It doesn’t seem as easy as it used to be to capture the attention of your audience these days. With so many methods of storytelling and ways to impress, it has never been more critical than now for brands to have a compelling video that is more engaging, allowing it to stand out from the rest.
As a brand, you have to step out of your own way, work with your compelling storyline, then implement the many features that are available to you.
Read on for easy-to-include methods to consider as you make your next video more engaging.
1. Get The Right Talent
Casting the right talent is no easy feat, but it is essential to creating a more engaging video. The right talent, with the right look, the right voice, and the right mannerisms, will make a big difference in your audience’s identifying with your video.
Consumers make purchasing decisions based on their connection to an ad or a video. According to Forbes, great marketers are focused on understanding and influencing their target audience’s attitudes. The right talent is capable of helping you to succeed in influencing!
2. Include Motion Graphics
It’s pretty much a universal theory that no one wants to watch a confusing or complicated video. If something isn’t easy to understand within the first few seconds, you immediately lose your audience.
So why not use a video to be clear, concrete, and interactive all at once? Many outside of the production industry may not be as familiar with motion graphics, but think bright, shiny, moving, and crystal clear messaging to captivate your audience within a millisecond.
In order to make an impact on your audience, you have to create a memorable experience, and in order to create a memorable experience, you have to create interactive content that is worthy of remembering.
Check out some motion graphics examples and think about how your idea could be transmitted into an explainer or motion graphic video.
3. Use 360 Video
Full-scale, all-encompassing, sphere-like video capture is what 360 video is. It’s like looking at everything available in front of you, beside you, and even behind you. A 360 camera can capture it all, record it, and a video production team can enhance the footage to make it even more compelling.
360 video is definitely a way to almost inject your audience into the setting of the video. It’s a complete 360-degree view. Engross yourself in the following 360 video examples.
Chicago Cubs 360 Experience Video
4. Include Call To Actions (CTAs)
The decision is yours, but with Call To Actions, it is imperative to know the purpose of your video, your selected placement of your video, and make sure to choose a recognizable but not too invasive CTA.
Guiding your audience to a particular action is always an added plus and sometimes a necessity. If needed, videos these days can include a prominent call to action, pending how you plan to share your video.
Youtube is a perfect place to add a button or an internal link within your video content to make for an instant experience for your audience so you can encourage your audience to do exactly what your heart desires.
You can add a variety of CTAs within a video to improve clickthrough rate. Think about it…how many times have you seen a “Subscribe” or “Visit Website” or even a “Book Now” button prompt in a video? These are just a couple of options to select from and are known to be useful ways of generating new leads.
5. Include Live Interactive Components
Technology makes it possible to do so much when it comes to keeping your audience on their toes through video content. There are engaging and interactive videos that include live automatic feedback based on viewer response. How exciting is that? It makes for a memorable and shareable experience for viewers when they have the opportunity to provide their own immediate feedback.
This two-way interaction also encourages viewers to stay longer, signalling search engines that your content is valuable and relevant.
6. Include Storyboarding
Storyboarding is simply drawing, animating, or otherwise communicating camera angles, subject positioning, visual themes, and story progression! It’s an extremely valuable and inexpensive way to solidify your video ideas.
Whether it’s stick figures or actual video, storyboarding is utilized in all major productions in the industry today. Now that you can see the progression of your video on paper, is it engaging? Check out this article on how to create a storyboard.
7. Get To The Point
Attention span is everything nowadays; hooking viewers in the first 5 seconds is crucial. Being concise and clear is what interested viewers want.
This means you should show your hand within the first 5-10 seconds! State the video’s purpose through your titles, a recurring introduction, or simply just stating it. Get creative with your branding and style, and make sure everything you do doesn’t take long to digest.
Avoid unnecessary tangents and keep your content focused on the primary message.
8. Optimize Video Length and Format
Speaking of getting to the point. Finding the right video length and format is crucial to keep your audience engaged. Be sure to adapt your video length based on the complexity of the content and the preferences of your target audience.
Here’s a reminder, shorter videos work for tips, while longer videos are ideal for tutorials.
9. Make More Content
Consistency is key to building an engaged audience. If people like your video, you need to give them more ASAP. Make sure your videos directly link, mention, and/or segue into more videos, rinse and repeat! Funneling interested viewers is the key to success. Learn how to reuse your content the right way!
Plan ahead. Gather a full week/month/quarter’s worth of content before posting. Schedule said content, and boom, you can optimize your schedule, never miss a beat, and stay flexible!
Remember, regular updates also signal to search engines that your website is active and relevant.
10. Market Your Video
Your video needs some help once it’s posted. Ensure you are implementing any or all of the following: trailers, teasers, SEO, social media advertising, search advertising, etc. The point is to get the word out!
Posting to socials can be seriously disheartening when you receive less engagement than expected… but it’s important to keep going. Large audiences are not built quickly, and a loyal audience can sometimes even take longer. Just remember quality over quantity.
TIP: Don’t look at the numbers; just post daily and see what happens! Someone is watching. Someone is paying attention. Someone just may convert. No harm, no foul, right?
Conclusion
There are many ways to make your video engaging, but don’t forget the content and story should be your primary focus. Determine the content, then context, then consider adding the engaging bells and whistles that will illuminate the story!
Connect with a team that knows all things video. Everything from telling a great story to the latest technology. From concept to delivery, we love this stuff and can talk about it all day long. To learn more about Bottle Rocket Media’s video production services and how we differ because of our Rocket Sauce, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn!