A very sticky sauce
We know that video is a compelling method of communication – it’s pretty obvious right? A video clip engages your senses, whether it’s the movement, the talking or the background music, and they often engage your emotions too.
That’s the secret sauce, because engaging content is more memorable. More ‘sticky’. A sticky sauce if you will.
Video content can help people understand you and your business better, but don’t just take my word for it. In this Australian survey of public sector communicators respondents give three reasons for video being more effective than static images and text. These are:
1. “Cognitive load reduction” (it’s easier to understand)
2. “The relatability factor” (it adds a human element)
3. “Algorithmic dominance” (social media loves video)
Unfortunately, even though we know video is engaging many organisations are still stuck in a photo/text rut.
In fact the same survey respondents admitted that although video is their most effective channel, it’s not the one they use the most. What’s more, of those who do use video, only 30% use it frequently.
Public sector communicators might be wise to take note from their marketing colleagues.
Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2026 report shows 84% of consumers want more videos from brands, and the marketers it surveyed agreed that video content increases brand awareness, user understanding, and web traffic. It also generates leads.
I frequently find myself noticing when video is (or is not) used and I can’t help wondering (very Carrie Bradshaw of me), why is it that we can create video for our personal content, but not for our work content?
No one knows for sure how many hours of video are uploaded every day, but estimates are: YouTube ~ 720,000 hours, Snapchat ~ 5.5 billion Snaps and Tik Tok ~ 23 – 234 million videos. LinkedIn is not being used nearly enough. There’s an opportunity here to help your organisation stand out on that platform… by sharing your sticky sauce.
Let’s do it!
Destination or launch pad?
Some thoughts for conference hosts
In my experience, having worked at conferences and spoken with many delegates, organisers and hosts, it is common for conferences to be seen as the final ‘destination’. Sure, speakers may talk about new trends and technologies, but conferences often look backwards, celebrating the success of the previous year’s work with awards and graduations. They can also incorporate AGMs and other ‘once a year’ business activities. So perhaps it’s not surprising that people start focusing on their conference as the ‘goal’ they’re aiming for.
They’ve become a destination - an expensive one - for everyone who goes there.
Of course, it takes a lot of effort to host a conference (organising, promoting, selling registrations and exhibitor stands, and attracting sponsors, not to mention managing every detail on the day). It’s easy to see why most of your effort goes into getting to your destination (conference) and surviving it. Unfortunately, that’s often where the story ends.
Following a constant stream of promotions, and an intense day or two of in-person events, your attendees pack their bags and head home. Delegates take away good memories, a bag of swag, and 20 slide decks to wade through in their own time. There may be some social posts reminding them of everything they saw and heard… there may even be a follow-up survey and some thank you emails. But that’s usually it. In short, after arriving at the destination you’ve worked so hard to get to, you find yourself dropping off a cliff, into an information desert.
The re-frame
If you stop thinking of your conference as the end of something and start thinking of it as the beginning of something, you can add much more value to your attendees, future customers, sponsors and exhibitors. Most successful conferences generate energy and inspiration, but excellent conferences also focus on the future. They purposefully use the event as a launch pad to build future engagement and learning opportunities and keep key issues top of mind.
The seeds of inspiration and excitement planted at the conference need to be nurtured. If you start thinking of your conference as the foundation for future interactions and education, you’ll have months of material to work with.
As opposed to distant memories of peppermints and pens.
Let’s talk it through
In this presentation I introduce the content flywheel model that you can use to re-purpose your conference sessions. This gives you a continual source of information, education and engagement to share with attendees.