More audiences than ever before are interacting with video and it has become an essential tool to all marketers. In fact, video could be considered the conglomeration of all content with the ability to tap into the benefits of text, music, moving and still visuals, and links.

Event marketers may find video is particularly suited to their needs. Video quickly conveys brand and personality, it is highly effective and it can be used to actually enhance the event itself. There are plenty of facts and figures around to support the use of video at your next event.

Your target market is probably already interacting with video. Snapchat reports 10 billion videos a day.

Instagram has one billion active monthly users and those users are three times more likely to comment on a sponsored video than a single image ad.

According to Google, 6 out of 10 people would rather watch online videos than TV. A Facebook executive predicts that Facebook will be all video by 2021.

More importantly, viewers absorb more information from videos than from reading text.  A video can share more information in less time. Testing shows consumers retain 95% of a video message compared to 10% of text.

And video marketing works. It increases engagement, sharing, email click through, search engine optimisation, and ticket sales.

Videos receive 48% more engagement on Instagram and users share videos 12 times more often than other posts. Google is 53 times more likely to deliver a video on the front page of a search.

Video Explainers reports that videos increase email click-through rates by 250% and tickets sales by 13%.

You may also find some less positive statistics useful. Eighty-five percent of Facebook viewers and 60% of Instagram users report that they view video without sound.

Thirty-three percent of consumers abandon a video after 30 seconds and 60% are gone by the two-minute mark.

Finally, audiences dislike autoplay so much that Google Chrome now blocks it. For your best video performance, keep it short and don’t rely on audio or autoplay.

As an event planner, you may find that videos are useful for more than just marketing your event and attracting attendees.

You could use videos to more effectively communicate information to attendees before an event. Enhance participation at the event itself, and to give your event life past its conclusion.

Higher engagement with pre-event information such as parking and safety rules could improve your event.

Live streaming and hashtag video contests during the event may increase engagement and enjoyment. Follow-up videos to attendees can make the event more memorable and increase repeat attendance.

It may be time to add the significant value of video to your event marketing tool kit. You can find many online resources to assist you with everything from full-blown production and distribution to instructions on how to produce and distribute your own content. So with that being said you should definitely go ahead and give it a try on your next event.