Engaging videos are among the most potent storytelling elements available today, whether used for personal posts, product sales or donation drives – yet many struggle to discern which elements truly contribute to optimal video engagement. Here we examine three popular production misconceptions.
Myth #1: Long videos are most effective. Long videos can be extremely effective at the appropriate moments in a customer journey. But, you must consider where most viewers will encounter your video: they may not be in a movie theater or relaxing on their couch with popcorn in hand, they might just be conducting a quick Google search or scrolling through social media feeds – there is even data showing audiences’ attention spans are on the decline (Microsoft 2015).
KISS (Keep It Short and Simple) remains relevant today, providing an effective strategy for getting to your point quickly and easily for maximum audience impact. Short videos can be an ideal way to quickly engage target audiences quickly with direct communication that ensures a larger percentage of your video will be consumed – something particularly essential on social media as well as websites focusing on B2B marketing.
Analyzing video engagement rates reveals a gradual decrease over time. All things being equal, more people watch 1-minute videos than 10-minute ones – perhaps due to scrolling to find something of interest? Watching short videos seems less intimidating, especially for viewers unfamiliar with its value.
On the flipside, it may be tempting to conclude that someone viewing 20% of a 10-minute video is viewing more content (in minutes viewed) than someone watching all 100 seconds of a one-minute video – which would be technically accurate; but why not divide up your 10-minute video into smaller chunks instead? Doing this will allow for both increased engagement in terms of percentage AND view time consumption – short videos tend to be better suited for quick consumption.
One of the best times to use longer form videos is after customers have shown interest in your shorter content. Once customers are hooked by social media videos, promotional clips, or tutorials on your website – they may be more receptive to watching longer form videos that provide additional details, possibly leading to purchase consideration actions.
Myth #2: Motion Equals Engagement.
Always keep in mind that story is the core element of video content creation and engagement is measured by its power to grip an audience’s interest – like movies with stunning effects but poor storytelling, videos can fall flat without captivating their target audiences either way.
Once you’ve focused on telling a compelling tale, adding motion can keep viewers engaged with the story. Adjusting edit speeds, including adding animation or motion graphics where appropriate and placing effects or montages strategically are all great ways to engage viewers while maintaining interest – just keep in mind that these extra elements serve only to amplify engagement rather than dominate it! Remember that motion should supplement rather than dominate; its purpose should not be solely defined by adding it where possible or necessary; just because motion exists doesn’t mean that adding it must necessarily mean doing it if possible or necessary!
Viewer retention graphs tend to display a reverse-J pattern at the start of a video, as viewers quickly lose interest before slightly recovering (but never fully to initial levels). While you should try and select titles and thumbnails that reflect what’s contained within it, viewers may quickly decide they aren’t interested in watching your content after realizing this soon into watching it.
Long intros for videos exacerbate this decline further by deepening engagement and viewing rates, or worse, driving some away altogether. You might think a flashy intro with motion looks cool to viewers, but remember they have yet to reach the story itself yet; these flashy intros often serve only to reinforce brand identity that was established through text, thumb and other content surrounding your video.
Consider this: When producing a short 30-second social media video, is an eight-second intro really necessary? Even for 10-minute tutorial videos, an introduction lasting 8 seconds might be too long; most viewers will scroll past before finding something interesting they want to watch. A two to three second intro should suffice in most instances for short social media videos – static images with text can still establish the beginning of your video quickly enough!
One way of doing this is limiting motion. But I thought motion increased engagement? No doubt; but that only applies when its purpose adds something meaningful to your storyline. Spending more time on write-on text or elements flying in sequentially is less time spent telling your tale, and less engagement by viewers.
I find engagement curves for videos where I quickly launch into the story have an engagement curve with a gradual downward slope – this indicates a gradual audience decrease over time. On videos with longer introductions (often unavoidable due to specific video factors) have deeper reverse-J patterns. Even though you might not have produced as many videos as me, I still encourage you to analyze data from your patterns – even just two videos may provide enough of a sample size to understand what works and doesn’t work for both you and your audience!
Myth #3: Videos Are Ideal For Social Media.
Videos can be great additions to all channels, not only social media. Videos serve various functions from enhancing personal brand to email marketing campaigns to showing customers exactly how to use your product/service more effectively post purchase. Videos provide many other uses as well. They’re especially great at landing pages to entice your target audience into providing their contact info while showing visitors exactly what can be accomplished with it – all essential assets when selling product/services online!
Video content that provides authentic storytelling is increasingly popular, which makes videos simple to produce and distribute across your channels. All you need is an engaging tale that offers value to viewers; videos are one of the best tools for building relationships!
Don’t allow myths to deter you from creating videos. Concentrate on crafting great stories, and use data analysis to make decisions on what changes or tweaks should be implemented. Your potential viewers have plenty of competing assets for their attention – taking time and effort to produce videos your audience finds engaging is certainly worth your while!