Research shows that one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. Clearly, digital marketing videos are more effective than written content marketing.
But, each day people watch more than 500 million hours of video each day on YouTube. It will take an outstanding video to vie for attention against such fierce competition.
Read on for 7 secrets of successful marketing videos that you need to know about.
1. Choose Your Thumbnail Wisely
Your digital marketing videos are no good if no one clicks on them. An engaging, compelling thumbnail is a strong click motivator. Your video’s thumbnail is your first chance to make an impression.
Choose a brightly colored background to make it stand out among other thumbnail videos on YouTube.
If possible, choose an image from your video that conveys strong emotion. That will entice viewers to click on your video to find out what the story is that goes with that image.
Make sure your image is high-quality but still under the 2MB limit. This will assure viewers that your video will be high-quality too.
Compelling thumbnails start to tell a story. They show your audience what’s coming in the video.
2. Tell a Story With Your Video
Coming up with good online video marketing ideas is tricky because sales videos are very off-putting. These can actually drive customers away.
Millennials are on the cusp of becoming the largest group of adults. And this group doesn’t respond well to “sales” techniques. They are suspicious of brands that produce inauthentic advertising.
So how can you sell to a generation that is resistant to sales? The best way to approach video marketing is to find a story to tell.
When you focus your media vids on the story, you will provide valuable content for your customers. Though it serves you in the long run, your marketing video needs to aim to serve your customers.
3. Make the First 10 Seconds Count
One out of every five viewers will click away from a video in the first 10 seconds. That means that to keep eyes on your video until the end, your first 10 seconds need to be phenomenal.
Get right to the point and make your corporate video engaging right from the start.
One way you can keep your audiences watching your marketing video is by creating a hook at the start. A hook is a preview of what your viewers can expect in the video. You can ask questions or use a teaser.
A good hook will ignite your viewers’ curiosity so that they have a reason to watch it.
When designing your video think about some of the reasons people watch videos and apply it to your video.
Will it teach them something new? Will it make them laugh? Or will it inspire your audience to take action?
If your video results in any of these responses, it is more likely to be a success.
4. Place Your CTA in the Middle
Recently, a company reviewed the CTAs of over 300,000 videos. Guess what they found? 95.9% of these digital marketing videos had a CTA at the end.
It’s usually something like a request to comment on the video, share it or follow a page. These are good CTAs, but they don’t have to go at the end.
The 4% of CTAs that were placed in the middle of the video had a higher conversion rate. These CTAs had an average conversion rate of 16.95%. The conversion rate of CTAs at the end was 10.98%.
5. Make Your Video Compelling on Silent
Many people watch videos with their devices turned to mute or the sound off.
This means that when you are creating digital marketing videos you have to find ways to make your videos succeed without sound.
Of course, you should still use sound to enhance the emotion of your media vids. But, you can’t rely on them to get the message across. Make sure your video is interesting for viewers with the sound off as well as with the sound on.
Some ways that you can make sure your video’s story reaches your silent audience is by using gorgeous visuals. Subtitles and text descriptions can help as well.
If you can get your story across without sound, then you are in a better position to reach audiences regardless of their sound preference.
6. Optimize Your Marketing Videos for Search
You spend a lot of time planning, filming, and editing your video. You obviously want to maximize your return on investment by getting as many pairs of eyes to view it.
That means using SEO to get your video to show up in users’ search results. In terms of SEO for videos, descriptions are vital.
This way, Google can understand your content. You can help your video rank higher on search engine results by filling in each box.
Tag your video with relevant keywords. Provide descriptive descriptions and unique titles with the keyword you want to rank for.
Enable embedding on your video so that you are more likely to get inbound marketing links. Create a video sitemap too.
7. Teach Your Audience Something
Marketing videos can set you up as a credible authority in your industry. You can use your online video marketing as a tool to become a trusted source of knowledge.
There are countless ways you can educate your audience.
From tips to help them make the most of your product or service to showing success stories. When you focus on the success your customers had, it won’t look and feel like a testimonial. But it will help you collect leads nonetheless.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! 7 secrets to making successful marketing videos that convert viewers.
When you focus on telling a story and providing valuable content that your audience needs, you are setting your video up to be a hit.
Want more tips? Check out these 9 creative marketing tips on how to get your business name out there.