The ability to create a personal connection through digital content is attractive because a busy person can reach other human beings at a scale not possible face-to-face. I also believe it smooths the transition when the time comes to develop a real relationship offline. In this post I want to talk briefly about how video can bring these two benefits.

Personal Connection at Scale

Although there are lots of people trying to develop businesses that de-personalise legal services, much of the business of law still relies on personal connections. If you are struggling for work, there is much to be said for simply getting off your arse and meeting as many new people as you can.

Whether you meet new people by trawling your address book asking for introduction, going to networking events, or getting involved with special interest groups, making new connections is good for business but it is very time-consuming.

I think video can give you some of the benefits of talking to people in real-life, but with the added bonus that it can be done at scale. Unlike real-world interactions, creating a video is a one-time effort that can be watched over and over again by other people. Repeat the process many times and you are well on your way to make personal connections on mass.

That sounds great in theory, but can you really make a personal connection with someone via video. I believe you can and I think it is because of something psychologists call the familiarity heuristic.

The Familiarity Heuristic

A heuristic is a mental short cut that people use when forming beliefs, judgments or decisions. The familiarity heuristic is quite well supported by research and it shows that the familiar is quite often favoured over new people, and things.

Interestingly for legal marketers, busy and stressed people are more likely to rely of heuristics than people in a calmer state of mind. If your business relies on selling services to stressed executives, in-house counsel, or other lawyers, you might do well to pay attention to the familiarity heuristic.

Accelerating Real Relationships

Of course, connections made through video are inherently one sided and whether or not a personal connection can be one-sided is open for debate. What is certain though, is that we can create familiarity by producing video content regularly and familiarity has been scientifically proven to create a bias in the eyes of our viewers.