It’s day one back in the office, and right now, Simon’s rocking a ‘holiday beard’. Those who know Simon, know that he is impeccably groomed at all times, so upon walking into the office this morning, it came as quite a shock to see him with his new look.
His reasoning for keeping it for day one? To make a video on first impressions of course.
Now, in this blog I can’t really get the dad jokes across like Simon can in the video – but I’ll delve into the importance of first impressions as best as I can using my words. So beard with me. (See – it doesn’t quite have the same effect, does it?!)
We all know as business leaders and savvy marketers that the average attention span on social media is less than 10 seconds. Scary to think – especially when you’re about to invest in video. But it’s the truth, and something to keep in mind while planning your video content. Even you do it! If you’re scrolling through your social media feed and a video pops up, if it doesn’t resonate within a few seconds, you’ll move on. So the question is, how do you make a good impression with your own video content so that you’ll keep the attention of your audience for longer?
Ideally, you’ll be able to do this without changing your physical appearance like Simon, but for some videos I guess it would work! Whatever floats your boat!
For those who don’t (or can’t) grow a beard (no judgments here), we’ve got a few quick tips for you.
- First up – focus on what the viewer sees before the video actually starts playing. More often than not, when you don’t have the video on auto-play through facebook and instagram, what they see is the thumbnail image. You really need to make sure that the image you select is attention grabbing. We find that posts with red or green as the main colour, and maybe the face of a person smiling are the best thumbnails to use to engage viewers. Everyone wants a positive message, and these colours portray this.
- Other channels such as YouTube, Vimeo, and even your own website are going to feature a title which will be the main source of first impressions. The key to a good heading is to keep it short and keep it original. What you want to do is entice people to want to press that play button and view your content – and at the same time, you want some great keywords for your SEO boost too!
- Next up, get to the point!! No pressure, but those first few seconds of a video are absolutely critical for retaining that viewers attention. Remember the 10 second rule. A good idea is, depending upon the type of video, is perhaps to give it a five second introduction about what to expect. That way your going to engage the viewer to want to see more and want to find out more and want to watch the video the whole way through.
- And finally, appearance is everything. Now, that can be the way your products being displayed, perhaps how your company is being portrayed, or even the spokesperson how they’re dressed and what they’re saying. It’s not all about the outfit, it’s also of course, about the scene that you’re portraying, such as the music, the scripts, the colors, the logos and even smaller details such as the fonts!
Remember, everything should all fit the style and tone of your company. It’s no good creating content that doesn’t reflect your core values because you’re going to attract the wrong audience. Stay true to your brand, but remember to implement the above into your content to make the most of your viewing time online.
For more information on how video can be used in your marketing strategies in 2019, or if you require a quote on projects that are already in the pipeline, get in touch! 1300 174 773 or [email protected]