5 Ways to Upgrade Your Video Content in 2021
For the past several years, video has been the king of all online content. A study by Cisco in 2020 revealed that by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic— a number 15 times higher than it was in 2017.
At one point, just having a video for your business was enough to differentiate you from your competition. But in today’s digital landscape, video is seemingly everywhere— which is why it’s really important to create quality video content that can rise above the noise and connect you with your customers. Here are five ways to start.
1. Use Emotion to Hook Your Audience
“People do not buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic.” - Seth Godin
Think about your favorite movie.
Is it funny? Does it hold you in suspense? Does it make you cry every time you watch it? Maybe it does it all!
The one thing that it probably doesn’t do is list a bunch of facts for two hours.
Now, think about some of the most memorable Super Bowl commercials.
They’re usually either funny or tug at your heartstrings. But like your favorite movie, they don’t bombard you with data and statistics.
Both your favorite movies and Super Bowl commercials use emotion to keep you interested and to keep them at the front of your mind. Appealing to your audience’s emotion in marketing not only makes for more interesting content, but it’s effective.
Research from Tsinghua University states that emotion stimulates our mind 3,000 times faster than rational thought. For marketers and business owners hoping to quickly make a lasting impression, using emotional components in your videos is key to engaging your potential customers.
2. Tell more Stories
“Brands are built around stories. And stories of identity – who we are, where we’ve come from – are the most effective stories of all. This storytelling is a powerful way to bring brands to life.” — Bill Dauphinais
Our brains really aren’t that much different than they were hundreds and thousands of years ago when humans used stories to teach and entertain each other. Our minds still respond to stories in a similar fashion, whether we realize it or not.
Telling a story goes hand-in-hand with using emotion in your video.
When we listen to stories, we feel empathy for the main character. As we continue to watch, our brain instinctively begins to trust the person telling the story. And when we can put ourselves in the character’s shoes and believe the person telling us the story, we respond and make decisions in a way that data alone cannot prompt.
When crafting your story, remember that it needs two main things to be effective. First, it needs the ability to hold and capture your audience’s attention. Second, you must be able to transport the audience into the storyteller or characters’ world, even if it’s just a 30-second ad. If you accomplish these two things, you can guide your prospects to act on their emotions.
3. Take Risks
“Think bigger, braver, and bolder. The biggest missed opportunity in content marketing is playing it too safe.” - Ann Handley
Like the quote from Ann Handley reminds us, the biggest missed opportunity in content marketing is not thinking outside the box. You may be used to sticking with what works, but what if there’s a tactic out there that works even better? You will never know unless you take a risk and try.
Take the real estate industry for example. Typically, agents create dry walk-through videos that simply narrate the space as the audience gets a look around. Instead of offering the same old same old listing video that focuses on the number of bathrooms and bedrooms, you can create a “lifestyle” video where you tell a story using the house as a backdrop and your characters interacting with the features of the house.
It may be a little unconventional, but it weaves together things that people are looking for— a story, emotion, and necessary information about the house. The goal is to transport them to the scene. You want them to be able to imagine themselves living there, not just touring it.
Don’t be afraid to try new things. You might be surprised by what brings you the best results.
4. Create More Content
“Whether you like it or not, every person is now a media company[…]It literally doesn’t matter what business you’re in, what industry you operate in, if you’re not producing content, you basically don’t exist.” - Gary Vaynerchuk
The internet is a noisy, crowded place. Every day is a fight for people’s attention and engagement. However, you eliminate your chances of competing if you aren’t even playing.
Getting on a regular schedule of posting content that speaks to your dream clients is a must. This means reaching your audience with a consistent mix of pictures, blogs, testimonials, and of course, video.
It’s no secret that social media is fast-paced and ever-changing. If you aren’t keeping up with the content demands of your audience, it’s not hard to become obsolete. Posting often will accomplish several things for your brand:
It will keep you top of mind
It will boost audience interaction by providing more touch points for people to engage with
It will help your potential customers know what to expect from your content and brand
Of course, your marketing budget or bandwidth may prevent you from sharing content everyday, and that’s okay. The key here is consistency. It’s better to post twice a week, every week rather than four times in one day sporadically.
5. Speak to Your Audience
“If you want to create messages that resonate with your audience, you need to know what they care about.” — Nate Elliot
We can’t overstate the importance of knowing your audience in marketing. Who are they, what do they care about, what kinds of stories do they want to hear? The answer to all of these questions will help inform the content that you produce.
Similarly, it’s important to find where your audience is. Your video content doesn’t do you much good sitting in a folder on your office computer. For your content to be effective, you need to be sure that you’re sharing it across the right channels.
Think about your target audience. Who are they? What platforms do they use most? For instance, if you’re primarily a B2B company, TikTok is probably not the best place for your organic marketing efforts. Instead, you should focus on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, which both have large B2B communities.
Targeting every channel might stretch you a little thin. Rather, focus on the ones that matter most to your audience. If you aren’t quite sure where your audience is yet, check out some research like this study from Pew to get a general idea.
Elevate Your Video Content
Video in and of itself isn’t enough to stand out from the crowd anymore. Your video content has to be engaging, emotional, and impactful to break through the noise.
Tackling high-quality video content on your own might feel a little overwhelming. If you want to learn more about how a video marketing agency can help you create winning content, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Rising Tide Studios.
Whatever you do, take ownership of your video content marketing and go for it. Don’t be afraid to fail. Find your voice. And most importantly, have fun.
