Will your video self-destruct in 5 seconds or will it go viral?

In terms of digital content, videos are the new champions on the block. Statistics endorsing their sway over audiences are impressive: “10 billion videos are watched on Snapchat every day (Bloomberg, 2016)”.

There’s more: “over 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube every day (Business Insider, 2016)” and “over 8 billion videos or 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day (TechCrunch, 2016)”. Read  more in The Unparalleled Power of Facebook Videos.  

Any truly aspiring marketing campaign would have to include videos but the added cost of producing them can be a serious drawback. So, when it comes to making videos, the significant thing about them is that they really have to pop if they’re going to be regularly included in a company’s marketing budget.

Getting audiences to engage in a seconds-long visual interlude is no mean feat but there is a list of things that will optimize the chances of catching your audience’s attention and then keeping it for the length of the video.

–Remember NO sell

Videos are excellent mediums for telling a story and that’s what they should be about, not about making a sale. We all remember the heavy sales ads because we’re determined to avoid them. The story creates the atmosphere that engages the viewer. 

–Make the first few seconds count

Website visitors only ever stay on a page for a few seconds. Make those seconds count by using facilities such as auto-play like on Facebook and Buzzfeed.

–Make your videos mobile friendly

Your videos must be playable on a mobile platform because millennials use their phone rather than their computer to surf their favourite sites.

–Make it short and to the point

You have an average of 10 seconds to engage the viewer. Go straight to the point and make it in under 10 seconds and only then can you tell the story. See also How to maximise reader’s session time on your website pages. 

–Know your audience

If your content is not pitched at the audience behind the platform your airing it on, then you won’t even have the 10 seconds. Tailor your content to your audience and you will stand a much better chance of capturing relevant viewers.

–Tease the audience

Relevant viewers might not be interested in your content at the moment they come across it. You can change that by hinting they might miss out on useful information, the inspiration to act or something to amuse them. All three options are effective tools in video marketing. In other words, get them to ask the question: “what will I miss if I don’t watch this video?”

–Make sure it can be found

There’s nothing worse than hearing about a video and then not being able to find it. Make sure your videos are tagged. Start by putting it up on your own website then make it embeddable, shareable, taggable, and even downloadable.

–Optimize it for SEOs

Use as many keywords and descriptions as possible when uploading to the web. You need to help Google understand and place the content of your video if you don’t want to be relegated to the bottom of the pile.

–Use captions if appropriate

Depending on your audience and the platform, don’t hesitate to use captions to help get the point across. Captions are useful as a back-up or alternative to sound.

–Add call-to-action buttons

Make sure you offer the possibility of further engagement by leaving your audience with the ability to stay in touch or to further explore. Make it easy to follow up the content of your video.

– Use your metrics

HubSpot and other marketing services offer unrivalled feedback on the performance of your content. Monitoring the ‘video average watch time’ or the ‘post engagement’ will very quickly tell you what and where you’re getting things right or wrong with your videos.

and last but not least – Apply content marketing rules to video marketing

Quality, brevity, and expediency presented in an amusing, useful, or inspirational package works for both mediums. So, the same exacting standards and professional skills used when creating web content can and should be used to create video content.

Following the above recommendations is bound to help maximize your video viewing statistics or at least get you on the road to producing video content that is more engaging and attractive to your target audience. Contact Saba Consultants for more in depth advice.