10 Tips To Make Video That Sells In 2022
If you’re on this page it’s because you’re either a video producer wanting to refine their craft or you’re looking for ways to expand your business with video. For more than a decade we’ve been creating videos for companies that meet their needs and speak to their audience, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. On the ever changing landscape of the internet in 2022 it’s hard to keep up with what works and what doesn’t, so we’re going to take a birds eye view of general principles that will help you make videos that sell!
Start with your audience in mind.
So you’ve got this great idea for a video and you need someone who’s going to help you make it. You’ve popped on the google and performed a quick search for “Video Production” or something similar, and that’s how you got here. Welcome to our page! Before you hit the “Schedule A Call” button, you should take a moment to consider what you’re about to ask us to do. That video idea you have, is it for you? Or is it for your audience? You may have an epic idea for a video, but just because you think it’s amazing doesn’t mean your audience will. So before you pull the trigger on hiring a video producer, take a moment to consider what your audience would like you to make. It’s ok if you don’t have the answers, most good video producers will help you discover your audience in the initial exploration call.
Focus on a single message you want your audience to hear.
One of the major killers for videos is their lack of focus. Your business may have its hands in a lot of different pots, but you don’t need to explain them all at once. If you try, you’re going to give your audience brain fatigue and they’ll ether scroll to the next thing, or they’ll reach the end and still not know what you’re trying to say. If there are multiple ideas you want to explain to your audience you’re far better off making multiple videos than you are trying to cram them all into one big video.
Get to the point.
Not only do your videos need to be focused but they also need to be concise. Unless you’re making a feature film that is expected to be a multi-hour experience, then you’d do well to dive into your message immediately. In order to achieve this you may want to forego an opening logo, or keep it to a few seconds at most. You also don’t want to spend time saying things like. “Hi, I’m Joe and this is my company Joe’s Car Supplies. We’re a family owned business operating in the upstate for 20 years.” That might be important information for someone to know at some point, but in terms of your video 50% of that can be covered in a lower third (an on screen graphic with information like your name/company name) or covered in the course of your video. Consider instead showing an image of your location or a recognizable landmark at some point in the video (or even shooting the entire thing there) and in the course of the video saying something along the lines of “after 20 years of doing this you’d think I’d get tired, but I love seeing the smiling faces of my customers every day.” Doing this would cut out about 10-20 seconds worth of factual information at the beginning and allow you to get right to the point, while also turning something that was cold and objective into something personal and warm.
Show don’t tell.
Unless it’s a educational video where showing the process is important, or unless explaining the process is driving to another point, then you need to avoid letting your video get bogged down in the weeds by explaining things in detail. A picture is worth a thousand words and video is 24-30 pictures a second, so use the visual medium to drive the story. This will help both your focus and your brevity.
Clear call to action.
There may be reasons not to have a call to action at the end of your video. If this is something that is there for you audience and you just want them to enjoy it or gain some new information then you can probably forgo the call to action and view the entire video as a gift to them. However, if you expect your audience to do something with that call to action then you need to be clear about it. They should know a next step after seeing the ad. Additionally since viewership rates drop near the end you may want to put a soft call to action closer to the beginning. This could be a phone number or e-mail address in a lower third, or some other graphic, or even a line about “customer find us through ________” or “we get calls every day to do _________”
One other word about Calls to Action. If the video is primarily residing on your website your call to action shouldn’t be “Visit Our Website”…. they’ve already done that, that’s how they’re watching the video. It should always give them a next step, so wherever the video appears in your customer journey, it should direct them to the next phase.
Share the video where your audience is (and isn’t).
If your audience is on Facebook then this video needs to be on Facebook. If you’ve got a strong Instagram presence then the video should be on instagram. If your website gets good traffic then put it there. That is the primary place your video should reside. That’s where it’s going to get the most eyes on it and have the biggest impact.
Second to that you should put your video in places your potential audience is even if you don’t have an audience there… yet. The majority of the content consumed on the internet is video, so by putting your video on a platform you’re not really playing in you’ll be able to expose your brand to new people and hopefully attract new customers. This would also be a good opportunity to promote the video to make sure it’s reaching beyond your current audience and engaging new people.Reformat and repurpose.
A video is a major investment so it makes sense to get as much milage out of it as you can. You should at minimum make sure you have different versions of the video for different platforms. Many of them have different aspect ratios and different length requirements so optimizing your video for each is necessary. Additionally you may want to change your call to action. While “Visit our website” doesn’t do anything for someone who’s already on your website, it will do something for someone who encountered your video on YouTube. “Like and Follow” are excellent things to say to someone on Instagram or Facebook, but don’t make much sense in a Hulu ad or a website video, so when you make versions make sure the directions actually fit the context.
Prepare for what’s next.
When discussing ROI for video I usually tell clients they’re going to have to look beyond a 1 to 1 analysis to determine ROI. Video can be a number of steps in the multi-phase customer journey, but the one step it can’t be is a close. Eventually someone will follow your call to action and you’ll have to be ready to guide them to the finish line. Video can do a lot of things, but it can’t answer the phone, send a contract, or take someone’s money.
Don’t get discouraged.
When engaging an audience two of the main key attributes that differentiate between success and failure are consistency and longevity. (There are others, but we’re dealing with these two in this post). If you’re not getting the results you expected from your video, it might be that you’re asking for a single video to do too much work. Building a relationship with an audience is a matter of showing up consistently for a long period of time, and putting out a single video doesn’t really accomplish that. Don’t get me wrong, a video on your website is a great tool, and at bare minimum you should at least get one of those to help your audience engage with who you are when they get to your website. But if you’re hoping to use video to drive social media engagement then one just isn’t going to cut it. You’re going to need to consistently create videos over a long period of time to see results. So don’t get discouraged, commit to the plan and see it through.
Schedule A Call!
The easiest and quickest way to get a video that sells is to give Other Vision Studios a call. We’re story tellers at heart with a passion for film and video and if you found this list daunting then calling us will be the best way to get started (after all this is our list and these are the things we do, so we’ll do them for you). Yes I know I’m using self-promotion to get this list to 10 and that’s a bit cheating, so let me back up a bit.
10. Call a video production professional.
That better? Whether it’s us or another company you need someone experienced who you trust to handle your video production for you. Beyond the skills and experience required, video is a time consuming and daunting task, and if you’re running your own business then you don’t need to take that on yourself. Look for a company that has a style you like and a personality you like to work with. Additionally try to find one that will come along side you and consult about the video production rather than just executing whatever you come up with. There are both types and both have their uses but in terms of everything we’ve talked about hear a consulting type is going to be the best fit for you.
And of course, you can always…