Video content is king, it is said. Today, brands and marketers everywhere are investing heavily in video marketing because of how rapidly video content is consumed. If your business wants to take advantage of all the opportunities that video advertising offers, make sure that you avoid these common mistakes.
• Talking about yourself the whole time
One of the most common mistakes that many brands make when it comes to video advertising is making the video all about themselves. Such videos tend to focus heavily on the brand, what they do, and their products and services. This kind of video content does not provide much value to your audience and, thus, only drives them away.
You may think that talking about yourself will impress them, but when has this ever worked, really? No one likes it when they have to listen to others sing praises about themselves the entire time. Instead, you should focus on your audience, and how you can solve a problem they have like no one else can.
• Hard-selling your brand/product
While the aim of video marketing is to sell, brazenly selling and over-focusing on your sales pitch is not the way to go. Consumers today do not like it when they are outwardly being sold to. Going for the hard-sell just isn't the right way when it comes to video marketing.
Instead of pushing your brand, products, and messages on your customer's face, let them know how the products and services you offer can benefit them uniquely. Develop the video content in such a way that it evokes emotions you want to associate with your brand. This builds trust, thus making it easier to convert leads.
• Not measuring your KPIs
Another common mistake that many brands make is the failure to measure their KPIs. This is often preceded by another mistake, which is having KPIs that are not associated with your video marketing strategy in the first place.
Just keeping track of the number of likes, views, comments, and shares are not enough. These are vanity metrics that do not tell you anything about your business sales. What you need to measure are advanced video analytics such as how many people visited your site from the video, engagement drop-offs for each video, and more. These insights can provide valuable data so you can determine what works and what doesn't.
• Forgetting to add effective CTAs
The power of a familiar CTA should never be undermined. If your video is of high quality, provides value and leaves an impact on people, but fails to direct the viewers on what to do next, it is not good video advertising.
When implementing CTAs, go for ones that consumers are already familiar with, such as "Tap to buy" or "Click to go to website" or "Sign up for a free trial." Familiar CTAs are more effective in driving conversion because viewers already know what to do and how. You may be tempted to try something different and new, but if you want to be on the safer side, stick with familiar CTAs.
• Trying to do it all by yourself
You may want to cut costs by trying to handle your video marketing on your own, but this is something you shouldn't bet on. Considering the high competition for internet real estate and brands everywhere vying for the short attention span of consumers, the need for high-quality and well-produced video content is now higher than ever.
This is exactly why the best thing you can do is work with an established, experienced, and trusted video agency that knows what they are doing. They can help you ideate, conceptualize, and execute flawlessly and see your video marketing campaign to success. Besides, partnering with a video production marketing company that understands and shares your brand values will result in top-notch work that your audience will be able to identify with and value.
• Not customizing video for each platform
Where are you sharing your videos once they are ready for launch? Are you going to share them on YouTube, on your website, or perhaps, your social media accounts? Depending on the platform that you choose to focus on, it is imperative that you customize each video carefully and make sure that you follow the unique requirements of each platform.
When it comes to video advertising, a one-size-fits-all approach simply isn't going to cut it. You need to be familiar and comfortable with all the platforms and then have a tailor-made video ready for each.
• Making the video way too long
If you want your video to be consumed so that it can make the impact you want it to, don't make the mistake of making it too long. The only way that your video marketing campaign will be successful is if your audience finishes watching the videos you produce in the first place.
If your video fails to grab the attention of the viewers in the first few seconds, they are not going to watch it. Make sure that you start off in a way that immediately intrigues your viewers – whether it is through the editing, the sound, the story, or the visuals.
If you are interested in video marketing, video production, and having video content made for you, then check out Melty Cone. They are a video production marketing company in NYC and are happy to discuss your video needs with you!
