Video marketing is a complex of marketing and PR communications based on video content with target audience to turn it into actual customers, which includes both the technology of video production and its further promotion strategy.
Video marketing is one of the most effective channels of brand promotion for both a brand-new casino and an old-fashioned grocery store. Even the most conservative companies strive to harness the power of video content. But there is an important nuance, video marketing emerged at the intersection of advertising and film. It functions according to slightly different laws than classical marketing.
Let’s break down 7 common mistakes marketers and business owners make when creating videos.
Table of Contents
Overloading on Information
Typical mistake made by a marketer who is used to working with text information and has no experience with video. Text can be large and full of facts. The reader can circle important information with a pencil, and if something isn’t clear, reread the paragraph again.
For video, proper timing is critical. Video broadcasts not only visual but also auditory information. It appeals not only to the mind but also to the feelings of the viewer.
The marketer strives to deliver as much valuable information to the customer as possible. But an attempt to cram in a commercial as much as possible facts about the company and the product will turn out the opposite effect. The viewer will lose concentration and forget what he saw immediately after completion of the video.
You Are in Too Much of a Hurry to Sell
No one knows and loves the product more than the business owner. And no one can sell it as well as the company’s marketer. The thought is true, but in video production it’s sometimes harmful. For the customer, the point of a video is to tell the merits of the product.
But people are tired of someone constantly trying to sell them something. The viewer is distrustful of shouty commercials. So the task of good video advertising is to arouse interest.
Tell the viewer a story. The situation of life with recognizable characters, in which, by all the canons of the drama, there is a plot – the climax and denouement. Describe your audience’s typical problem and show how your product helps solve it. If you do it nicely and unobtrusively, the viewer will perform the targeted action himself, and you’ll get a “warm” lead.
Too Long a Commercial
Wistia’s research shows that videos of two minutes or less have the highest engagement rates. Already between the 2nd and 3rd minute, viewer engagement drops significantly from 53% to 37%.
There is no perfect timing, but in the seven years we’ve been working, we’ve come to a proven standard:
- Explanatory videos – 90 seconds and up.
- Image videos – 60-120 seconds.
- YouTube/TV/social media video ads – 15-60 seconds.
Poor Picture Quality
Poor picture quality annoys the viewer and prevents him from focusing on what is happening on the screen. And it is not only about compliance with the classic canons of installation, the correct staging of lighting in the frame, etc.
Viewers will turn off the clip if it’s of low quality. A video’s ranking in YouTube search results depends on the quality of the picture. That is why today HD, Ultra HD and 4K videos are not a whim of companies that have nowhere to spend their money, but an important and relevant factor in the success of video content.
Often this mistake is made by companies that include in their corporate videos excerpts from historical chronicles from 20 or 30 years ago. Sometimes it is possible to integrate such excerpts into a corporate film organically, but it is better to try to avoid, as much as possible, low-quality source materials when creating a video. In today’s reality, the viewer will not forgive you for low quality.
The Video Isn’t Associated With the Brand
At the center of the video’s narrative, there is the hero and his story. At the climax, the product we’re advertising appears. In this sequence of scenes, sometimes there’s no room for the brand itself. It’s not right for the viewer to remember only the product, but not the company.
It’s unnecessary to mention the name of the company several times in the commercial. Association can be subtle and unobtrusive, using corporate colors and corporate identity in your commercial.
Not Taking Into Account the Peculiarities of the Sites
To get maximum attention to your video, you need to distribute it on virtual and real sites where your target audience is concentrated.
Did you know that 80% of the videos on Facebook are watched without sound? YouTube audiences watch long videos more willingly than social media users. Not to mention the specific atmosphere at trade shows and malls.
If you’re aiming at the international audience as well, you definitely need to adapt your video for foreign languages. Subtitles aren’t the best option.
In general, think about where and to whom you’re going to show your video before we start working on it.
The Video Isn’t Optimized
No one will know how good your video is unless they click on it. And to convince the user to click, the video needs to be optimized. You should start with techniques from SEO: a competent description, keywords and meta tags, cross-links.
Remember about the visual aspect. An attractive video thumbnail and stylish channel design will also help draw attention to your video.
And finally, promotion. Only naive marketers believe in tales of “viral videos.” In fact, behind each of them is a promotion budget, which is 5-10 times the cost of creating the video. Leave at least 30% of the total video advertising budget for promotion, otherwise it will be hard to break through.