Imagine the pain and heartache of spending considerable amounts of time and money producing a corporate video that gets no ROI!
Visualize the client discovering your video, pressing play, and then clicking off the video within the first 5 seconds! All your blood, sweat, and tears wiped clean with one cold click of a mouse.
If you are working on creating a homepage video or sales presentation, you can take control now to improve your video message. Many of the mistakes listed in this blog post can be avoided in the initial planning and scripting phase.
Here are some things to consider:
1. No one cares how amazing you are.
Most businesses will claim they are the best at what they do. That’s great, but everyone else says that. How do you show how great you are without telling it? What sets you apart?
Switch your message from product features to tangible customer benefits. Get feedback from your clients. What problems do they need to be solved? Share the solutions to those problems in your video. What are their pain points? Let them know you understand their pain and offer remedies.
Make your video “client” centric instead of “you” centered. Juice your video up with incredible value for the customer and you will see more ROI. More clicks, likes, shares, and subscribes.
2. Your video is boring.
I get annoyed when I suddenly realize I’m being bored to death! Don’t you? Boredom is the bane of every video marketer. To avoid attention drop out syndrome, keep your video focused and to the point.
Follow “The Rule of Ones.” You have a short time to make a lasting impression. Make your video script centered around a single core message and outcome. This will help keep the viewer attentive. You will also show respect and consideration for your viewer’s time.
3. There is no engagement.
The best teachers engage and challenge their students to think. They call on their class to participate in the learning experience. That’s how ideas and concepts get connected and wired in the brain.
Since your video is client centric, ask yourself, (as the video producer), what question(s) will get my viewer’s attention? How can I get the cogs turning in their minds? It’s ok to ask a provocative question for your audience to consider if it’s in context.
Spark the viewers imagination and then ask them to write down or draw their thoughts on paper. They could simply use the comment section on the page. The key is to ask the questions and direct the way they respond. This will help to lock in the learning process. It will work to make your video more memorable and helpful for the viewer.
4. Your audio is crap.
Audio is 50% of the video. In the mobile world of video viewing it’s even more important to get the audio clear and loud enough to sound good on laptop and smartphone speakers. Get the mic close to the speaker. Use a camera with a separate audio in jack. Monitor the audio going out of the camera with professional headphones.
Do your homework. There are some amazing solutions out there for capturing great audio with a small budget. Check out the Sennheiser ME 2 wired microphone for more on the high end. Or look at the Radio Shack corded tie clip microphone that is on the lower end, but still sounds pretty good.
5. Too much mumbo jumbo.
Corporate speak is bad mojo. Unless your audience is very technical, I would keep it at a 5th grade reading level. It’s not that your audience isn’t smart enough to understand higher level content. It’s because simpler speech works with grabbing and holding attention.
Web video content needs to be quickly found and ingested. The top copywriters write at this level for this reason.
The same goes with video. You will capture and hold attention faster and longer with short and simpler wording. If you gum it up with big words and rambling sentences you could lose people fast.
6. It’s a one time deal.
Don’t be a one post wonder. Take advantage of the enormous power of online video to teach and sell. Make more! Create a pipeline of continuing education. Build a following based around your video content.
You may want to create your own YouTube channel and link it back to your main site. YouTube is the #2 search engine. Tap into the audience traffic that is present there and drive it back to your site.
7. Your special effects aren’t too special.
It’s tempting to go crazy on the transitions, titles, and effects. Most video editing software comes pre loaded with tons of them.
Everything in your video needs to serve a purpose. That purpose is clearly spelled out in your goals for the video. Anything that does not drive your viewer towards that goal is a distraction.
Special effects, for the most part, can be very distracting. Keep your edits minimal to simple cuts and fades. Make your titles clean and bold so they can stand out over the background image.
Put your energy into the actual value of the content. Make that the real flash and sizzle.
8. You have no clear call to action
The call to action should be in line with your purpose or reason for creating the video. It’s suprising how many corporate videos fail to include them.
A call to action does not necessarily have to be a request for a sale, but could be the first step in the buying process like, opting into your blog, or signing up to be notified when your product launches.
Call to actions go well at the end of the video because if the viewer has stuck around till the end you know they have more interest in your product or message.
The call to action must be clear, simple, and descriptive. You need to tell the viewer exactly what to do next. For example, “Click on the link below” “Place your comment in the areas titled “comments” to the right side of this video.” “Call us directly right now at 1.800…” Tell them and show them exactly what to do next.
What are some of your thoughts?
I hope I was able to give you some insights into how to make your corporate video productions. If you have any other ideas to share please comment below! Thanks!
