Earlier this year, news surfaced that Facebook will be investing as much as $1 billion on the creation of original video content. Companies such as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are also said to have invested billions to create original video content.
Videos have been around for quite a while now – then why the sudden surge in interest? Well, here are a few facts that will explain this:
- YouTube brings in nearly 4,950,000,000 video views daily.
- Snapchat alone fuels more than 10 billion video views every single day!
- Nearly 50% of all video is watched on a mobile device.
- By 2019, internet video traffic will account for 80% of all consumer Internet traffic
- Videos up to 2 minutes long get the most engagement.
- People watch more than 100 million hours of video on Facebook.
- Merely mentioning the word 'video' in an email subject line, the click-through rate increased by 13%.
These figures alone stand as proof that videos are the future of content, and that all companies – whether big or small – will be investing heavily in the creation of original video content.
So, the question that now arises is – how to create engaging videos that customers actually want to watch?
Here are a few points to get you started:
#1. Identify your viewers
The type, category and format of your video, along with its distribution platform, all depends on your target audience. Therefore, it is essential that you have a clear understanding of the demographics of your target audiences, and their activity levels across various platforms.
#2. Create a schedule
Having an organized plan not only helps keep your ideas organized, but also provides a motivating sense of urgency. As a marketer, it is extremely important to make use of an editorial calendar.
#3. Shuffle
It is important to plan for a diverse content layout. You should use a variety of different formats and techniques to keep your audiences engaged. There are a variety of formats to choose from, such as:
- Interviews
- Live video streaming
- Time lapse
- Documentary
- Highlight reels
- Instagram video
- Snapchat
- Webinars
- Motion graphics
#4. Seek to spark curiosity
The key to an engaging video is to show the viewer something that they have not seen before. To do this, you can plan and script your content using the Information Gap Theory of Curiosity, which states that your content needs to bridge the gap between what viewers know and what they wish to know. Therefore, you must ensure that your videos are based on topics that spark curiosity.
#5. Hook Your Audience
When Facebook analyzed their users’ video consumption data in 2016, they discovered that 45% of people who watch the first three seconds of a video will keep watching it for at least 30 seconds. So now, you need to make sure that the first 30 seconds of your video are extremely engaging and not just a long, dragged introduction.
#6. Evoke your Audience’s Emotions
According to Psychology Today, brand preference is largely an emotional decision. As a marketer and content developer, the end goal of converting the viewer needs to be kept in mind. To make your viewers connect with your video and message, you need to kindle warm feelings of happiness, hope and excitement.
Using these tips, you can create videos that are both engaging and facilitate lead conversion, and make sure you get the most benefit of the biggest trends in content marketing.
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