by guest writer Arron Nelson Jr., www.Purple-Ball.com
What’s the point in making a video that no one is going to watch?
There isn’t. How do we get people to watch it then? You need to make your video entertaining, thought provoking, funny, sad, heart warming, and a list of other emotional corresponding words. The word I like to use to summarize it is engaging.
Marketing and advertising are as old as the practice of selling something. In the past, if you could let your customers know what you’re selling and where to buy it, then you were all set. Even in today’s market, these two things are relevant. The problem is that the competition is much larger. So you have to stand out.
Let us breakdown what you can do to make your video engaging and stand out.
Pick A Genre
Think of it like a movie. Is it going to be a comedy, visual eye candy, or informative? One of those should be your genre when it comes to marketing your own video. There are others, but these three are key.
- Comedy
Making people laugh is, in my opinion, the best genre to use when making a marketing video. If you make one person laugh, they’ll want to share their experience with another, and another, and another. Think of all the funny YouTube videos that you’ve probably shared with your friends over the years. The thing is with comedy, it’s usually the hardest to pull off. Funny doesn’t come easy to most people. Usually when the inexperienced try to pull off funny, it becomes sad and cheesy. Unless you’re an amateur stand-up comedian, I’d avoid this genre altogether. - Visual Eye Candy
This is anything sexy, sleek, or high intense. These are like the car commercials the manufacturers put out or the videos you see with attractive people in them using the product. This genre is easy as long as your product or service calls for it. If your business is cleaning gutters, then making that into visual eye candy maybe too difficult. - Informative
This is the one you should focus on and this is the one that everyone usually gets wrong. Especially for a lot of local folks that put out commercials on your local broadcast television stations. If your video ends with you and your co-workers standing in a group waving to the camera, you’ve failed. Unless you’re stuck in the 1980’s, never do this. So, what should I do to make it appealing to watch? Make it into a mini-documentary. What I mean by that is, to make it stylized in a way that it doesn’t scream “Hey, buy me, buy me!” Make the video like you’re having a conversation with the viewer, not stand at the corner screaming at them as they drive by.
Pick A Topic
First find the key service or product you want to emphasize. Don’t try to pack everything into one video. For example if you are a transportation company and you have a several different vehicles in your fleet, then one of your videos could just show off your fleet. What you wouldn’t want to do is show off your fleet, then talk about how good your drivers are, then talk about how good your services is all in one video. Way to much information in one video. You’re allowed to make more then one.
Start A Conversation
Make your potential client base want to ask questions. For the above example of the transportation company showing off their fleet, the potential clients are going to ask, “which vehicle is right for me?” And do you know how they’re going to find an answer to that question? They’re going to contact that company and ask.
Add Production Value
The list on how to do this is long. So long it could be covered in a posting all by itself. The easiest approach would be to have movement in each frame. Whether that is camera movement or what’s on the screen is moving. If everything is stagnant then you might as well just take a picture. Also have music that doesn’t sound generic.
Use Professionals
Yes, I know, I’m in said field so of course I’m going to say it. Having people who understand writing, lighting, cameras and so on can make your videos so much better. You don’t try to fix your own broken bones do you? No, you go to a doctor. So if you’re doing a video, go to someone who does it for a living. These days it should not cost you that much. Buyers beware, there are people out there who own all the right gear, but don’t know how to use it. Check previous work before hiring anyone.
I’m being very general about a lot of this to avoid writing a book here. Please take the information I’m presenting you and do further research. The Internet is full of content regarding these varied topics. Be diligent and research.
I’ll leave you with this. There is no golden formula when it comes to creating video content. Which means there is no wrong or right way of doing it. At the end of the day you need to find out what works best for you and go with it.
