It’s easy to see why video is so popular these days and why businesses are embracing the power of video in their marketing. Video is easy to digest, engaging and entertaining. It’s versatile and simple to share across multiple platforms. However, merely creating video is not enough, you need to create memorable moments with your video, something your audience will remember. Creating video that’s memorable is the key to success.
Dr. James McQuivey calculated that the value of a 1-minute video is worth 1.8 million words.
Human attention span is lower than ever
According to a study by Microsoft, the average human attention span is reducing eight seconds. A report from Jampp shows an 88 percent decrease in consumers’ attention span year on year. This huge decrease has been put down to technology, multitasking and the way we use our smartphones and apps.
These are pretty striking statistics that have significant implications for your content creation, which is where video can really help.
- 80% of users recall a video ad they have seen online in the past month
- 33% of viewers skip a video after 30 seconds
- 45% skip a video after 1 minute
- 60% after 2 minutes
Videos are accessible, easy and they appeal to our brains
Video is very accessible to anyone with internet access. It’s also become much easier to produce – anyone with a smartphone or camera on their laptop can create their own video in 20 minutes.
They are perfect in suiting our busy lifestyles, with low attention spans and allowing us to multitask. And they are easily imposed on you, just think of the YouTube ads that appear at the start.
Humans are built built to process visual cues faster and better than text. A Nieman Reports interview with Marcel Just, director of the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University quotes “Mother Nature has built into our brain our ability to see the visual world and interpret it. Even the spoken language is much more a given biologically than reading written language.”
This means that images and vidoes are ideal for human consumption as they are more digestible.
Types of video
There are plenty of different types and styles of video, but you need to identify the purpose. You also need to consider the channel (s) you intend to use for your video and that it is fit for purpose.
- Explainer videos will educate people about your product or service and can be used as instructions to support customer service activities.
- Interviews encourage a conversation or showcase an individual as a subject matter expert or influencer.
- Demo and Product videos enable you to showcase your product. Enable clearer understanding of purpose, function and benefits.
- Brand videos showcase the company’s high-level vision, mission, products, services and purpose. Although we generally associate these types of video with larger campaigns, this is something all businesses should create.
- Event Videos are great if you are hosting any kind of event. Produce a series of videos that highlight activities, discussions, including vox pops, interviews and summaries.
- How-to educational videos are ideal for informing and teaching your audience something new or delivering greater understanding.
- Animated videos are great to use for more complex concepts, where strong visual will aid clear understanding of a product or service.
- Case Studies and customer testimonials are gold dust. They are an authentic and believable way of proving that customers are truly happy with your product or service. Getting them on film shows they are your advocates, and enables them to describe how you helped them.
- Live Videos give your audience a behind the scenes look. They are great for use on social channels.
- Personalised messages can be a engaging and creative way to continue the conversation with a prospect. A response to someone in video can be very powerful when used as part of your buyer journey.
create authentic memorable video
Tips for creating memorable moments with video
Who are you targeting?
You need to know your audience: are you creating content for potential customer or your followers? Understanding your audience will help you determine what they will be interested in. Build up a profile or persona of your target audience and understand their purchasing behaviour and online activities.
Take a look at your competitors, what are they doing? Articulate why you are different, what makes you better than the competition, what is your competitive advantage?
Which platform?
There are specific requirements and limitations associated with the platforms you choose to use. Your choice of platforms is also linked to your target audience who may have their own platform preferences.
This includes video length. Here are Hubspot’s recommendations:
- Instagram: 30 seconds
- Twitter: 45 seconds
- Facebook: 1 minute
- YouTube: 2 minutes
Memorable first impressions
The goal is to attract viewers to watch your video, amongst the thousands of others, rather than keep on scrolling. These will help you with that immediate impacts
- The title– Keep the title short. Posing questions, offering solutions, use of humour, use of metaphors can all work. Highlight instant value and intrigue rather than long titles.
- The thumbnail– The thumbnail is the first image a viewer will see before they click on your video. It’s often the first scene from the video, but you should choose one that is the most striking one. Make it relevant.
- The length. audiences don’t generally click with the intention of quitting half-way in or skipping through. So, if your audience is not familiar with you or your brand aim to make the video as short as possible, ideally under 3 minutes and your video will have better chances of being watched. If possible, aim to be under 2 minutes, depending on the type of video.
- Framing, lighting, setting and noise. Although its easy to create a video, you need to think like a producer. Think about what’s in the frame, background visuals, lighting and sound. Busy and cluttered backgrounds can be very distracting for the viewer, however plain background can be very dull. Consider background noise such as traffic or echoing from hard surfaces.
Tell a story
Regardless of the type of video you are creating, storytelling is a key component of creating memorable moments. Remember the impression you want to create and who your target audience is. If you engage with one video, audiences will be more compelled to consume more.
Your video should have a beginning, middle and end. Talk to you audience, don’t talk about you. The goal is to engage with them, make a connection with them. Although studio and production house videos can be amazing, audiences will engage with a professional, natural and rawer video. These are more authentic and feel less staged and false for viewers. The atmosphere you create in the video will help them to connect to you and your brand.
Create memorable videos
Video is one of the most popular forms of content and now is one of the easiest ways to reach and connect with your target audience. However, even though it’s easy, if you want to be successful with your videos, remember to talk to your audience, address their issues, their challenges. Be authentic and natural. To create memorable moments with video, think about what would engage you and what makes you skip forward.
Leave your audience with a positive memorable impression that will stick with them. They will remember you and your brand.
