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Why time-lapse photography is a key part of content marketing campaigns 

We all know that content makes the difference, but any old content is worse than no content at all. This is why researching what types of content grabs your audience is a golden nugget of strategy for content marketing campaigns. We’ll let you in on a bit of a short cut, though: most audiences respond to video content. As a medium, video is engaging, accessible, and effectively conveys a message. So where does time-lapse photography fit in? This form of video content is incredibly appealing, and is probably the form that is most likely to catch the eye of a broad demographic of audience. In fact, you’ll be struck by the breadth of industries that can benefit from using it. Here, we look at what time lapse photography is all about and why it’s so effective.

Video in Marketing

Starting with the rise of video, this form of content is really dominating digital marketing now. Over 80% of online traffic is now video traffic. We can see this reflected in the continued popularity of platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Stories. It’s not just a recreational preference, though. Video provides better engagement for B2B marketing and corporate communications too. Of course, there’s logic behind the popularity of video. Videos engage viewers more effectively by combining image and audio, making messages more memorable. Audiences typically remember 95% of a message they see in a video compared to 10% when reading text.
Some of our professional time-lapse cameras in use on various construction sites. Click to enlarge.

SEO Benefits

Videos can enhance your SEO performance. Websites with video content are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google search results. By embedding videos on your website, you’ll likely increase dwell time, which in turn signals to search engines that your site offers valuable content.

Social Media Engagement

Social media algorithms favour video content. Even if you’ve not used social media as part of your marketing strategy before, using video is a great place to start. Being seen on social media is an additional driver to your website and another generator of leads. Plus, you’ll connect with your current and potential clients in a much more proactive way.
Time-lapse footage creates a resource of valuable marketing materials. Click to enlarge.

What is Time Lapse Photography?

OK, time lapse photography isn’t strictly speaking video. It’s a sequence of hundreds of images that, stitched together, reflect gradual movement of a subject in fast motion. The resulting product is a video that condenses hours, days, months or years down into seconds or minutes of video. It’s an ideal form of media to convey changes / processes that happen over a long period of time, and highlights how dramatic those changes can be.

Understanding the appeal

Although video is proven to be engaging and informative, there’s so much of it that the challenge lies in hooking your audience so they don’t scroll by. You need to do this in the first 3 seconds, especially if you’re using a social media platform. This is where time lapse really shines. It has all of the attributes that we, as humans, are attracted to. So it is, in itself, the ideal ‘hook’.

  • Momentum – The rapid movement that all time lapse videos naturally convey, even for the most slow moving subject, generates a sense of excitement. This has a naturally dramatic feel that piques our interest.
  • Curiosity – People continue watching a video because they are curious about what happens next. Time lapse pieces have a clear development of narrative and the promise of a satisfying reveal at the end.
  • Value – Audiences know what time lapse is. Since they are aware that this piece of video will convey a long period of time in a matter of seconds, there’s a sense from the outset that they will get good value from watching that video.
Time lapse footage can be used across many diverse industries. Click on the Play button above to watch.

Great uses for time lapse photography

Which industries and sectors can benefit from time lapse photography, then? Basically, any sector or industry which involves processes that are too slow / gradual to watch in real time. The finished piece doesn’t always have to show radical change, of course. Simply showing the effort that goes into something that may at first glance seem simple is a great use of time lapse filming. In this way it can help you to convey to your customers the skill that goes into your product or service.

Construction

Taking place over a period of days, months or years, the construction of a building or other structure is fascinating to watch. From a content marketing perspective, these videos show clients and end users the quality of work and attention to detail that your services provide. 

Demolition

Many of us imagine demolition to be a quick thing, but time lapse reveals that it is a painstaking and methodical process. Time lapse video of demolition projects  clearly convey the attention to detail that goes into decommissioning a building or structure.

Products

Audiences are often amazed at watching the process of production. Whether it is a factory-assembled mass-produced product, or an artisan hand-crafted product, time lapse footage can show what goes into making the product that you are selling. This gives your product added value and supports your pricing. 

Creation

From clothing to sculpting to murals, watching the creative process is fascinating! While time lapse can never convey what’s going on in those creative minds, being able to watch the process in an accessible time frame will always keep us watching. This makes these videos perfect to increase dwell time on a website. 

Landscaping

The development of outdoor spaces is often taken for granted. However, these areas are carefully designed to exist in harmony with the seasons, and be pleasant places for people to enjoy year-round. Time lapse can not only be used to convey the skill involved in creating a landscaped area, but it can also reveal how that space changes over a year. 

Event set up

The ultimate in viewing momentum, audiences love to watch an empty hall or room become transformed into a breathtaking and atmospheric space. Ideal for the wedding, live performance, exhibition, conferencing, and interior decor industries, these revealing videos are wonderful lead generators. 

Event running

In days past, we’d rely on text based event reports to document the running of a sports, corporate, or entertainment event. Now, from festivals to endurance sports to trade fairs, time lapse is a valuable tool to show next year’s customers the value of their admission price.

Time lapse photography is ideal for so many types of project, from events, to internal fit-out to construction. Click to enlarge.
A thorough content marketing strategy should take in a range of media, and different forms of video are part of that. Time lapse specifically is incredibly versatile and engaging. We are proud of the impact that our time lapse videos have had for our clients, and can’t wait to discuss how this form can work for you.

What Do Our Clients Say?

“We thought it would be good to commission a time-lapse video which shows the hard work that goes into one of our latest geotechnical projects and Horizon Imaging did a great job capturing this video for us! This is the second time we’ve used Horizon Imaging – the first being taking aerial progress photos of a landslip repair project. David has always understood the requirements of the work and has been very helpful and flexible in selecting the optimum times and positions to capture the imagery. We look forward to working with Horizon Imaging again in the future.”

“We are a construction company and were looking for someone to provide a timelapse video of a building. From the first contact with Horizon Imaging David was extremely efficient in his communication and very helpful in ensuring he could meet our timescales. David set up his equipment on site and that was it. All very simple to use through a web interface. This was also handy as we could monitor on site activities. The finished video looked amazing. David also produced high quality stills at the end of the project too. Thanks.”

“The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust approached Horizon Imaging to produce a Time-Lapse video to capture the construction of our new Care Home, Admiral Jellicoe House, nursing and dementia care for naval veterans. We are delighted with this service, it has been a real asset to our build. Great customer service, easy to use footage and images, a must for any new construction. This time-lapse video will be a part of the Trust’s history, thank you David at Horizon Imaging.”

So, ask yourself:

  • Are you looking for engaging and versatile video and imagery to elevate your marketing campaigns?

  • Do your projects cover a long period of time or involve significant visual changes which would benefit from being recorded?
     
  • Do you want to work with a skilled professional to build a library of high quality marketing resources? 

If so, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us on the contact details below.

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Drop us an email on: 
 
Or complete the form on the right and we will be in touch within 1-2 working days. 
 
Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you!