When it comes to marketing, you have to be creative, but let's be honest - most marketing fails to reach that goal.
Thanks to the video, however, marketing is being revamped and reinvigorated in many ways. Often though, professionals who are innovative enough to explore the many opportunities that video presents, are stuck in the old school way of thinking - failing to stretch their storylines, calls-to-action, graphics and even humor. Here are three errors most marketers make with video, and some ideas to avoid them.
No one likes being made to feel fooled or taken advantage of. But then again, people also don't like being tricked into marketing schemes. So when using video marketing as a tool, you want to find the best way to get your point across while still keeping it relatable.
This Toyoto Sienna video ad is a video that is too sales pitchy. The car is the center of the focus and the dialogue and imagery have no relevance to the car itself. The "sexy" ad itself is also unrelated to the actual product: a minivan. The humor is missed if that was the goal.
On the other side, Nike's "Better for it" video is a great portrayal of this balance between making a point and keeping the video engaging. While still portraying the message of "go out, get fit and use Nike" the video also presents a storyline that is interesting and relatable to the viewer. Speaking in an engaging tone and featuring many voices, this video offers great potential to catch the attention of the viewer so that the message will be clearly understood and heard.
In today's world, we know well that content is king. And when it comes to marketing, titles are the crown upon the king's head. It's what attracts viewers/potential customers to your video, so you want to be sure that you find the best way to present the jeweled crown. The title of a video is in essence a first impression, so it must be title concise, applicable and attention grabbing.
Chipotle not too long ago released a game called "Scarecrow" as part of their marketing strategy. They even released a video trailer of it. But this title has nothing to do with Chipotle itself, nor does it in any way indicate that it is related to that company. While the idea behind the video title/game is relevant to a deeper message they are trying to present of their produce being fresher, it does not have a direct correlation to that message. Thus, the title is less informative and therefore less enticing to the projected viewer.
Let's look at Buzzfeed's YouTube page for a positive example. Offering different series of video categories, the viewers know what to expect of the videos. Giving the viewer a preemptive notion of the video's message is a great way to prepare them for the idea you're trying to get across. Furthermore, it gets the viewer excited because he/she is better able to anticipate the message of the video about to be viewed.
Attention spans are short these days. Thus another reason to use videos as a tool for marketing - it's a shorter way to express a decent amount of information. But what's the "right" length for a marketing video? Well, there's no hard and fast answer to that. However, generally speaking the idea is that the shorter the video, the better. While this "short and sweet" rule tends to be the most dominant opinion out there, bear in mind that this is specific to the message being conveyed and the platform on which it is being expressed.
Adage found that after 30 seconds into a video, 33 percent of viewers have already been lost. Based on the time scale, you can decide when and how to insert your call to action. Are you on a social media platform where the call to action should be clear and quickly presented? What about on YouTube? Is it being displayed as an ad or is it shared on a page? These are all points of interest that should be taken into account.
Marketing is a dynamic and constantly growing field thanks to many new advances, especially video marketing. Tools such as Webyclip, VideoScribe, Viddyad and others allow companies and individuals alike to start harnessing the power of video, but be sure to adopt the proper techniques and approaches in your videos in order to maximize their potential.
Kira Bloom was born and raised in Texas but currently lives in Tel Aviv. A chocoholic, outdoor enthusiast and tech junkie, Kira loves writing. You will often find her outdoors with a good book in hand.