The 5 things all great videos have in common
1 – They’re short.
As Oscar Wilde once said, ‘œbrevity is the soul of wit’, so if you want your message to be clever and memorable then it’s a good idea to keep it short and concise. It’s no coincidence that most of the best explainer videos are short, normally 60-90 seconds, as this is pretty much the limit of most people attention span. It sounds a bit pathetic but the average Internet viewer (and that includes you and me) finds it a bit too tedious to stay watching the same thing for more than 2 minutes at a time, so try and limit the duration of your video. Two short videos will have more effect than one long on.
2 – They’re simple.
As well as being concise, simplicity is also a key trait of great videos. It’s no good keeping a video nice and short in duration if you’re going to cram it with countless points, statistics and features. You’ll end up with information overload, your viewers are going to be left disorientated and none of the information will sink in.
Before you start your video you should write down 2-3 things you want your viewer to take away from watching your video and base your project around this. Be wary of statistics, it’s tempting to throw in loads of numbers to back up what you’re saying but they often have the opposite effect to what you’re after. Select one or two headline grabbing stats and throw away the rest, or leave them for another video. Keep everything on message and to the point and you’ll get much greater rewards.
3 – They target the right audience
Consideration of your audience is crucial to any successful video marketing campaign, and you should have a clear idea of who you are trying to reach before you start production of any video project. You should try and define your audience clearly and try and make content that is tailored specifically to them. Ask yourself a few questions about who you think they are and think of categories you can fit them into, such as: age, gender, occupation, interests, location or any other niches you can think of. Once you have a profile of who you are trying to target then you can set about creating the right tone and style to appeal to them. If you’re promoting a B2B service and you’re trying to attract business owners over 30 then you should end up with a drastically different video to one that is trying to attract young consumers to buy a clothing product. The best and most effective videos will start with their audience at the core and work outwards from there.
4 – They’re original
It’s no good going to the trouble of defining your audience if you then serve them up something they’ve seen before. Videos that are seen to be unoriginal, or copying an existing idea aren’t going to get watched, shared or enjoyed and you run the risk of being seen as an imitator and unoriginal. To get peoples attention you need to be fresh and creative. The best videos will have something about them people haven’t seen before: some funky designs, a play on words or an innovative idea. It’s hard to be 100% original these days and good ideas are hard to come by, but a good place to start is looking at things you’ve enjoyed watching and try to take inspiration from them. You could do a different spin on a concept you’ve seen, or you could try and combine elements from a few sources to try and create something different.
5 – They don’t cut corners on quality
You can have the best idea in the world, a fantastic concept that perfectly targets your niche audience, but if you hand it over to the wrong person to create it then you could end up with a product that is a real let down. As the age old saying goes ‘œyou get what you pay for’, so don’t skimp on quality. Your video should be an extension of your company and your brand so it should contain the same level of quality and attention to detail that you give every other aspect of your business. The good news is having a great animated video produced is more affordable than ever. Mooviemakers have low fixed price packages so you can keep in control of the cost whilst being assured of great quality, and we turn things round really quickly so you can get busy showing off and sharing your video. We’re happy to talk things through with you and answer any questions you might have so get in touch with us and we can have a chat.