According to reports, adding a video ad to a product description increases the chances of a shopper buying that item by up to 35%. Also, Cisco Systems’ Visual Networking Index predicts that video will account for content consumed by 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2020.
Given below are some of our favorite tips for compelling, inspiring and actionable online videos that translate into an improved ROI:
1- Get the story right
Videos carry a strong emotive power. As a marketer, you know the power of storytelling alright. Your video should centre around a story worth sharing. If you are singing your brand hymns throughout the video, chances are your customers won’t care about it. While creating a digital film to launch the communication for Philips Avent Breast Pumps in India, we conveyed the story of a strong-willed urban mother who knows what’s best for her child. The message went out in the form of an engaging 90-sec video and made a connect with mothers all over the world.
2- ‘The first and the foremost’ few seconds
10 seconds is all it takes to make or break your marketing game. Your audience is busy. Go back to your script and check. Are there enough reasons for them to stay glued to your story through the first 10 seconds? Try raising their curiosity, so they’re hooked to the video right from the beginning. Your video should instantly connect with the viewers.
When Trails of India – an online biking community was launched, we created an online video that displayed raw passion and the love for roads from beginning till the end. The video opened at a stunning shot of a biker racing away and exclaiming- Am I a rebel? It garnered tremendous engagement and was loved by bikers all over the country.
3- Live Videos
Live videos are a rage on social, and not without any reason. Brands that invest in their social presence are thrilled by the user attention they get every time they go live. Social media had already narrowed the brand-consumer gap, but going live makes the relationship even more intimate. Live commenting makes the content prompt and authentic. Live videos actually help a brand listen and respond to its consumers in real-time with the live commenting feature.
Popular chef Ayesha made a cameo through Facebook Live in Tupperware’s Cook. Eat. Love campaign. It was a live Q&A session with home-makers and food enthusiasts. The video reached 2,32,021 people and went past 1600 views in a few hours.
4- Subtitles matter
Numerous reports have suggested that 85 percent of Facebook videos are viewed without sound. Using creative typography and vivid imagery to reveal your message is a fantastic idea. Many successful marketers have also started to embed subtitles in their videos. Reading text improves recall and important parts of the video can be highlighted efficiently. Subtitling is a great idea while promoting your video content to non-native speakers. Barriers like accent and pronunciation can be dealt with to a great extent, hence improving viewership.
5- Go native
Most of the social platforms consider YouTube a direct competitor and thus prioritize their native video content over anything else. Linking a YouTube or Vimeo video sometimes might not work because users tend to scroll past it without paying any attention. On the other hand, native videos almost always ensure auto-play, improving the chances of being viewed.
6- Optimise for mobile
62 percent of mobile users use YouTube for discovery and 42 percent find video through their social networking feeds. - Adobe
Videos are watched heavily on mobile. It has also been predicted that mobile video ads will grow 5 times faster than desktop (Source: Digital Marketing Institute). Just as it is important to make mobile responsive designs, it’s equally pertinent to optimise videos for mobile. Sometimes great videos lose their charm in smaller screens, just because they weren’t created keeping in mind the screen size and resolution of mobile devices. Make sure you test your video on different devices before making it live.
7- Optimise for search
Of course, with the Panda update, relevance, value and shareability of your video matter the most. Nevertheless, keywords still, play a huge role. When it comes to SEO, video descriptions form the backbone. Ensure that your videos are tagged with relevant keywords.
Quick tip: Don’t overdo the metatags, your account might be flagged for spam.
8- Use the ‘Stories’ creatively
Stories have been added to almost all social apps beginning with Snapchat and emerging in Facebook, Instagram and even Whatsapp. Creative stories can get really high engagement rates, especially on Instagram. It’s a good idea to create quick, snackable video stories to engage better on social. You never know which one of these will turn out to be your brand’s success story.
9- Cash in on trends
It’s not only a video marketing hack; it’s true for any kind of content you develop. If it isn’t what your audience is looking for, it isn’t worth it. So how to create videos your audience would be interested in? Invest in social listening. Identify trends through predictive analysis and create stories that will be anticipated and received by your audience. Make sure your content and communication agency has a quick turnaround time because online trends are too volatile.
At Pulp Strategy, we believe in the power of video storytelling. As marketers, we keep your brand objectives at the centre throughout the process of video creation, from scriptwriting to deploying it on the relevant platform. We experiment with different forms of content, including video formats and present appropriate solution for every business problem. Get in touch for some outstanding digital content for your brand.
