Videate can help you work smarter, not harder -- get a demo today.
