How to Succeed in Video Without Really Trying

Dear Reader, this blog post is designed to tell you (mostly) everything you need to know about the science of video marketing. Now, let’s assume you are skilled, hungry, clear-eyed and eager – anxious to ensure your video content rises to the top of news feeds. It can!

Make no mistake video advertising is hard work. Video content requires the careful arrangement of image, text, and music that work together to engage even the most hard-to-reach target audience. It’s worth the effort – if a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth 1.8 million!

There’s a reason that YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world (second only to its parent, Google) and that three major social networking apps ­– Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook – have been duking it out to capture the ephemeral video market. So, how do you create a video that inspires, engages, and sells?

Just have courage, and memorize these simple guidelines for successful video content creation.

How to Hook Them with the Intro.
With the sheer volume of content that seeps into every aspect of our day, there’s little time to waste on uninteresting or unhelpful content. Research shows that you have approximately 10 seconds to hook a viewer before they scroll on by – so you should treat those first critical seconds as a teaser that gives a compelling reason to continue watching.

1. Choose the right words: People respond to emotion and bold statements.
2. Use a striking visual: If you have one shot or effect that’s especially compelling, find a way to work it into the beginning.
3. Take advantage of pre-roll: Videos being shared on social can start with on-screen text that provides a hook or intro into the content.

How to Tell a Compelling Story.
We’ve touched on how stories provide marketers with a unique opportunity to generate strong personal connections to a product or brand. Video has proven to be a particularly powerful medium for storytelling. As human beings, we process visual information faster and retain it better, far better, than reading text. A 30-second video can convey in mere moments what would otherwise require pages of text to explain.

Plus, research shows that video immerses the viewer into a story in a way that text cannot. Our mirror neurons – brain cells that fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action – elicit an emotional response that helps increase empathy and engender trust. To craft compelling video content that excites your audience and encourages them to engage with your brand….

How to Keep Your Audience Engaged.
While one viral video can certainly increase visibility for your brand, consistent content production keeps your target audience engaged over the long haul. The first step to producing more engaging videos is creating an editorial calendar. After all, the more consistently (and often) you practice video production, the better your content will become. You’ll be able to step up your production, get more creative, and experiment with even more engaging content.

With every video you produce, it’s also important to be consistent with your branding and to provide a clear call-to-action for your customers. Clear, consistent messaging can help viewers recognize your brand, while a clear call-to-action gives them an opportunity to engage with your brand after the video ends.