Don't Let Your Videos Get Scrolled Past
The Importance of Video
Consumer behavior dictates that audiences aren't content with ads whose only purpose is to sell to them. People are increasingly looking to be entertained by the marketing content they consume. This holds especially true for video, a medium that is optimal for education and entertainment.
Creative Director Camille Smura dropped by Growth Hackers to discuss how to drive action with the use of video. Her extensive experience in video production has a lot to offer business owners looking to take their digital marketing to the next level.
How to Make an Entertaining Marketing Video
Creating a video that entertains audiences while still promoting your product and brand is a challenge. A mistake even large corporations can make is to create entertaining videos that do not register as a promotional tool. Consider how many times you've watched an impressive television commercial only to forget what it was advertising.
Conversely, trying to make an infomercial out of your video is a sure way to waste money. People know whether or not they will devote any time to your video within the first couple of seconds. That's why it's essential that you capture their interest.
Eargasm
One of the many successful product campaigns Camille Smura is known for is the Eargasm product. Eargasm is a brand of earplugs that allows people to filter out annoying sounds while allowing important ones through.
Using Eargasm as an example, Camilla talks about the use of visually striking locations combined with compelling characters. The goal is to provide an entertaining video that sells the product effortlessly. In essence, you should strive to create a brief sitcom.
When you create an entertaining video, people will stay on longer because they are interested. You don't want your viewers to feel like a captive audience watching a TV screen at an airport. With your video, they have the option to simply click away.
Why Video?
One of the biggest objections business owners have with regards to video is their ability to create content. A production team and equipment are required for creating a professional quality video. There is also a lot of creative work that goes into the process.
Despite any concerns, you should strive to include video in your business's digital marketing mix. Consider the fact that on average, people scroll through 300 ft of timeline. In this span, they run across all kinds of content. If you can manage to provide an effective hook, you can significantly increase traffic to your landing pages. A hook is a catchy slogan, the tagline or visual cue that attracts prospects into your marketing funnel.
The metrics show that video produces more clickthroughs than text and images combined. People absorb more information when watching a video because they devote their undivided attention to it.
Video and Direct Response
You usually don't convert users from their first view. It's imperative that you have the ability to bring them back to your content. You can achieve this by creating appealing content while having the analytics to guide your actions.
The Facebook Ads Manager platform allows you access to a wide variety of metrics that aid you in your efforts. Among these metrics, you can monitor the point at which viewers click away from your video. This gives you the capability to pinpoint the weak points in your content so that you can improve on it.
Improving Through A/B Testing
A/B testing is important for making small tweaks to your videos. With this kind of testing, you don't have to waste resources on creating endless amounts of content. Test demographics and hooks so that you can benchmark for future videos. Keep a journal of what works and what doesn't. This way, you can reduce costs as well as the time required to create content.
Learn From Video Growth Hackers
Camille Smura highlights some of the points of interaction with her clients. These tips aren't only useful for video production consultants but can bring synergies to your business.
It's important to go into the video creation process knowing that you need to produce many versions of your hook. Place your emphasis on testing the beginning part of the hook. Typically, Camilla gives her clients five versions of the hook, whether text or video.
It's important to realize that you never really know if you're getting it right. You should have a good idea from previous videos you've benchmarked but A/B testing will guide the way. Growth Hakers does six hooks and runs tests with three different audiences.
Understand the Platform
Creating the most entertaining video can only reach its full potential if you understand the platform it will be running on. You need to tailor your content for each individual social media outlet so that you achieve maximum effectiveness.
Applying the correct aspect ratio to each platform will guarantee that users have the best viewing experience. Aspect ratio is the size of your video frame and it's important to understand that each platform has different standards. Check the recommended dimensions for each platform so that you can plan accordingly.
Another aspect to consider is sound. It's preferable to assume that people will not have their sound activated on their devices. Be sure to include subtitles so that your message is not lost on the segment of people viewing without sound.
Learn From Digital Marketers
As a business owner, it's important for you to know what will stop consumers from buying from you. You need to remove the blinders that cause you to look at your brand from your perspective and broaden your view to include your prospective customers' viewpoint.
Keep in mind that just because something seems appealing to you doesn't mean that consumers will respond to it. Follow the data and make decisions based on metrics that describe your audience's habits. The more videos you create, the more data you will have on which to base your decisions.
Furthermore, it is important to realize that there is a minimum cost of entry. Understand that video production is a multifaceted project that involves many moving parts. Try to structure your video production so that you achieve economies of scale.