Video Marketing to the Masses

There's an old adage that says “sharing is caring.” That statement holds a unique meaning when it comes to viral videos. Chances are, if you have used social media, you have seen a video that has been shared thousands of times and garnered millions of views. These videos resonate with audiences and include some quality that compels people to share them with others.

Unfortunately for marketers, most viral videos have nothing to do with brands or companies. While videos are a hugely effective marketing tool, the hard truth is that most people are not very likely to share a typical advertisement with their friends.

But here's the good news: If marketers get creative and produce a video that viewers care about, then people will be much more likely to share the video. But how do you create videos that stand out against the competition?

Thankfully, our team is fresh from a trip to Social Media Marketing World 2018, where we learned all the latest tactics for producing quality videos that people actually want to share. Here are our top-five takeaways for making marketing videos that grab people's attention:

#1 Know Your Audience
To relate to your audience, you need to know exactly what type of people will watch your videos. One company that really nailed this, is Skate 1. They wanted to create a video that showed off their new indestructible skateboard in a way that would leave a lasting impression. So instead of creating a typical product video, they crafted a wordless demonstration showing a truck driving over their skateboard, and the board coming out unscathed. Their approach worked, and the video received more than 50,000 views on their Youtube page alone.

#2 Provide Real Value
This may seem obvious, but if you create a video that provides the viewer with something useful, it will be much more successful. The three ways to provide a viewer with value are to:

• Entertain (i.e., Use humor, or create an engaging story)
• Inform (i.e., provide useful tips)
• Inspire (i.e., give ideas for new things to try)

If your videos provide one or more of these qualities, they are much more likely to hold the viewers attention, which in turn, increase the chances of the videos being shared.

#3 Make People Feel
This tip goes hand-in-hand with providing value to the viewer. By harnessing humor, fear, or excitement, your video will be much more engaging to the viewer. Think of the last men's deodorant commercial you saw. Odds are, the first commercial that came to mind was an Old Spice ad. By harnessing humor, their advertisements make a lasting impact, which is one of the main reasons they have become so popular.

#4 Start With a Bang
A successful video needs to catch viewers’ attention right away and get the message across as quickly as possible. With all the media competing for people's attention, your video will need to hook the viewer within the first few seconds, or else you risk losing them to another source. This can be accomplished by showing a quick 2-3 second tease of the most interesting part of your video right at the start. This will give your viewers a taste of what to expect, and hopefully leave them wanting more.

#5 The Title (and Hook) Matters!
Once you have an idea that will draw in your audience, a title that makes people want to click will make the video much more successful. You don't want to deceive your viewer, but you definitely want to phrase the title in a way that will pique people's interest.

For example: An advertisement created for FiberFix called "Redneck drives duct taped car off of a cliff!" effectively uses a catchy title, an interesting topic, an engaging start and humor to sell their product. It was wildly successful and received more than 17 million views on Facebook, with hundreds of comments from people saying the video alone made them decide to purchase the product.

While these tips are great for the burgeoning video maker, they will be most effective in the hands of a professional production team. That's where we come in. Contact us today and let's make the next great viral marketing video together!