Engagement is the holy grail of video marketing. Without it, no matter how often your videos get viewed, they will only translate to low conversions. Engagement is a metric that defines how committed your audience is to your content. It is measured by the actions your audience takes as they consume your content. 

Perhaps, your business has identified a successful and unique video marketing strategy but needs to make sure your specific audience is engaged. A great example of engagement in video content can be seen on YouTube. As a viewer, if you are engaged with the content you are watching, you will like the video or leave a comment under it. This is just one example of how engagement can be measured. Depending on your goals, you may want your audience to engage with your videos by watching them to the end or performing an action such as subscribing to your channel or purchasing a product you are selling. 

However, to convince people to do any of these things, you need to ensure that your videos are engaging enough in the first place. How can you do this, you ask?

In this article, Will Cotter, owner of HappyCleans, a digital nomad who runs a professional cleaning company in Oklahoma shares insight about 5 ways that you can use to create engaging video content. 

1.   Think about your titles and descriptions

Creating engaging video content goes beyond simply creating the video itself; your title and description need to be on point as well. Your title, in particular, can make or break your video. 

Try to include your keyword in the title for SEO purposes. As you do, though, you also have to remember that humans will be reading it as well. Therefore, try to make it as interesting and enticing as possible. Don’t have a dull and common title. 

Here are a few best practices for creating great video titles: 

• Keep it short (60 characters max)

• Questions, lists, and comparison-themed titles work best

• Your title should pique your audience’s curiosity instantly

• Gain your audience’s trust by not click-baiting them

• Try to feature the main benefit of the video in the title

Your description, on the other hand, should help your audience understand the video without watching it. If you are posting your video on YouTube, you have about 5000 characters to work with. However, only about 300 characters count, because most people do not read past the first few sentences. 

Here are a few best practices for creating great descriptions for your videos: 

• Integrate your keyword in the description

• Use interrogative sentences at the start

• Talk about the kind of value the video will provide

• Add timestamps

• Provide links to additional resources or other videos

• Add a clear Call to Action

• Include links to your socials etc.

2.            Choose a suitable video for your niche

There are 4 popular types of video content online: 

• Explainer videos: These are short videos that explain your product, brand, or service. They address the pain points of your audience and how to solve them. They tend to be the most engaging with audiences because they explain what you do and how you can help your viewers. For the best results, make the video short, clear, and to the point. Always use a script and don’t try to pack too many points into the same short video. Here are ways to master the art of doing expert interview videos.

• Tutorial videos: Tutorials teach your audience a valuable skill. They are a great way to build brand awareness and trust and showcase your expertise. The best tutorials are simple, express your personality, and stick to a script without being winded.

• Behind-the-scenes videos: These types of videos satisfy the audience’s curiosity. They can cover a wide range of topics and work well for most niches and industries.

• Entertainment videos: These videos entertain for entertainment’s sake. They vary in scope, genre, and purpose. Music videos, comedy bits, TikToks, drama shows, Instagram reels, and more all fall into this category.

3.            Select your thumbnail carefully

Your thumbnail plays a major role in your video’s success. When it is impactful, it grabs attention and gets the user to watch your video. On the other hand, when the thumbnail is not impressive, most users will not give it a second look. With so much video content to consume, they will simply scroll past a boring thumbnail. 

Your thumbnail provides just enough information to your audience to help them decide whether or not your video is worth their time. Therefore, you need to choose them carefully. 

Automatically generated thumbnails may not be the best choice for your videos. Instead, consider creating custom thumbnails for each video you share. The best-performing videos on platforms like YouTube all have custom thumbnails. 

Here are some thumbnail best practices: 

• Give the thumbnails a personal touch with branded logos, themes, or fonts

• Play to your audience’s emotions with a picture of a person expressing happiness, sadness, surprise, and so on

• Use the best quality images with attractive and eye-catching colors

• Keep it clean, clear, and simple

• Avoid false promises, click-baiting, or sensational headlines that have nothing to do with your video

4.            Know your audience

According to Facebook’s video data analysis, viewers who spend more than 3 seconds watching a video are more likely to continue watching for at least 30 seconds. This means you want to do everything you can to prevent your viewers from clicking away by holding their attention right off the bat. 

Your best tool for achieving this is to analyze your engagement metrics and tweak your video content according to the results. Check your comments, new subscriber rate, likes, and audience retention rates. You can also engage your audience further by asking them what they want through polls or directly in the comments. This will make them feel valued.

5.            Incorporate storytelling to boost engagement

Storytelling works because instead of being in-your-face and promotional or product-led, it is nuanced and subliminal. The best stories will tug at heartstrings or elicit emotions in your audience. To ensure this, you need to write a gripping script for your video marketing.

When you tell a good story, your audience gets to experience your personal experiences through them. They become more receptive to your ideas and start to feel what you feel. You can increase the effectiveness of your videos by creating a compelling narrative around them based on a personal story. 

Final Thoughts

Whenever you create a video, you need to remember that it is battling for attention along with millions of other videos. Additionally, your audience has a lot going on in their lives, and they are busy or distracted by countless other things. This means you have to ensure that your video is compelling enough to grab their attention right from the start. It should also hold their focus all the way to the end. Hopefully, with the 5 sure-fire ways outlined here, your videos will be able to do exactly this. For the best results but less effort, hire a video production company to take care of everything! Good luck!