WHAT WORKS/ WHAT DOESN’T IN VIDEO

29 Sep WHAT WORKS/ WHAT DOESN’T IN VIDEO

Welcome to the age of online video. We live in a visual society where images have surpassed text as branding, marketing and sales tools. Whether you’re a business, nonprofit/NGO or government agency, a quality video can be your powerhouse PR piece to capture positive attention, greater awareness, boost staff morale, increase donations and recruit volunteers.

Done right, visual images can optimize your exposure worldwide. Don’t believe it? Look at what video has accomplished for the terrorist group ISIS in recruiting fighters and intimidating the West. Or consider the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that raised awareness and donations of $100.9M in the month of August, according to the ALS Association! Elements that made that challenge a philanthropic blockbuster are analyzed in my multi-media presentation “The Power of Video: sweeping marketing success, a case study.”

The stats regarding online video viewing are staggering:

5.4 billion videos are watched online each month. (source: comSource.com).
In June 2013, 85.2% of US internet users watched video. The total number of videos viewed reached 44 billion, a 7% increase from May (source: comScore Video Matrix).
The share of adults online who watch or download videos has also grown to 78% today, and mobile phones have become a key part of the video viewing/creating experience (Pew Internet Project 2013).
Mobile and tablet share of online video views increased 133 % last year (source: Ooyala Silicon Valley).

But just because your video is posted doesn’t mean anyone is watching it. Precocious kids, cute animals or wacky people aside, if your video is not produced well, then you wasted money and downgraded you brand.
Consider these stats:

10 seconds: That’s the time you have to grab the attention of desktop viewers.
(20% click away in 10 seconds or less. Source: research by Visible Measures)
30 seconds: You lose about 1/3 of your viewers.
60 seconds: You lose 45% of viewers; 60% after 2 minutes.

In other words, What Works is to make your video captivating right from the start!
Amateur videos usually start with boring opens–a dull sound bite or two. Click, you’ve lost 20% of your viewers in the first 10 seconds! If you want people to watch your video, open strong and build from there. What doesn’t work is starting weak–with a bland “talking head” or a long series of pictures without explanation.

There are many ways to accomplish an engaging open, some are reviewed in my presentation mentioned above. Check out the video for Computer Motion about medical robotics that has received 10,700 views to date. Although produced several years ago when the technology was new, it still holds viewer attention from the open. Medical Robotics

If you have examples to share of engaging video opens, let us know. Or if you would like a consultation about improving your entity’s video, contact us at [email protected]. Make every video work for you.

–Karen