Video: Getting Maximum Engagement and Impact, Top 10 Mistakes, And Video Trends by Hat Trick Magazine

Cutting Edge

Video

Getting Maximum Engagement And Impact

Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Prospects are 72% likelier to buy your products and services when video is used. – Wharton School of Business Video decreases the time it takes a viewer to reach a buying decision by 70%. – Wharton School of Business Videos are 53 times more likely than text to get a first page Google ranking. – Forrester 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. – 3M Corporation, Zabisco Of the 80% of viewers that have watched a video online, 52% have taken some sort of action.– Wharton School of Business Video used in email blasts increases clickthrough rates by over 96% – Implix 75% executives who told Forbes that they watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week. – Forbes According to Forbes Insight, 59% of senior executives surveyed would rather watch a video than read text. – Forbes Insight Viewers spend 100% more time on pages with videos on them. – MarketingSherpa

Some Compelling Statistics

Mistakes

Top 10 Mistakes Found In Marketing And Communications Videos That Influence Engagement And Impact

When you consider all this, having an effective video platform can be instrumental in helping you reach your marketing and communications goals. Yet, as video is still new to many companies, marketing and communications professionals can find themselves in the midst of a huge learning-curve . If their company has a budget for video, they wonder what the appropriate budget is for video, when should they create do-it-yourself videos and when should they invest in going pro. And when creating do-it-yourself videos, many executives wonder how to ensure that their do-it-yourself videos are high quality and engaging to their audience. There are 10 top mistakes that I’ve seen companies make in marketing and communications videos that influence engagement and impact. I will not only identify the mistakes to avoid, I’ll outline the right steps you can take to create videos that have impact. By impact, I mean ideas that will have prospects picking up the phone to call you, videos that will have employees gathered around one desk to watch that “awesome new video,” videos that are shared from inbox to inbox. And videos that establish rapport between the subject and the viewer, opening the lines of communication and building trust between the company and prospect or executive and employee. 3

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Mistake #1 – Content That Has No Clear Structure As they say, “Content is King.” If you can’t hold your audience’s attention, they’ll click away from your video. The biggest mistake I’ve seen companies make is not crafting the content with a beginning, middle and end. An influential video will have a strong beginning or “set-up” that draws us in within the first 10-30 thirty seconds. Marketing research done by Visible Measures showed that 20% of your audience will click away in the first 10 seconds of playback, 33% will click away within the first 30 seconds, and 44% will click away within the first minute. After opening with a compelling set-up, the video should have a middle section that moves the story along, evolving the story of the topic that was raised at the beginning of the video. We want to keep the audience interested in seeing how the question is answered, the problem is resolved, or the obstacle is overcome. Last, comes the resolution, where we discover the answer to the question, solve the problem, or see how the obstacle is met.

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Mistake #2 – Conveying Facts Without Story Telling It’s essential to have strong story-telling in your video and not just facts and opinions. In Angelique Rewers’s video, there are several story telling elements at play. We see that she is concerned that micro-business owners are under-earning and how she feels called to help them. We hear the stories of her clients who were struggling in their businesses and found solutions by working with Angelique. This makes the story more human, authentic and relatable. Story is what brings the dry facts to life. Stories reach us cognitively and emotionally. We are able to learn from another’s experience and empathize with their situation. Story takes the facts of “what happened” and gives us an experience of it. We may not remember the facts we heard a year from now, but we will remember a welltold story. When you craft your video content, ask yourself if there is a story that can be used to illustrate the point. Then decide how that story will be told through interviews, testimonials, and supporting images or b-roll.

We are wired for story at a very early age, beginning with fairy tales, then graduating to children’s shows and movies, and on to movies and TV for adults.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Mistake #3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Creating a Video with No Clear Business Objective Be clear on what your strategic objectives are and who your audience is when you create a video. Identify your overall goal for the video and then reverse-engineer the content. This will ensure that your content is targeted, succinct and doesn't meander from the most essential points. 1) What is the goal for creating the video? What do you want to achieve? For example: Do I want my audience to buy a product or service, reach a greater understanding of a challenging or complex situation, get behind a movement or initiative, take a particular action? 2) What effect do I want to have on the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts and emotions? For example: Do I want to inspire them, excite them, create concern, move them? 3) What actions do I want my audience to take after watching the video? For example: Do I want them to enroll in a special program, meet a specific deadline, support a particular person, cause, change or initiative? 4) Who is my target audience and how can I best reach them? What is their age range? What type of material do they respond to? For example, a twenty-something audience might prefer a fastpaced video with quickly moving images and upbeat music, whereas a middle-age audience might find this over-stimulating. Once you know what your goals for your video are and the impact you want to have on your target audience, you can begin crafting the content. By beginning with the end in mind, you are likely to have a tighter, more effective script.

Mistake #4 – Videos That Are Visually Boring The “talking head video” where a senior level executive or CEO delivers a message to the employees straight into the camera with no accompanying visuals (photos, b-roll, graphics) is becoming antiquated as companies become more innovative with their visual story telling, adopting a higher production value. The ideal video tells a story using a combination of interviews with important figures or decision makers, testimonials, and live action shots (otherwise known as “B roll”). The voice of the interviews is the main narrative of the piece – the voice that tells the story – while the b-roll is the live footage that supports the narrative expressed in the interviews. Some videos will have almost all b-roll with voiceover and no interviews, while others will be equally split between interviews and b-roll. Whenever possible, use graphics, images and b-roll to paint a visual picture of the story and bring it to life.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Mistake #5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Videos That Run Too Long There is debate among experts about the maximum recommended length for a video. A safe range for a standard online video is one to two minutes. The average video in Forrester Researchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s study was 1:42 minutes in length. Over a third of the videos were less than a minute. Several marketing experts claim you are in the safe zone with two minutes or less, as there will be significant drop off after one minute (a 44% drop off according to Visual Measure). The length will vary according to the purpose of the video, the platform itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on, and the target audience. For a corporate video that contains a message from the CEO, an announcement about an important deadline, change or initiative, or a story on a particular employee, two minutes is ideal and three minutes maximum. Here is our video for Patty Lennon, founder of the Mom Gets a Business Conference, used in her Kickstarter campaign. This video is just over 2 minutes, which worked well for the Kickstarter platform.

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Mistake #6 – Video With Speakers Who Need Media Training This topic is a delicate one – after all, who wants to tell the CEO that he’s a bore on camera? A Corporate Communications executive asked me, “What do I do if the CEO is a drone on camera and he just doesn’t get it?” Our friend replied, “Video tape him and have him sit down and watch it… he’ll soon get it.” So simple, yet easily missed. So here is clearly: No matter how well-written the content is, if the person who delivers it has no on-camera presence, your content will fall on deaf ears. The person must be engaging on camera in their energy, presence, and non-verbal communication to keep us watching. Provide media training, warm up the speaker, provide feedback on non-verbal communication, and give feedback on their energy levels.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Mistake #7 – Lack Of Interview Know-How Behind The Camera In an effective interview, we must make the subject feel at ease and keep the conversation going in an easy “back and forth” manner. The first step to a successful interview is preparation. You need to know your subject matter and the sound bites you want from the interviewee in advance of the shoot day. When preparing your interview questions, be sure to ask open-ended questions as opposed to yes and no questions. For example, you might ask “Why is this initiative important to you?” instead of “Is this important to you?” Be sure to keep an open body posture (arms uncrossed). Listen attentively, nod to show you “get it” and give affirming responses. Here is a video we produced for The 3% Conference, a conference designed to raise awareness of the issue that only 3% of Creative Directors in the advertising world are women, crafted from interviews with their executives.

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Mistake #8 – No Clear Call For Action Or Invitation For Engagement Have a clear goal for of the effect you want to have on the audience and the action you want them to take after watching your video. For example, if you were to create a video about the annual UNICEF drive, the call to action might be to send your donation to the HR department by Friday at 5 pm. Often the call to action is simply invitation for engagement. For example, if you have a talk show-style interview with the CEO of your company, the call to action might be to leave a comment below the video expressing your opinion or thoughts on the video. Or it might be to share the video on social media or with a friend. For a video for a live event, the business owner might announce that there is a special bonus for the first 30 people who go to register. I’ve also seen the speaker on video announce that they will pick a winner from those who leave a comment below the video. This can be a great tool to get your employees involved in an online discussion. You can also announce a contest where one person will be picked from the comments section to receive a prize, such as a Q&A lunch with the CEO or a key player at the company. Another way to maximize engagement is to invite the employees to create their own videos about relevant topics. Companies can invite employees to express their thoughts, opinions and concerns through video. Do you know For example, if the company were determining someone who needs where to invest it’s charity dollars, they could invite the employees to create videos to hear this advice? featuring their big idea, and the charitable Share this to help them donation would go to the cause with the unblock their business most convincing video. video strategy.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Mistake #9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Failure To Leverage Videos Across Multiple Platforms Often a company creates a brilliant video and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distributed internally where it goes up on the company blog and Intranet and that will be the end of it. While there are some corporate videos that are meant for internal use only, there are other videos that can be leveraged across multiple public platforms. This is particularly beneficial for videos that can establish the brand presence and customer experience. For example, if your company did a talk show style interview series with the CEO about a relevant topic, this video could be leveraged in multiple places. It could be sent out via email blast to employees and clients. It can be featured on the company blog, Intranet, and monthly e-newsletter. The video could be turned into a vlog article and posted on reputable online publications. It could be shared on social media such as Facebook, Linked In, YouTube, Tweeter and Google Plus. Smaller clips could be posted on Vine and Instagram. These are 12 different ways you can leverage one video.

If you developed this interview into a seven part video interview series, leveraging the videos in these 12 different ways, you would have 84 points of visibility and probable engagement from just 7 videos. A great bang for your investment!

Mistake #10 – Failure To Distinguish When To Do-It-Yourself And When To Go Pro Often companies fail to discern when it’s best to create do-ityourself videos and when to hire a professional production team. Here are some guidelines for when it is best to go professional: 1)

High-visibility video to be shared with the public, such as on the company website, in a reputable online publication, at a trade show, on a big screen at a company event (i.e. a national sales team meeting), in a marketing or product launch video. Videos about a complex subject that requires in-depth research, content development, and multiple interviews. This can require several hours of work, and hiring a team to handle it for you will free up valuable time. Videos with complex visuals that are challenging to shoot well, such as highly cinematic pieces. For example, if you were a company that wanted to show a high action military operation, or a real estate company who wanted a fly-by aerial view of the property, or a professional quality “movie trailer” video about your company or a hot topic, it’s best to hire a professional team. Videos on topics that are evergreen and will be used every year for an annual initiative. For example, a “movie trailer” style video on crisis management, company policies, health and safety sexual harassment, performance reviews, open enrollment for insurance, and the UNICEF drive. Training videos that will be used company-wide and possibly for quite a few years to come. Press Release video that will go out to the media and the public. M Lange Media

Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

It’s best to create do-it-yourself video when the video does not need to be as polished and it will be used for internal use only. The level of investment put into the video is often determined by the importance and magnitude of the message and the person giving it. For example, a company might always hire a professional videographer to film a message from the CEO so he or she can maintain a polished image. Whereas a quick video from HR reminding you to get the flu shot could be a do-it-yourself video. Short announcements that are going out via email or newsletter internally, videos for the company blog, FAQ videos for internal use, management bulletins, and testimonial videos for internal use can al be done do it yourself. Keep in mind, creating video hours of time -- particularly for complex “movie trailer” style videos with several interviews, cinematic b-roll shots, music and graphics. A two to three minute video with these elements can take 10-15 hours of content development, 25-30 hours to edit, a 8 to 12 full day (or sometimes more) to shoot, and 20-25 hours in post-production, depending on the complexity of the video. It’s often best to hire a team for complex videos so you can focus on the most important aspects of your role at the company.

Advice

Incorporating video into your existing communications strategy

some clever ideas We have already shown you some ways that video can enhance the customer experience, but it can also enrich internal communications for stakeholders and employees. Corporations and individuals benefit from the digital age, where information is available for review and assimilation (on demand, 24 hours a day, seven days per week). We are living in an age where smart phones, the cloud and social media have created an odd paradox for corporations: constant connectedness, yet an endless â&#x20AC;&#x153;thought cloudâ&#x20AC;? which can be difficult to prioritize and filter. Never before has there been a greater appreciation or understanding of the potential for disconnected interpretation of messages delivered via written and electronic communication. This is further compounded for firms with teams spanning multiple locations, countries and ethnic cultures. Video provides a consistent means by which to deliver concise sound bites, which personalize, reiterate and clarify key messages, even those of a technical or complex nature. 17

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Digital communications such as email, newsletters and presentations will (and should always be) a core part of your internal communications strategy.

We recommend that corporations consider video simply another tool in the palette, which allows one to control, influence and ensure that company culture, tone of voice and intent of your content is effectively digested by your audience.

Video can bring a healthier and more consistent culture for your organization through natural-sounding, concisely crafted messages, ranging from company goals to image management for leadership within the organization. This enables leadership to be less of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;name in black printâ&#x20AC;? and more of a personality, and three-dimensional partner whose messages instill trust and common understanding within their employees.

trending now Blue chip companies, global banks and governments around the world are incorporating video into their everyday communications. Here are a few trends we are already seeing in most communication roadmaps for 2013:

Intranet Landing Pages: Easily inject personality and deeper trust through concisely constructed videos, tailored for each area of your intranet or SharePoint site.

Email Communications and Newsletters: Mix content types to spice up your existing comms materials. Mix video thumbnails with hyperlinks and watch an otherwise dry newsletter better serves a range of learning styles, and delivers a broader, more visually-appealing spectrum of content. This clever mixing technique (often used by national and global newspapers and online magazines) leads to less reader exhaustion and an increase in the time spent in your publications (and reading more detailed, textbased content). Email is also a huge opportunity to engage with employees first thing in the morning to encourage, reward and direct their activities, as most people check their mailboxes at the start of the business day.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

Training and Wikis: Large companies have seen a direct decrease to travel and hotel budgets (per department) by adopting video into their training strategy. Through technologies like Webex and video, the need for renting expensive conference suites and additional overheads associated with hundreds of employees traveling to attend large training sessions is no longer an issue. Training is now delivered online through a mix of live webinars and training videos, with step-by-step instructions on topics ranging from how to use new software, understanding new policies, business processes, etc.

Transforming IT Support: A significant percentage of corporate IT help desk calls are for simple issues and known â&#x20AC;&#x153;bugsâ&#x20AC;? with easy workarounds. Many companies outsourced their IT help desks to save money on IT Service costs. However, because of the fact that IT Service providers and cross-charging within a company, will cross-charge a fee per call to the help desk, their IT Service costs actually increased. By identifying common IT help desk questions with simple fixes, your company can instead invest in how-to videos clearly and simply explain how to resolve the issue, step-by-step. Video is an investment made just once, and without a per-play cost involved.

corporate video trending now Video Blog mobile video Talk Show press release staff presentation video how-to quarterly report faq video

testimonials: customers & employees live and prerecorded lectures Marketing videos management bulletins

technical support drama or comedic short ofďŹ cial company performance presentation company policies, (explain and motivate) health and safety procedures Freebie knowledge demo crisis communication product launch recruitment video

corporate video types, explained If you are just starting to use video or you want to expand your existing video platform, here are some types of videos to consider:

Video Blog: Video blogs are similar to regular blog posts, except they are presented in a short format with an engaging and concise subject matter. A good video blog will incorporate the advice provided earlier in this presentation (see Top 10 Mistakes for further detail). Video blogs tend to range in length, but a good rule of thumb is a maximum of two to three minutes for public blogs and up to ten minutes for internal blogs. These videos tend to be relaxed, raw and often recorded by a user using a mobile device or webcam. Examples: A corporate exec goes to an exciting conference in Barcelona and vlogs about it, the CEO shares his thoughts on an important issue.

Mobile Video: Mobile video is the same as a video blog but of an appropriate length formatted specifically with the mobile user in mind. Most video blogs are hosted on popular video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Mobile video is constrained to just a few seconds and can be hosted on platforms like Vine and Instagram. Example: a 15 second video demo of the latest product.

Talk Show: Talk shows used to be network-driven, however in the age of the internet, strong business personalities often craft their own talk/TV shows which are hosted on their own websites. There is overlap with the video blog, such as the suggested length, however the style is a bit more structured and has a more refined look and feel. Talk shows require some traditional set up and shooting techniques. Example: an interview with the CEO on his new initiative for sustainable business practices.

Press Release: A concise and formally constructed video for use when engaging with members of the press or public, shot with sound bites and core messages in immediate view. Example: An short video about a new app the company has created.

Staff Presentation: A special video for release to members of direct staff for their direction or consumption. Video should be filled with engaging and personalized. Example: A presentation from the CMO of their new marketing methods in BRIC nations.

Quarterly Report: A more interactive and engaging way of presenting key quarterly achievements, direction and financial results.

FAQ Video: Frequently Asked Questions which are straight to the point and conversational in their delivery. Example: FAQ videos from HR on procedures for open enrollment.

Testimonials: This could be for customers or for employees. It is a far more engaging way of presenting positive feedback to other, perhaps skeptical viewers to obtain buy-in for a concept or benefits of a product/service. Example: An employee shares why he loves working at Zappos.

Lectures: An increasing number of people aligning to the show me / tell me spectrum of learning styles and also mobile work patterns, have caused a demand for traditional talks, lectures and training to be placed into video format for on-demand viewing. Example: a lecture series on transformational leadership.

Marketing Videos: These are culture-appropriate and toned to represent your brand and your customer base.

Management Bulletins: Special company/departmental newsletters or announcements which perhaps traditionally would have been delivered in text/email or other written format. Example: The IT Management team announces their adoption of new software.

Technical Support: Instructional, step-by-step videos with the objective of providing low-cost but high-quality IT support. These videos related to technical subject matter but are developed through the skills of a technical writer to ensure complex topics are translated to an adolescent reading level. Example: IT creates a video on how to import new contacts into Outlook.

Drama or Comedic Short: A skit which may be used to communicate messages or concepts, or perhaps simply to promote a light hearted competition or team building exercise. Example: a comedy about the Top 10 Reasons to Attend the Company Christmas party.

Official Company Performance Presentation: This is a formal, scripted video which requires extensive media training.

Company Policies: These are often short videos which bring a more engaging approach to training and communicating policy changes and key actions required by employees. Example: HR creates a video on sick day and vacation day policies.

Health And Safety Procedures: These videos are formal and are used for corporate inductions for new hires, or for key training on health and safety protocols and procedures. Example: Corp Comm sends out an annual health and safety video.

Freebie Knowledge Demonstrations: These are a half way house between a video blog and talk show. These are your hooks from a sales perspective to that grey area of your subscribers list: those who like to lurk and ensure you are of capable and sound ability before they put their money on the table. Giving away some content which is professional put together and shot by a consultant like M Lange Media gives you a polished look you can embed in main parts of your website. They are how to videos or explain a concept. website. They are how-to videos or they explain a concept. Example: A representative of Vitamixer gives a demo on how to create a healthy smoothy.

Crisis Communication: An increasing number of companies choose to deliver disaster information and even fire alarm evacuation instructions via video. Example: a video is created on the protocol for earthquakes.

Product Launch: This is much like a marketing video but may consist of a series of planned, sequential videos which convey increasing information or tailored messages concerning a big product launch or innovation. Example: Apple creates a series of videos about the launch of a new iPhone.

There are a number of additional video types used by a variety of companies. M Lange Media can help you select the right concept to achieve your goals and influence customer and employee behavior, buying patterns and ensure key messages are received in their intended tone and context.

future Video will evolve according to business and technology changes.

video demand will increase Video in the current business environment has grown to meet specific business needs. Whether this is communicating a message, a policy change, promoting collaboration in teams, explaining technical steps or marketing - the ways and tools used today will certainly only grow in sophistication. Video will only increase as the preferred method of information and communications delivery.

By your customers. By your employees. All research and online trends indicate that the population across the global market, will only increase in its anticipation of video. If your business is not already incorporating some of the video types we explored in the previous section, consider investing now so that as your business grows, you are able to meet the customer demand and expectation.

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Top 10 Mistakes Found In Video

The options are almost limitless when it comes to finding ways to incorporate video into your business. Video was once a tool for small business owners and online marketers to devise a dynamic edge and rapport with their target audience. Because of the global, digital and online market, video has now found a solid place in the corporate toolbox, as a means of enhancing key messages to employees and customers, and to compel your audience in a more engaging format. We hope you enjoyed this presentation and encourage you to look for more of our publications and ebooks soon, to learn more about the way that we use video with our customers, and how we can help you improve your own video.

the sky is the limit

ABOUT THE CONSULTANT Michelle Lange is a Producer and Video Marketing Strategist who works with companies and entrepreneurs, using video to tell the story of their businesses while creating brand buzz and increasing audience engagement, visibility, and profits. Michelle’s specialties include producing professional videos, consulting in video marketing strategy and content development, doit-yourself video training, and on-camera/media training. Her signature offering is the business “movie trailer” that tells a company’s brand story and unique value proposition in a highly cinematic style. Michelle also creates video content for internal communications that increases employee engagement and promotes targeted initiatives.

Her other video productions include online commercials, sales and marketing videos, live event videos, and employee communications videos. Michelle’s client base is across the country, with several clients in Los Angeles, New York, and the Baltimore/Washington, DC area. Michelle draws upon ten years’ experience performing as a professional actor in New York City and several years of experience working as a development associate at The Gersh Talent & Literary Agency and at production companies at Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and MGM. Michelle worked closely with Hollywood screenwriters to develop their screenplays and in-person pitches to production companies and studio executives, coaching them on their writing and pitch delivery. Michelle’s greatest reward is seeing her clients’ businesses transform when they have an effective video platform. She also enjoys seeing the boost in her clients’ audience engagement, email list size, social media following, and profits. You can learn more about Michelle’s company M Lange Media and see samples of her work at www.mlangemedia.com.

To see more video samples that illustrate the points in this presentation, click here.

Video

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