Maybe you’ve been in this situation before: you’ve spent a lot of time and money creating a great video for your brand or product and it turns out great. You’re proud of the video, and when the day finally comes to release it to the world, you hit publish and wait for the results to roll in.

But the results don’t roll in.

Sure, you probably get a couple ‘likes’ on Facebook, and your mom has shared it with all her friends, but after all that work (and all the money spent!) your video, quite frankly, flopped. 

That doesn’t need to happen.

After over a decade in the video production business, I’ve learned some valuable lessons on how to make sure your video reaches the right audience and maximizes the return on your investment. That’s what this blog post is all about.

Now, while I always recommend that you use a video production professional when creating a video (more on that in this blog post), the tips I’m going to share below will help you get the best results regardless of who made the video. So with that, let’s dive in.

This is one of the most important questions I ask any client when they ask me to produce a video for them. If you know who your audience is, you can tailor the content to appeal to them.

For example, let’s say ‘Sally’ is the executive director of a non-profit organization who is looking for a video to play at their upcoming gala. The video would be played in front of business leaders and potential donors. In the video, Sally could describe all the great things that the organization has done using interviews of herself and other staff members.

This strategy could work, and you could certainly make a video fitting Sally’s description. But it may not be the best way to do things.

We know who the audience is–existing and potential donors–but what what is the goal of the video? The goal is likely this: have the audience be so moved by the video that they open up their wallets and make a recurring donation to the non-profit organization.

A video featuring Sally (who’s already giving the keynote presentation) talking about how great the non-profit is won’t have the same effect as an emotional story featuring someone whose life has been changed by the work of the non-profit. People will more likely connect with the emotional story. They will see and fully understand how important the work being done is and they’ll likely be moved to make a donation.

Understanding who the audience is and what the desired results are will help you shape the story accordingly.

Shorter videos perform better than longer videos (in terms of viewer retention). Unless you’re producing a short film or documentary, it’s suggested that you keep the total runtime below 3 minutes. It can be hard to choose what to leave on the “cutting room floor”, but keeping your video short allows you to distill your message down to its most important elements. In my experience, I’ve found that the shorter the video is, the better it performs online. If you can get your message told in under 60 seconds: do it.

And if you really can’t fit all of your talking points in a video under 3 minutes, consider splitting your film into multiple shorter videos on different topics!

It’s also important to keep in mind what platform your audience will be viewing from, and tailor the video accordingly. For example, if you’re planning to upload your video to a social media platform, you’ll want to ensure the first 10 seconds of the video are visually captivating–something that “stops the thumbs” of the people scrolling past post after post. Make the first few seconds of the video so interesting that people can’t help but watch the video to see what it’s all about.

Another good practice is to ensure that subtitles are made to complement each video you do. By default, Facebook and Instagram don’t play audio on videos posted to their platforms–you have to click on the video to hear the sound. It is estimated that as much as 85% of videos on Facebook are viewed while muted. That’s a big problem if you’re trying to tell a story with interviews or narration!

The solution to this problem is to create subtitles for your video. On Facebook, you can attach subtitles to the video when uploading it. When the video plays while muted, Facebook will automatically superimpose the subtitles over it. When a viewer chooses to listen to the audio, the subtitles are hidden. We use Rev.com as an affordable way to get subtitles made and formatted correctly.

Instagram is a bit trickier, as they are still a platform that prioritizes photos above all else. They don’t offer an option to upload subtitles alongside the video like Facebook does, so you have to get creative. Using a free program like Handbrake, you can ‘hardcode’ your subtitles onto the video. If this is something that interests you, there’s a great tutorial on Rev’s website. 

Take a look at YouTube’s homepage–you’ll notice something quickly. The videos that are pushed to the top of the list by the algorithm all have captivating titles and thumbnail images. These titles are short and intentionally chosen to pique your interest. They make you want to hit ‘play’ to find out more. Taking an extra few minutes to think about a title that will be interesting to your audience is important. Remember, you’re trying to convince people to take time out of their day to watch your content, so a title needs to do a good job of convincing them why it’s worth their time.

Thumbnails are important too, as they’re often the first thing a viewer will see when scrolling through videos–even before the title. Don’t just let YouTube or Facebook automatically generate a thumbnail for you from a random frame in your video, instead go and choose one yourself that better represents the theme. You can even use cheap photo editing software like Affinity to add text to your thumbnail–a trend widely used across YouTube.

A lot of people take a finished video, post it on their website or social media, and consider the work done… but that’s a critical mistake. As a general rule, people don’t just stumble across your video. You have to promote it multiple times across all platforms. This is probably the biggest reason why a video doesn’t get a good return on investment.

Instead of just posting your video on your website and hoping people come across it, consider uploading it to all your social media platforms as well. It’s important to upload the video files to each platform separately, as people are less likely to click a link to view something than they are to watch something that’s already in front of them.

After the video has been online for a few days, don’t hesitate to post about it again. On Facebook you can simply share the video again to your page, writing a new post to draw people in. This allows you to reach a broader audience, and perhaps people who didn’t see the original post (or didn’t have time to watch at the time).

Another great way to increase viewership is to boost the post on social media. With as little as $20, you can reach thousands of people. The more people who watch the video and engage with it, the higher the algorithm will rank the video–thereby showing it to more people organically.

If you can, I’d recommend doing this on both Facebook and Instagram, as you’ll often get different viewership on the different platforms. You can also pay to have the video show up on YouTube as an advertisement during other videos being viewed on the platform. This is a surprisingly affordable way to get more eyes on your video and one we’ve been doing ourselves as we promote our company.

Finally, I always suggest you watch the analytics to see what works and what doesn’t. You can actually track viewers’ watch time and if you notice that the majority of people don’t watch all the way to the end, this may be an indication that your video was too long. These analytics are powerful tools in figuring out what your audience likes and dislikes and will give you great insight into what to do differently next time.

By following these suggestions, you should start to see better results with the videos you produce–whether you use a production company, or film it yourself. With our clients, we’ve started implementing many of these strategies, taking some of the burden off them. When we deliver a final product to our clients, we include versions formatted for Facebook and Instagram, complete with subtitles. We offer to make thumbnails for them, and also have a partnership with a local marketing specialist who can help us boost viewership of these videos. A little extra effort goes a long way in getting the desired return on investment.

We see advertisements all the time. Everywhere.

People have programmed themselves to “swipe” past advertisements without even thinking. It’s second nature.

The only way to get your message across to a potential customer with video marketing in Kelowna, throughout the province, country, or world, is to stand out: get the viewer’s attention first. You need them to want to watch for more than a few seconds.

Here are three ways to get more eyes on your video.

You’ve probably heard this statement: “the first 5 seconds of your video are the most important”. This is your window to grab the attention of your viewer. With your first impression, it’s “make or break” right away.

If you’re using a video to market something, you’re going to want a video that is able to visually distill your story into somewhat of a thesis statement right off the bat. What information can you frontload into your advertisement that can sum up the whole advertisement? What’s your “hook”?

Attention spans are deteriorating. The internet is huge. What to do?

Establishing shots that spellbind your viewers are a good option. Typically, an aerial shot that gives a commanding sense of “place” to advertise a business location or product is a great hook.

Alternately, let your viewer know that you have what they’re looking for. Anticipate their questions with your video. If you’re selling a food-delivery service, speak directly to your audience in your opening: “tired of cleaning up after dinner? We’ll deliver!”

Another option is to generate curiosity. A bold introduction to a video that simply piques a viewer’s interest is worth doing.

It might take some creativity to come up with the right “start”. You could brainstorm this with your videography crew, a marketing team, or on your own. Just remember to consider: those first five seconds are your most important. Start confidently.

This might seem obvious, but based on a lot of video marketing I’ve seen in the past, it’s not common knowledge: you have to look good when you’re trying to sell somebody something.

A lower quality video doesn’t cut it anymore. People have gotten used to content–from Instagram, to YouTube, to Netflix–that looks expensive. A low resolution isn’t an option. A video with a scattered narrative, or poorly designed graphical elements won’t do. A professional, high-quality video is what we’re used to: and it shows that your company/product is willing to put money behind what they believe in. That goes a long way.

Secondly, it’s a good idea to format your videos for different viewing devices. Some people will view your advertisement on their laptop, and others will view it on their phone. Some people will view your advertisement on Instagram, and others will view it on Facebook. The same exact video is not appropriate for all these different uses. Make sure you–or whoever is in charge of your video production–optimize your content for different platforms.

Audio design and music utterly transform video. Make no mistake: it’s a pivotal part of the videography experience.

But your advertisement is likely to be viewed silently online.

Think about it: you’re on your lunch break, and you scroll through an Instagram feed nonchalantly. Your phone is muted because you wouldn’t want to disturb others. You’re not going to hear audio from an advertisement in this environment.

In most online environments, you need to assume people won’t hear your advertisement. Not to mention, your viewers can often be hard-of-hearing, and the audio won’t particularly matter to them anyway.

Your video should be subtitled if there is dialogue.

Ensure your video is watchable and understandable if a device is on mute.

No dialogue? Use brief moments of quick, easily-digestible text on-screen to get your message across. This can happen in tandem with a voice-over, but it doesn’t have to. Most of your audience won’t be “listening” to your advertisement, they’ll be watching it. What they actually see is what they’re going to take away from their experience.

Content races across the internet at an alarming and unprecedented rate. We’re connected to global world just by owning a device we store in our pocket. Creating shareable and engaging content to an uninitiated audience is something you can do to take advantage of our interconnectivity.

For your video marketing to capture attention, you need to be willing to make a video that will make a viewer “pause” what they’re doing to give you their attention. With these three tips, you’ll be a lot closer to reaching your goals.

But, as always, if you have a question (or need something explained further), the team here at Distill Media be happy to talk with you.