A video content marketing strategy can be the key to your success.
- Video is 10 to 12 times more engaging than text.
- Surveys of users in all age groups show that YouTube is the most commonly used social media platform, with 95% of respondents saying they use YouTube regularly.
Creating video can be intimidating. To be effective a video content marketing strategy needs to be consistent. You need to commit to publishing video on a regular basis, to ensure you attract subscribers and build your audience.
The key to video content marketing is to make the video production process as simple and repeatable as possible.
12 Step Formula for Creating Videos that Convert to Sale
1. Invest in Good Quality Audio
People will watch a bad video with excellent audio longer than a great video with bad audio. It’s counter intuitive, but good audio is the secret to a great video.
Remember that a lot of your audience may not bother to watch your video, they may just listen to it as they’re doing something else.
Even if you’re shooting the video with your smartphone, you should use a good microphone to capture the audio.
Use a professional grade microphone and digital audio recorder if you can. They are not very expensive and they make a huge difference. But if you can’t afford a recorder, you should definitely splurge $50 to $100 on a good microphone.
2. Don’t be Obsessed with Buying a Great Camera
These days a smartphone will capture 4K or 8K video. You’ll find most smartphones have a pro-mode that will let you control the exposure, focus and depth of field.
You should get acquainted with the Pro features on your phone’s video camera.
Always use a tripod with your smartphone. A cheap tripod with a holder for the phone will make your presentation look like it was shot on an expensive camera.
3. Filming on Location is Very Challenging
Getting good audio can be difficult during an on-location shoot, because there are often distractions and noises that can detract from the message you’re trying to deliver.
If you’re starting out, you should resist the temptation to make a complicated video with on location filming. Your goal should be to create a lot of video, not a masterpiece.
Now you need to consider the most important part of the video experience, the script.
Unless you’re a gifted presenter, having a well written script is essential.
Not only does a script prevent you from drifting away from your message, it ensures you stick to a sales formula that works.
4. You need a Hook at the Beginning of your Video
In the first 15 seconds, you need to give the viewer a reason to stick around and watch the whole video.
You need to promise the viewer he/she will learn something that will transform their life.
Promise a result the viewer will want.
5. Give the Viewer a Reason to Listen
In the First Third of your Video you’re offering the viewer advice, so you have to give them a reason to take your advice. You need to establish your authority.
Why are you an expert? Why should the viewer take your advice?
The best way to convey that you have specialized knowledge, is to share a very brief story. Nothing relates better than a story. You’re the hero in this story. You triumphed over adversity, you learned a valuable lesson and you want to give this knowledge to the viewer.
This is often referred to as the “Hero’s Journey”.
6. Give your Viewer what you Promised
The Second Third of your Video delivers the gift you promised in the Hook.
The trick in this section of the video is to tell the viewer WHAT they need to do, but NOT HOW to do it.
You want to leave them convinced that you have the formula, without giving them the formula for free.
This is a tricky stage in the process, because you don’t want to come across as breaking the promise you made in The Hook. You need to clearly tell them WHAT they need to do, just don’t cross the line into giving them the HOW.
7. Present your Offer
In the Third part of the video, you should present your offer.
Your offer should contain a special price or feature, or a promise of something free the viewer will ONLY get if they click.
The goal is to create a sense of opportunity and urgency, without coming across like you’re being insincere. The offer needs to be truly valuable.
8. Your Video should be at least 3 to 5 Minutes
You may think that 3 to 5 minutes is too long, but you have to remember that you’re not writing a TV commercial.
This is more like a short info-mercial than a 30 second spot during the Superbowl.
You’re talking to an audience who cares about the information you’re delivering.
If you do a good job of scripting your video, the viewer will want to watch it, because the information being shared and the offer being presented isn’t an unwelcome intrusion, it’s valuable.
Videos that are highly applicable to a relevant audience that’s been carefully curated don’t need to be gimmicky, funny or entertaining. They need to be sincere and useful to the viewer. And most of all, you don’t need to worry that you’re not a great actor as long as you’re being authentic.
9. Test Several Versions of the Hook
You’re probably going to need to test several versions of your video with different hooks at the beginning.
The first 15 seconds of your video make an enormous difference in the view through rate.
You should record 5 different beginnings to your videos and you should test all of these versions of your video. Until you’ve had a lot of traffic to all of the versions of your video, you won’t know which one is the winner. And anyone with marketing experience will tell you that predicting the winner is almost impossible.
10. Use a teleprompter for your Script
If you place a tablet with the script above your camera lense, be sure that you’re standing far enough away from the camera that you don’t look like you’re staring over your audience.
Try not to move your eyes back and forth as you read the script, or you’ll look shifty.
If your budget allows and you plan on shooting a lot of videos, you should consider getting either a teleprompter or a teleprompter app that you can run on a tablet. A proper teleprompter sits in front of the camera lens, so you can talk directly to the audience as you read the script.
The last 2 steps in this formula are particularly important. If you don’t do these steps well, no one will watch your video.
11. Pick an effective Title for your Video
The title for your video will have a profound impact on your placement in organic searches on YouTube and your click through rate.
Use an active verb at the beginning of your title. Words that evoke action are powerful. “How to” videos are also very click-worthy.
Promise a result people want.
Don’t make your title too long, but remember the keywords in your title will be critical for SEO.
12. Design a Thumbnail that Attracts Attention
Use an image of the person in the video. Images of a person are much more likely to provoke a click than images of a thing.
Make sure your title is clearly written on the thumbnail in an easy to read large font. Your thumbnail is going to look very small on a mobile device, where most videos are watched so design your thumbnail to be mobile friendly.
Also take care not to have the title appear in the center of the thumbnail. When your thumbnail appears on mobile devices or your video is embedded on web pages, YouTube overlays a play-arrow in the center of your thumbnail . You don’t want your title to be obscured by the play-arrow, so keep it well to the right or left of the thumbnail.
You may find it challenging at first to mass produce videos for your video content marketing. But if you follow this formula and you focus most of your energy on giving your audience valuable information, you’ll be amazed by the results you get.
If you’d like to learn how to drive a lot more traffic to your YouTube channel and build a successful content marketing strategy without a lot of work, Book a Call with one of our experts at MondoPlayer.
Using MondoPlayer’s Concierge service you can build your audience, drive targeted prospects to your sales funnel and quickly grow your business.