This blog was originally published in February 2018 but has been updated with more recent content
Video marketing has become such a powerful force in online marketing that it may be a good time to revisit your video marketing campaigns and determine if there are better ways to produce your videos and get better results.
There’s a common misconception that video is hard to do or takes a lot of technical expertise. In the age of iPhone and Facebook Live, simple video tends to be one of the easiest ways to create short-form content quickly. And, counterintuitively, quick and easy (i.e. non-professional) video is typically viewed with greater trust, since there’s an authenticity that shines through in these types of videos.
There will always be a time and place for an impressive, high quality live capture video production, but the point here is that video can be utilized by any and all businesses today.
While it is true that doing any type of video used to be good enough — regardless of quality — the growing use and improvement in technology is making it more important to get video right, even when cheap and simple.
The advances in video technology have allowed most consumer-level products, such as our smartphones and handheld cameras, to capture sharp and crisp, professional-level video content, with just a little bit of know-how.
Lighting is Key
If you’re on a budget, the first thing that you should consider spending money on would be lighting. Good lighting with a decent camera almost always beats a great camera with mediocre lighting.
Subvert their Expectations
In regards to your message, video has to be concise and attention-grabbing from the start. It’s best to begin your video with a pattern interrupt. A pattern interrupt is something that will grab attention and even seems out of character for what the actual video is about. The idea here is to create curiosity and interest, but also keep viewers on their toes as to what’s coming next. This use of pattern interrupts will help in gaining more attention and keeping viewers focused.
Do It Like the Teachers
The use of multi-modality content is a great way to keep viewers engaged after the pattern interrupt and as the core of the main message. This strategy is used by teachers to help students learn and retain more information. Instead of teaching information just one way to students, they’ll do it multiple ways, to make sure each student is retaining information, regardless of their learning style.
This approach works with video content as well! So the quick takeaway is to use interesting visuals, as well as sound and audio, and any other of the senses that you can pull into the experience when creating video content. this way, you’re making sure your message is being received by everyone who watches.
Have a Great Call to Action
A crucial piece to the closing of your video is the call to action. It should be included in the finish of any videos that you create to generate the response that you want. Now the actual call to action may be different offers, or not even direct offer but rather some step to advance the relationship between you and the viewer.
Some examples of calls to action that are not actual sales offers would include asking your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel, requesting a “like” on Facebook or a “follow” on Twitter or Instagram. In each case, it moves the subscriber a step closer to you, as to grow a stronger bond with that prospect.
In the end, having a great looking and attention-grabbing video is becoming more important for getting good results. But perhaps the greater point of emphasis is that the principles of direct response marketing are as important, if not more important than how professional-grade your video is.
