5 Tips for Engaging Website Video
We live in a digitally connected world. Never before in history have we had such ease of access to knowledge on demand. Never before have we been so bombarded with stimuli from our smart devices. People are now aware of everything that’s happening around them through the help of online media. Blogs and articles, capture our attention and provide details to the day’s events. However aside from text, another medium is emerging as king due to its ability to grab the audience’s attention… this is of course, video.
Some marketers steer away from video as they think it’s too hard or too expensive to produce. However, this is simply not true. With new technology, it’s easier than ever to make a video on a budget and when you consider that it can capture the attention of an audience more than a traditional blog can, then it just makes sense to do it!
However, like everything, it’s important that your video content is quality and that it engages and gives something to the viewer. Poorly made videos that aren’t entertaining are just annoying and that’s not where you want your brand to be… So, here are 5 tips for creating great website videos.
Put time into the process, not just the final result
Once you come up with your idea, it’s very easy to want to jump straight in and produce something as quickly as you can. However, it’s important to spend more time on your production to make it even better. Build a quality story in a way that really captures the audience and spend time on the final details like special effects and cinematography. This way, you’ll have a video that really stands out and doesn’t just look like an advertisement. Instead you’ll have a piece of content that’s able to connect with your audience and attract new customers.
Know your audience
Video should be created to satisfy the desires of your audience. If you don’t know what they crave then how can you fulfil their needs and keep them engaged? It’s important to understand the demographics of each audience and tailor your story and production to specifically engage that group of people. Each social network includes some form of ‘insights’ report where you can drill down on the demographics of your followers. This includes things such as age, sex, location, interests and more. Make sure you study these, noting any differences between social networks. Understand your audience demographics and have them in the forefront of your mind when planning your video.
Chose the right stage
As we’ve said, knowing your audience is important but, as important, is understanding that you may have multiple audiences across different social networks and that these audiences may vary. What may be suitable as an Instagram video may not be good for your Facebook audience and vice versa. You should create unique versions of each video, based on the corresponding social platform so that each video can promote your site. So, when planning, it’s important to not just consider the ‘what’ but also there ‘where’ with an understanding of your unique audience’s needs. For example, Facebook tends to be more positive with uplifting, motivational videos that make people feel good and therefore get shared. Whereas YouTube is broader with a bit of everything.
Be Authentic
No one wants to watch ads. No one cares for something that goes straight for the customer’s pocket in an inauthentic way. So, it’s important to define what your brand values are and make sure your work speaks to those values and builds a relationship with the viewer, not just shove something down their throat. There’s a lot of video on the internet and competition is fierce. So, be authentic… you owe it to your audience to give them something that’s quality and engaging.
Use tags
Tags are a great way to spread your work. Video is no different. When posting be sure to utilise appropriate tags that are relevant and that will get the attention of potential customers. Good tags can generate interest amongst people and get your content ‘trending’ with likes and shares. A good way to pick the best tags is to do some research first. Watch other videos in your niche and look at their style, tone, title and how they’re tagged. You can obviously get an idea of how popular the video is by looking at the number of views and / or shares. If you come across a video that has gone viral then, try and use some of the same tags in your own video. While you’re there also have a good think about the video and understand why it’s so popular. You may learn so best practice to implement in your own videos.
As we can see, video is key to building a solid relationship with potential customers. However, not just any video will do. Be authentic, creative and entertaining. Focus on the details and create quality work that people are going to love watching. Realise the power of video and don’t underestimate its ability to be emotive and appeal to a viewer on a deep emotional level. We’re all human and studies show that we make most of our decisions based on emotion. So, it makes sense to appeal to your audience on an emotional level to encourage them to buy your product. The key is to find a balance of selling without the audience even realising you are. While you’re getting your message across, the audience is enjoying your video and at the end they feel an emotional connection with your brand… that’s the key right there.
