Videos can attract and entertain with introductions to companies and products, news and updates – they are great tools for starting customer engagement. White papers on the other hand can go into subjects, such as specifications and case studies, in great detail, deepening the relationship with those who are already interested. Of course, you can use videos to explain topics in depth, but this often requires a high level of resources.

With the rapid switch of users to consuming content on mobiles and tablets as opposed to PCs and laptops, as well as the prominence given to videos in search, businesses of all sizes need to be taking advantage of the fact that it is increasingly easy to produce the video content which is becoming the preferred format for consumers.

However, even though I strongly believe video greatly establishes though leadership and influences people more than a white paper does (having done both myself), I don’t believe the survey data they presented showed a real quantitative difference. 33% of survey respondents said they were doing video in their digital campaigns, versus 30% for white papers. Of course there’s a margin of error to be considered with any survey. What would have been very important to include is a survey of consumers on what they find themselves to be influenced by, along with MOST influenced by.

Let’s also keep in mind that white papers and video are not mutually exclusive things, especially with interactive e-publications. What this can speak to is innovative ways of combining online content in the same campaigns, alone with cross-marketing.