The world of video marketing is shifting quickly. With the advent of streaming video services and on demand video, the value of the 30-second advertising spots during a TV show has begun to lose its significance. Marketers have been forced to look for other ways to reach customers through this medium, and are turning in increasing numbers toward long-form video content.

Many brands today are looking to create longer video pieces that rate as standalone entertainment: videos that resonate with viewers, that are likely to capture their attention, and that will compel them to share with others. Unlike traditional commercials, these videos are much less informative, and more focused on connecting with viewers and keeping the brand tied to the narrative that is produced. People are more drawn to this sort of content today, says Canada Goose CMO Kevin Spreekmeester.

“Film is what people are consuming today,” Spreekmeester opines. “It’s one, if not the best, way to tell stories that connect emotionally with your audience.”

That emotional connection is key to this sort of marketing campaign. Viewers are much more likely to engage with and remember content if it resonates with them, which in turn increases their chances of wanting to engage with the brand behind the content. The challenge for content marketers is to create long-form videos that capture that kind of attention.

But video in general seems to be a medium that grabs people.

Indeed, Mist Media found that viewers are willing to spend 88 percent more time on a website if said website contains video. Simon Owen, the managing director of Johnnie Walker’s creative agency, seconds that emotion, saying “People are willing to engage with long-form content if it is compelling enough.”

Long-form content that is able to draw in viewers is said to go a long way in turning new leads into potential customers. Whereas many Millennials will do everything in their power to avoid a 30-second ad, most of them will allow themselves to be drawn in by a longer movie if it is compelling enough to grab their attention. As such, long-form video content may well be the key to marketing to younger generations. 

Andrew Bindelglass is a contributing writer for The Mad Marketer, a website on which this article originally appeared.