The word ‘engaging’ does not immediately spring to mind when thinking of stats, but as data visualisation specialist Stephen Few points out:
‘numbers have an important story to tell they simply rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice’.
Most obviously, statistics are a source of data to engineer marketing efforts. Stats can provide demographic information such as the age, gender, and nationality of potential consumers or be used as part of competitor or SEO analysis.
But why keep all the fun of statistics behind the scenes? Stats are an incredibly powerful force when presented through video. They can convince, shock, educate, and assure viewers whilst altogether supporting the wider targets of the video production. For videos designed to convince audiences to consume products or retain information, the smart use of statistics can mean the difference between a successful campaign and one that alienates or even deters audiences.
Using the healthtech industry as a case study, let’s take a deep dive and explore how you can make your stats videos more engaging.
The healthtech industry
The healthtech industry encapsulates the application of organised skill and knowledge in the form of medicines, vaccines, medical devices, procedures, and systems designed to solve health problems and improve the general quality of life.
New developments in healthtech include:
- Personalised medicine
- Artificial intelligence and robotic surgery
- Digital therapeutics
- Nanomedicine
- Smarter pacemakers
- 3D printed prosthetics, implants, and stents
- AR and VR medical training
Why are stats so important in the healthtech industry?
Statistics and their presentation are of particular importance in the healthtech industry due to its precise and scientific nature. Beyond this, data generated for or within the healthtech industry can be used for global public good. It can be used to track and prevent the spread of epidemics, discover the effectiveness of new drugs and safely advance medical research. This has become even more so apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The growing use of artificial intelligence has meant that in recent years, the value of medical data and stats has increased exponentially and its importance cannot be understated.
Stats are needed to:
- Measure health of population
- gather samples
- Measure success of treatment and services
- Understanding consumer marketing characteristics
- Ensure accessibility of services and treatments
- allocate resources and minimise risks of health care trade-offs
- Complete needs assessments
- Ensure quality improvements and product developments fall in line with company values and aims
Stats presented through video
There are many types of video that may benefit from presenting statistical information in the healthtech field and beyond.
Marketing videos
Videos designed to promote your brand product or service should make up an increasingly large part of your marketing strategy.
These include videos like:
- Testimonials
- Explainers
- Promos
- SEO demonstrations
Surveys have shown that video marketing, which is utalised by a staggering 86% of businesses helped increase:
- Brand awareness by 70%
- Traffic by 51%
- Sales by 34%
Statistics are an invaluable part of marketing videos as they can raise awareness, encourage consumerism and convey important information – all of which are key forces in healthtech marketing strategies in particular.
Educational videos
Unsurprisingly stats also play an important role in educational videos within the healthtech industry. Educational videos can be used to teach new recruits, collaborate with university students, or relay critical healthcare information to the public.
Internal communications videos
Videos are effective in communicating within your business, this can be in the form of:
- Leadership-generated content
- Employee-generated content
- Peer to peer content
- Information delivery
- Culture communications
- Crisis management
These videos may be used in pitches, meetings or email transmissions to convey information to employees or to attract talent to your business.
Statistics presented in these videos can convey important information that may impact the procedures carried out or decisions made within your business. They also provide clear data that allows the company’s employee body to work together towards a common goal, strengthening operations from within.
We get it though, stats can be boring, and as important as they are, it may feel as though they are not fulfilling their potential when used in basic video formats. So how do we change this?
We can help your company to revolutionise the way that its stats are conveyed through video. Keep reading to find out how!
Data visualisation
Data visualisation is the process of taking raw data and converting it into charts, graphs, images, and videos. It helps to explain numerical information to those who may not otherwise be able to grasp such detailed mathematical detail and through this enables everyone to gain useful statistical insights from it.
Forms of data visualisation include:
- Line graphs
- Pie charts
- Scatter plots
- Heat maps
- Histograms
Statistical data visualisation is the overarching method to creatively transform numbers into digestible material, but it isn’t necessarily engaging on its own.
Bringing stats to life
Humans have been telling stories for over 30,000 years, we crave to know and tell the what, why, and how of every possible situation. The most impactful way to convey any form of information is through storytelling, this includes statistics!
Stats can be dry, and it might feel that their traditional style detracts from your company’s unique video creations, but it doesn’t need to be like this.
Telling a story with numbers sounds complicated, but it is possible, and when done right, its more than worth it!
So how is it done?
Combine visualisation and storytelling
To truly engage with your audience, internally or externally, it is essential to humanise statistics and ensure they are accessible and understandable. There are several methods that can streamline this daunting task.
Choose stats carefully
Select only the most relevant stats to showcase in your video.
Every piece of data is important in its own right, however, overloading your audience with complicated statistics runs the risk of overwhelming them.
Also, remember to always present stats in their most simple form – don’t expect the viewer to do the work.
Use a storytelling formula
Make sure you are addressing these questions in your pre-production process:
- What is the purpose of us providing these stats
- Who is going to be interested in these stats
- Why should you be interested in these stats
- What do you want people to do
They will help you begin to formulate a story surrounding your stats.
Incorporate stats with meaningful visuals
Throughout our evolutionary history, humans have built associations with different sounds and visuals. The brain connects these queues to certain feelings to protect us. Red, for instance, suggests danger, as does high-pitched noise.
When creators are aware of these nuances, videos can be crafted to elicit specific emotional responses. These emotional responses can encourage audiences to actively engage with video content, for instance through further research, sharing, or purchasing a product.
Emotional video is the perfect tool for healthtech companies to utalise as feelings like sadness, anger, and shock prompt us to act as we feel the inspiration to ensure the world is a healthier place to reside.
Studies have confirmed that videos that trigger an emotional response in audiences are more impactful than those focused on logic. For this reason, it would be beneficial for stats videos to be intercut with emotional B-roll footage.
This point is especially relevant for healthtech productions looking to raise awareness or promote life-changing advances in their industry. If a healthtech company is creating a video that is stat heavy, perhaps stats proving how many are suffering from an illness and how their lives can be improved with medication – it would be beneficial to include emotional footage of people struggling with the illness and how their lives have improved after taking said medication. The intertwining of emotional footage with statistics makes the numbers come to life and promotes undwindling engagement in audiences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiWwpLiqoH4
Utilise an engaging presenter or voice over
Never underestimate the power of a great video presenter, whether they are on screen or simply providing a voiceover.
They should have:
- Passion
- Purpose
- Personality
- Clear voice
- Engaging and expressive tone
Presenters can have a brilliant impact on the engagement level of a video. They reinforce branding and create a more personable feel through storytelling. Videos hosted by a presenter work perfectly as mixed-media (live-action and animated) productions.
It is beneficial to incorporate audio and visuals in stats videos for engagement and knowledge retention purposes.
Music
Music can enhance any type of video and promotes the engagement of audiences in typically less entertaining topics such as stats.
Ensure that music is not an afterthought, for the best results, edit footage or animation in time with the beat of a soundtrack.
Rhythm grabs and holds attention, especially if combined with funky animation.
Animation
Animation can be:
- Cost-effective
- Versatile
- Informative
- Malleable
- Longwithstanding
- Professional
It’s also a surefire way to promote audience engagement in stats videos.
2D, 3D, and motion graphics are the most effective forms of animation used to present statistics. Take a look at these examples:
Animation can bring a new depth and understanding to healthtech videos and its non-complicated nature allows important health information to be conveyed to the largest audience. It had the ability to be an accessible art form when developed with inclusivity in mind.
Animation can overcome learning disabilities and language barriers by encouraging a more inclusive ‘visual language’.
The National Literacy Trust has determined 1 in 6 adults in England have very poor reading skills.
For those that struggle to read, leaflets and videos overloaded with written statistical information are overwhelming. Although full illiteracy is rare in the UK, many possess sight problems, brain trauma, mental illness, and developmental problems that contribute to a low comprehension ability.
It is essential that these groups have access to all forms of medical content and are able to be made aware of options surrounding medical care and services.
Topics central to the healthtech industry can be difficult to understand – animated videos provide a resource for healthcare companies and charities to educate, advertise and raise awareness of services available to all communities.
To further explore the use of animation in your health content why not take a look at this article.
Unlocking accessible stats
Numbers, data, and statistics can be scary and off-putting, their sometimes complex nature can cause audiences to disengage with videos overstuffed with them. Whilst is is of course helpful to ensure stats are in their most simple form, it is also essential, particularly in the healthtech industry that information be presented in accessible formats so that those with varying needs can engage with them.
Statistical animations tend to carry a lot of visual and cognitive weight, you must take into account the experiences of users viewing them.
Make sure to pay close attention to these areas:
Colour accessibility:
The World Health Organisation estimates that over 220 million people live with some form of visual impairment.
Many of those with visual impairments struggle to understand live-action or animation that has a low colour contrast. It is also helpful to use distinguishing textures in graphs so that those who are severely colourblind do not have to worry about the misinterpretation of data.
Visual language:
Using animated statistics can overcome language barriers and low literacy rates by promoting a much more accessible and inclusive visual communication style.
It may be useful to present numbers, for instance, in a pictogram.
A pictogram (also known as a pictograph) is a chart or graph which uses pictures to represent data in a simple way. Each picture in the pictogram represents a physical object.
They are set out the same way as a bar chart but use pictures instead of bars. Each picture could represent one item or more than one. They are intended to help people make the connection between a bar chart and the data it represents.
Clear signposting:
To make identification clearer for all your audiences, including those with hearing impairments, animated text or captions should be shown alongside stats and audio descriptions.
Simplified animation:
We know animation is great for presenting stats in a simple and effective way, but how do we ensure it is accessible whilst doing so?
- Avoid overcrowding the screen with multiple graphs at the same time, instead present them individually.
- Prevent dizziness by ensuring that there is no excessive motion in content.
- Prevent seizures by minimising flashing animation.
Gathering thoughts…
Whether you are making external marketing and educational videos or internal communications videos, it is clear that stats are an excellent way to get research across, but is it engaging?
To ensure engagement in stats videos make sure to:
- Bring stats to life by combining visualisation and storytelling
- Intertwine stats videos with powerful B-roll footage.
- Utilise an engaging presenter or voiceover.
- Showcase stats with music and rhythm.
- Use animated graphic styles to illustrate graphs, charts, etc.
- Make your video accessible to all members of society.
We realise how stressful, time-consuming, and tough it can be to create engaging statistics videos for your firm. Kartoffel Films can assist you in streamlining the process and ensuring that your statistics videos are both informative and entertaining. Contact us today for more information.
