Over the past three years, video has continued to be one of the hottest mediums in the digital marketing realm. Honestly, it makes sense. Video is a vibrant multimedia format that can quickly get your audience’s attention while helping convey your company or organization’s message to your customers in seconds. This medium is the perfect application to mix logic with emotion that helps create sticky messages for patrons to think about and remember.
I know this saying is a bit cliché, but when it comes to video, “with great power comes great responsibility.” This old and often recited adage describes how a good video can create your desired impact. A poorly executed flick can sometimes do more harm than good.
Getting and sustaining your audience’s attention is more complicated than ever (see article). Now, there is no magical formula — although I wish there were. Still, if you’re thinking about developing a video that your customers will love, here are a few tips you might want to follow.
1. Identify your goal and audience
Stop! This step is critical to your success and makes total sense. Before you begin concepting or even reaching out to your videographer, your absolute first step is to quickly write down why you want to create this video, your goals, and who is your audience? This simple and essential step will help everyone in the creation process stay on task and develop meaningful footage.
2. Keep it short
We have touched on this topic. Your videos must be to the point. We live in a world where attention spans continue to diminish. If you take the perspective that your video needs to be short while conveying a meaningful message, then the likelihood of your audience remembering your message goes up significantly. What are some appropriate lengths for videos?
It depends on the type of production. Generally speaking, a content marketing video takes around a minute to three minutes. Testimonials and corporate videos are about two minutes, and how-to/vlog videos can be longer, up to five minutes.
From my experience, anything past two-and-half minutes is difficult to retain your audience’s attention. Shorter is always better. Here is an article that lists suggested times.
3. Finding the right balance
Now, we’re getting to the video’s essence, explaining your message to your audience. Again, there are various ways to deliver meaningful information to your audience’s mind. The best practice is to begin with, an emotional element (i.e., talking about a problem, or headache, starting with a story) and then proceed to the solution or logical component of the video.
Again, you don’t have to follow this formula precisely. The critical takeaway is balance. Don’t have your two-minute promo be all about the nuts and bolts behind your product. Conversely, don’t have the video be all about emotion. The key here is to find the right mix, get your audience’s attention, and proceed with a meaningful call to action.
4. Be authentic
Let’s say you’re just glancing through this article or want to get one key peril — here it is. Be authentic. It doesn’t matter how good your video is, the messages you display, the fantastic graphics, or the unbelievable storytelling components. If the video doesn’t come off as authentic and genuine in terms of who you are and how you represent your organization, then your audience will not care.
We see this with TV commercials, fake actors, glamour shots, cool effects, and more. Yet, many of these ads don’t convert. Why? Because they’re not directly connecting with these customers. If your customer doesn’t care, the promotion is a complete waste.
If you keep your video authentic, that is in line with your audience. Then the odds of your promotion’s effectiveness go up dramatically. Be original, tell your story, find other customers that share your vision, and above all else, be yourself – it works.
5. Promote your video
So, you have gone through this process, came up with an idea, reached out to a videographer, and painstakingly funded and helped put together your stellar two-minute video. You show it to your customers and friends. They love it. You love it. And then… nothing.
You would be shocked at how many times I have seen this scenario. I meet with a client, and they will show me a fantastic video they created a year ago, and for some reason or another, they simply will not show that video to their audience. I don’t know if it’s a confidence problem, a funding issue, a lack of knowledge on promoting, or maybe a timing problem — who knows?
You have created this stellar video. Now promote it! Place the video on your website, go to social, and display the video at your store or tradeshow. Go to Google and purchase a YouTube ad. Create QR codes on your marketing materials and link to this awesome promo. Just don’t leave it there. Promote it and provide a meaningful call to action.
Creating a video is a fun and exciting process, and your videographer or motion artist should be able to assist you along the way.
If you have a video project in mind and need some assistance to get the ball rolling, please contact Ryan at ryan@neomarkdigitalsolutions.com today. Let’s schedule an appointment to help deliver a compelling message your audience will love.
Here are examples of videos we’ve done for some of our clients:
