Creating informative and entertaining videos for your business is a great way to engage your audience and boost business. Your video is a reflection of your brand, and it can be an effective marketing tool – if done right. Often, small businesses produce videos poorly, which may do them more harm than good. Here are ten such mistakes, and how to fix them:
Mistake #1: Poor planning – if the video is made just for the sake of making a video, it’s not conveying any message to your audience; ergo, it will achieve nothing for your business.
Fix it: make a plan just as you do for your other marketing campaigns; set a precise objective. Define what you want to achieve through your video, and THEN make it.
Mistake #2: Improper Branding – if people remember seeing your video, but can’t recall your product or company name or remember your logo, your video is a failure! Your video needs to communicate the benefits offered by your product, and promote your brand.
Fix it: Make sure your website URL, logo, theme colors and anything else indicative of your brand is prominently visible in your video so that it’s imprinted on the minds of viewers.
Mistake #3: Lengthy Videos – if your video isn’t engaging enough in the first few seconds, most people will move on; the longer your video is, the lesser the number of people who will view it till completion.
Fix it: Keep it short and sweet; don’t ramble. Ideally, your videos should be 60 to 90 seconds – with a max upper limit stretchable up to 2 minutes.
Mistake #4: Conveying multiple messages – if you make a video in which you talk about your new plant, additional features of an existing product, awards your company received, CSR activities you do – what are you actually telling your customers? Nothing! It is information overload.
Fix it: Your video should convey a single message – one definite takeaway for your viewers.
Mistake #5: Lame CTAs – Let’s face it peeps. The days of the ‘Click Here’ and ‘Submit’ buttons are over. It doesn’t really tell the users what is going to happen next! Avoid such CTAs in your videos.
Fix it: Include clear, precise CTAs like ‘Download our Video Series on Paleo Diet’ so that users know what they are doing when they enter their email.
Mistake #6: No SEO in your video – it’s vital that your video is found; after all there are thousands out there. Without SEO, your video will be lost in the ocean that is YouTube (or any other video hosting site!)
Fix it: Use video SEO tactics so that your video is displayed on the first page of the SERPs and traffic is driven to your site.
Mistake #7: Looking for Overnight Success – as with any other campaign method, this will also take its time. Don’t expect it to go viral overnight.
Fix it: Have patience and understand that a video marketing strategy needs steady commitment and patience.
Mistake #8: improperly placing the selling point – waiting till the end of the video to deliver your selling point can backfire, unlike a movie with a twist! If people don’t watch the video to completion, your video will fail.
Fix it: The vital selling points should be delivered in the beginning of the video, and followed up with supporting information.
Mistake #9: Not addressing your target market – casting too wide a net to attract a wide audience with diverse demographics will not achieve the desired results; different sections will have varying pain points.
Fix it: identify which pain points you want to address, and create your video accordingly; focus your message on a specific target audience.
Mistake #10: Partnering with the wrong producer – your viewers are going to be your biggest critics; if your video is of poor quality, not entertaining, not informative or does a poor job of conveying your company’s vision – you have not chosen your video producer wisely!
Fix: Do extensive research before you decide on any individual or company to produce your business videos. Make sure they have the know-how, talent and experience; check out previous work and customer feedback.
Do you want to avoid making these mistakes? I have years of experience in creating business videos that have hugely helped my clients boost their business. Click below to schedule an appointment with me:
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