| Amanda Hicken 
As we head into the second half of 2016, video’s role in PR and marketing continues to heat up. Across paid, earned, social, and owned channels, it’s not only becoming easier to distribute video, but also measure and prove its value. "Video is the language we communicate in today," says Larry Cardarelli, Vice President, Production at MultiVu and moderator of tomorrow’s PR Newswire webinar Video Creation and Strategy for Modern Content Marketers. "Thanks to ever-increasing technological advancements, video can be streamed and viewed on all devices as quickly as text-only used to be." Because of this, video adoption will continue to rise not just with audiences, but also marketers. According to Content Marketing Institute’s 2016 content marketing benchmarks, 82% of B2C and 79% of B2B marketers use video as a tactic. "If given the choice of text vs pictures, marketers are going to choose the communication format that captures eyes," Larry says. On June 22, Larry will be joined by Allison Stern, Co-Founder & VP, Business Development at Tubular Labs, Paul Kontonis, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at DIGIDAY, and Jay Durgan, Chief Content & Marketing Officer at MediaMobz, to discuss how to elicit emotion, drive action, and deliver results with video marketing. Ahead of the free webinar, Larry shared a sneak peek into three trending video best practices that today’s content marketers must know. The Fast and The Focused “Your video consumers are moving fast,” says Larry. “They don't want to be sold and they're not going to stop long enough to digest more than a single story that means something to them.” His recommendation: “Tell a focused story rather than trying to cram too much into one video.” If you have a lot of story to tell, consider a series of videos that focus on individual aspects. Investment More Important Than Ever The flood isn’t coming. It’s already here. “With all disciplines adopting video, there is a flood of substandard or poorly executed video flooding social airwaves today,” says Larry. However, that’s good news for marketers who understand the value of storytelling and production. “What we're finding is that smart, savvy marketers are making investments in quality, highly directed video,” he says. It’s these videos, Larry says, that are more likely to float to the top of the floodwaters. Story, Then Format “Don't produce video for your company, produce video for your targeted consumer,” Larry recommends. Identify what story will be the most relevant and interesting to your audience, and then decide what format is the best way to tell it. Don’t go with a format just because it’s trendy. “Animation, virtual reality and mixed media (live action plus animation) have been trending for some time now,” says Larry. “What's novel, however, is an uptick in live action- a return, if you will, to quality people-driven storytelling. Not every story is best communicated via animation.” Tune in tomorrow, June 22 to get more video creation tips from top experts. Join us at 1 PM ET for the free webinar Video Creation and Strategy for Modern Content Marketers, featuring special guests from DIGIDAY, Tubular Labs, and MediaMobz. 
Click here to register for our June 22 webinar and learn: - How to determine the right video project for your campaign
- How to develop videos that drive engagement with your audience
- How to make video creation part of your overall content strategy
Author Amanda Hicken is PR Newswire's senior manager of strategic content and managing editor of Beyond PR. Follow her on Twitter @ADHicken for tweets about marketing, the media, Cleveland, and comic books. | 
