Do You Make These 5 Video Marketing Mistakes?

According to Cisco, video will account for more than 82% of online content.

Yahtzee! That’s a lot of videos!

Videos are undoubtedly a major hotspot all across the internet. Whether you spend your days on YouTube and TikTok or just casually check Facebook and LinkedIn, video content is everywhere and it’s not going to slow down anytime soon. Of course, we talk ad nauseam on this blog about the importance of video marketing. And if you still haven’t started utilizing video in your marketing campaigns, you’re probably strongly considering it.

So when you finally do take the plunge, it’s important to make the most of that opportunity. Or maybe you’ve recently launched a video or two and they’re just not performing the way you hoped. Well in our 12+ years in the business we’ve seen it all. Trust us, it’s easy to make mistakes and not optimize your videos for ultimate reach and engagement. Let’s look at five easy-to-fix video marketing mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

Not Making Any Videos

This one is for those folks on the fence about video marketing. So if you’ve already made a video, you can skip on down to the next one. But right off the bat, not publishing any videos is the biggest mistake you can make. Consumers are asking for videos. Heck, you’re probably one of those consumers. Would you rather read through a three page document about a product or service or just watch a 60 second video? We thought so.

Videos can just be so much more engaging and really wow you potential clients. The amount in which videos are getting watched and shared proves to marketing professionals and business owners that customers want to watch content. And if content is king, the consumer is queen. Maybe even vice versa. 

Making Videos Too Long

Unfortunately, length is one of the most common video marketing mistakes that we see. We get it, there’s a lot you want to say about your business. You do so many great things so you want potential customers to know about everything you do. You want to convey every last detail about what makes them different. That’s the best way to attract new clients, right? 

Wrong! 

The human attention span is getting shorter and shorter thanks to instant gratification. The average attention span is only roughly seven seconds. You have this small amount of time just to hook your viewer! So you’ll want to focus a good amount of creative energy on a strong opening. But even a strong opening won’t get your audience to stick around for a 3-4 minute video. With explainer videos, shorter is always going to be better. Not only will your video lose eyes because of a long video, but it’ll also feel unfocused. It’s even possible that the reason they stumbled onto your video is because of something you mention 2.5 minutes in. But since they’ve dropped off after two minutes, they’ll never see it. Now you’ve just lost a potential customer. 

The sweet spot for an animated explainer video is 60-90 seconds. And if you want to cover more topics, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple explainer videos that target different audiences (more on that later). Your video is meant to be a conversation started, not replace the conversation. You want to make sure your script is concise, fun, and to the point. Keep in mind your target audience for your video. C-Suite people in charge of approving larger purposes don’t always have the most time on their hands. Believe it or not, the shorter your explainer video is, the more likely potential customers are to remember it. Something short and punchier will always be more impactful than a video that drags on.

Forgetting Your Call to Action

Now that you’ve put all this work into a stellar video, don’t be shy to ask your viewer for something. This video is meant to help present a solution for them. And if made correctly, they’re going to desperately want and need that solution. So it’s important to tell the viewer what to do next. Do you want them to contact a representative? Download a demo? Or just check out your landing page? It’s crucial to have a plan about where this video will live and how you’ll be able to gauge its effectiveness. Will your landing page be something easy for them to get to? And of course you’ll want additional information on that landing page. Using a call to actions in your video is a great way to direct consumers to the next stage in the buying cycle.

Forgetting Your Target Audience

We mentioned it early but another video marketing mistake is forgetting your target audience. In order for the video to create emotion in your viewer, you first need to understand that viewer and what makes them happy, sad, angry, etc. Emotion is the best tactic in videos. Emotion gets people to act. Taking some time to establish primary and secondary audiences will help guide the concept and script for your video.

If your target audience is very cut and dry or dealing with a serious topic, maybe a more silly animated video isn’t the best tactic. You’ll want something more straightforward (but still engaging) that presents facts and figures so they immediately know this will be helpful. But if you’re targeting consumers at home, you might want something that’s a little snappy and memorable. Or maybe your company is known for being a little silly so you’ll want your video to have a handful of puns. One of the great things about a company like Digital Brew is that we can help guide you in the right direction if you’re not sure.

Not Utilizing Storytelling

Videos are so effective for their storytelling abilities. Storytelling is what evokes emotion, and emotion is what gets people to act. Metaphors and analogies are some of the best ways to tell a story in a manner that is digestible for your audience. See how creative you can get, but always be mindful that that specific analogy or metaphor makes sense to your target audience.

Storytelling is the perfect way to help your audience understand why they should care about your product or service. It gives your customers something to latch onto and be invested in. Then they can see themselves in the problem and relate. 

Brewing Videos for Marketing

These 5 video marketing mistakes are comprehensive across all platforms. They are not nit-picky, tricks of the trade per one platform, rather they are mistakes that will affect the entirety of the video’s success. Keep these things in mind when you approach the planning and production of your next video to ensure everything is optimized to receive optimal reach, engagement, and results.

If you’d rather not worry about video optimization, that’s why we’re here. Like we always say, with Digital Brew, you’re not getting just an award-winning production company, you’re getting a group of strategists who craft your message for your audience. So if you’re ready to start the journey of getting a new video or just want to learn a little more about the process, you can always reach out to us here!

Let’s Brew This!