Why do some Business Videos just not cut the mustard?

Why do some business videos just not cut the mustard? 

Online video is a hugely powerful marketing tool and works at its best when used to its full potential  as a story telling medium. Long, short, extravagant or as simple as some animated graphics it offers anyone in business the perfect opportunity to “show and tell” who they are and what they do.

Video production is however a labour intensive business that arguably requires visually skilled and creative people to deliver something worth watching. 

It is therefore relatively expensive to produce compared to other forms of marketing collateral and, in any cost driven market, the price will always be a key aspect of the decision making process as to what or how much one does with the medium.

In my view there are three key aspects to using video as a marketing communications tool.

 The Hook. -

The end result may be considerably more subtle in its approach than the term suggests but the purpose of any “Hook” is to catch the unknown visitor passing through your site or social media feed, en route elsewhere and entice them into engaging with you. 

Humour has proven to be your best bet here as evidenced by the success of the likes of Dollar Shave Club - Christmas 2014 - Poo Pourri Video or Dumb Ways to Die.  

Each is a piece of pure entertainment with a purpose, and a clear message, told as a short story.

The Dwell. -  

This can be anything you like so long as it is likely to resonate and engage your visitor / target customer. 

The sole objective being to encourage them to stay on your website. Entices them into taking the time to engage with you and what you have to offer. 

It’s always a good idea not to over sell. So telling stories at this level should be more to do with educating your visitor in an entertaining manner than trying to get them to buy something from you. 

Giving the viewer something that has some value for them will always be gratefully received. 

Even if this, where appropriate, is just a piece of pure entertainment.

The Convert. - 

As the name suggests, I categorise this level of content as anything and everything that supports your offer in sufficient detail to reduce or eliminate any perception of risk on the part of the prospect. 

These should be videos which help convert the curious visitor into a future customer. 

Detailed product descriptions, customer testimonials, case studies, reviews and how-to s are all possibilities. 

They are an investment in a resource that can be built over time and which should have value to your business for many years to come. We have videos still being viewed by new potential customers every day that were produced for clients over 5 years ago and which are just as relevant today as when they were when first posted.

So why then do some business videos, in my view, not cut the mustard? 

When the production simply doesn’t give the viewer anything that rewards them for the time they have taken to watch it. 

It’s “lazy video” produced and sold on the grounds that it will provide the client with a benefit or an effect but which singularly fails to use the medium to its best effect. 

It is often content based on an old pre Penguin assumption, that anything that has a video file name attached to it is guaranteed to get you a ranking hike. This is no longer the case.

Hot video should be visually rich, entertaining, engaging, informative and ultimately be rewarding for the viewer who has invested their increasingly precious time in watching it.

I’ve also written a related blog on why most “Talking Head Videos” don’t work and why, in many instances, animation is a more cost effective way of meeting the above goals.

Blog at ….. http://biz-vidz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/colouring-in-for-business-success.html