Five tips to boost your video marketing strategy in 2021

Make sure your value proposition is clearly laid out in the first five seconds of your video content

Video content is critical for all marketers, as was made crystal clear during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when lockdown and social distancing forced everyone to get online, resulting in video consumption increasing by over 120 per cent. But what does it actually take to create an impactful and successful video marketing campaign? Is there a formula for creating a great video that keeps viewers engaged and resonates with the right audience? Here are five main tips that you should always keep in mind, as you plan and create your own video content.

1) Nine seconds is all you get, so make it count

People’s attention spans are the shortest they have ever been, with most people tapping out after a mere nine seconds. Which means that you only have a few critical seconds to grab the viewers’ attention and convince them that they need to keep watching. Front-load all your valuable content and make sure you don’t try to ‘build anticipation’ or have a slow reveal, because those tactics do not work in video content.

Make sure your value proposition is clearly laid out in the first five seconds and people know exactly what they’re tuning in for.

2) Don’t hard sell – tell your story instead

Anyone who uses social media will tell you that they can spot a sales promo a mile away. Most users have no interest in watching videos that are simply advertisements for a brand. The videos that do well are the ones that add value, be it in the form of education or entertainment and enable the viewer to connect to the brand.

We use stories every day to help understand the world around us and videos are a great way for businesses to share their voice and messaging; the more authentic and genuine a video is, the more likely viewers are to become invested in your brand and become ‘friends’ and ‘followers’. So stay away from traditional sales focused videos and instead opt for things like sharing your ‘origin’ story, interviews with management, explaining a trend or even promotional content, that is creative and emotional, as opposed to “hard selling”.

3) Subtitles are not an option – they are a necessity

Almost everyone reading this article will have watched videos on their phone (or another device) with the sound off.

It is estimated that nearly 70 per cent of people in public places watch social media videos with the

sound off, which means that not only must your video be interesting for viewers when the sound is off, but that captions are critical to ensure a clear understanding of what’s being said. The ideal case scenario is a video that tells a compelling story without the need for audio, however, this is very difficult to execute, so captions are a great alternative.

4. Always have a call-to-action (CTA)

The point of having a video is to cause some sort of action from the viewer and so it’s essential to include a specific call-to-action (CTA) that will direct people on what to do, now that the video is over. Many viewers leave a video after they have seen it, even if they enjoyed it tremendously, but that is a missed opportunity. As a general rule, every video should have a CTA where viewers are told what to do next. This can vary from getting them to subscribe to your YouTube channel, suggesting another video to watch, offering a free trial or even just leaving a comment below.

Sometimes our clients aren’t sure what CTA they want to prompt, in which case an easy solution is to direct them to visit the brand website or get them to visit your other social media channels.

5. Social proof for social animals

Man is a social animal and we love to use social proof when making decisions or justifying certain choices, like which businesses to support or where to spend our hard-earned money. The more evidence we are able to collect that our choice is the right one, the more inclined we will be to go with that option. This is why testimonials, reviews and recommendations are so important in business and the case is not so different when it comes to social media; the social proof that people look for takes the form of likes, views or comments on videos.

MANY VIEWERS LEAVE A VIDEO AFTER THEY HAVE SEEN IT, EVEN IF THEY ENJOYED IT TREMENDOUSLY, BUT THAT IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. EVERY VIDEO SHOULD HAVE A CTA