Good video is more than pretty pictures.
Whether it’s a video for your website or a short burst on social, an event promotion or an educational video, here are five key elements that will mean your efforts wont be wasted.
1 – Tell a story
A great video should have a narrative whether it’s overt or less obvious. Don’t reinvent the wheel, use storytelling principals in any video you make. It’s even more crucial when it comes to your business.
Whether it’s with words, vision or a clever combination of both, create a narrative that takes your audience on a journey from beginning to end.
Grab attention visually and hook them in from the start and splatter key narrative techniques throughout – challenges emotions and conclusions – to keep them watching.
People like to be entertained and a good story will mask the real business purpose behind your video and have your audience hooked from the get-go.
Learn to write a killer script in one of our videography training programmes.
2 – Roll out the “feels”
Our brains are hard wired to mirror emotions we see in front of us. If you watch a film where people cry, you’re more likely to feel the same.
If you can add emotion to your video then you’re increasing the chances of a connection with your audience. Smiley enthusiastic team members will generate warmth from an audience for your brand, innovation, excitement – emotion is powerful.
Make it authentic and this engagement will deepen.
3 – Make it visual
Think of clever and alternative ways to tell your story with pictures. Holding a video on a person talking to camera, no matter how interesting your material is, is not a great visual technique.
Whether it be amazing cinematography and visual techniques, a stunning location, interesting faces and people or creative shots, visuals will hold viewer interest and further strengthen your message.
And where possible, use a drone; who doesn’t love an aerial view?
Did you know we use drones in many of our shoots? Shimmy on over to see our portfolio.
4 – Keep it punchy
As with any piece of content, video should be as succinct as you can. Be economical when it comes to words and pictures. As a rule the maximum duration should not exceed two minutes, but on social keep it under thirty seconds. Of course there are always exceptions.
Review your script again and again, taking out any superfluous wordage. Is there a more succinct way to show your meaning, can it be visual rather than words?
Respect your viewers for giving you the time and keep your message – however you present it – short and sweet. Pay attention to different time limits on platforms and always remember the adage, less is more.
5 – Don’t leave your audience hanging
Too many great videos leave an audience to move on elsewhere. Do not miss your opportunity to grab ’em quick.
If you want viewers to take a specific action, make it clear. If you have a location for them to visit, tell them what it is. There’s no point in going to the effort of making a video, if it doesn’t capture interest and channel it to your destination.