Video dominates the marketing landscape. Over 80% of visitors to a website will watch a video if one’s available. Email click through rates improve by over 300% when video is added. 75% of executives told Forbes Magazine that they regularly watch business related videos to help them make decisions.
So, people are watching. They’re clicking. They’re seeking video out. But what keeps them watching? What makes them complete that video, invest that precious 2 or 5 or 15 minutes of their time?
Engagement. And that’s the first rule of video. It shouldn’t just exist, look pretty, invite those clicks. It must engage the viewer, draw the audience down a path, craft a story that invites the viewer to take an action. And that thing, that mysterious formula that hooks their attention and keeps them hanging on, waiting for the next revelation, then the next? That is good old fashioned story-telling, my friend.
Okay, so a video must engage. But how? Well, let’s be honest with each other. I don’t like to watch golf tournaments on TV. Does a golf tournament tell a story? Yes. Is it an engaging one? Also, yes, for the right audience, very engaging. And I love a good story, right?
Ah, but I’m not the intended audience for golf tournaments. What’s the moral here? To understand how to make your video engaging, first you have to know your audience. And that’s the second rule of video.
Stay tuned . . .
