7 of The Most Powerful Video Engagement Hacks
So you want to produce a video for your brand. Great! you’re already ahead of most businesses. I know, it's hard to believe there are brands out there that don’t use video content. I’m going to tell you how to get the most out of your efforts and maximize the engagement on your video with these 5 video engagement hacks. Apply these tips to your next video endeavour to get the most out of your marketing content.
Before we get started let's set one thing straight. You must plan your video before attempting to produce it. Simply winging it will not only waste your time but it will also do your brand a disservice because a video without a structure will leave your audience confused more than anything.
Let’s jump right into the 5 video engagement hacks that will help you conquer the internet in 2022.
Hack #1: Optimize your content for the platform you’re posting on
So the key to this hack is to know where your content is going before even producing it. This is why having a plan will come in handy. Knowing where the content will go will help you better plan how to shoot the video and what to write in your script. For example, if you're going to make a video for YouTube then you will want to tell your audience to like and subscribe to your channel in the video. This wouldn’t make sense on Instagram or TikTok because you don’t subscribe to people on Instagram and TikTok, you follow them. In addition, shooting and editing content for YouTube will be different from Instagram or Tik Tok. This is because YouTube videos are typically shot in a 16:9 (1920x1080) aspect ratio, excluding YouTube Shorts, and Instagram videos should be exported in a 4:5 (1080x1350) aspect ratio to take up as much screen real estate as possible.
Hack #2: Know your target audience
Knowing your target audience is the best thing you can do to boost engagement. When planning your next video use a script that speaks to a target demographic. If you’re a business owner you want to create content that speaks to your ideal customer. If you know who your ideal customer is then great, you can skip this. If not then consider who you are selling to. Be warned that when you sell to everyone you really sell to no one.
Imagine this, you want to create a video to promote living at a university residence. You will have to create 2 separate videos in this situation because 1 will target parents and the other will target teenagers. The video targeting parents will have slower paced editing and be scripted in a way that focuses on the safety and academics of the school. The video targeting teenagers will have faster paced editing, more current music and scripted in a way that focuses on being away from parents, highlighting social life, activities etc.
Consider creating an ideal customer profile by answering the following questions:
How old would my ideal customer be?
What is the gender of my ideal customer?
Where does my ideal customer live?
What is their occupation?
What are some of their personality traits?
What does their lifestyle look like?
What are their values, beliefs and interests?
Answering these questions will help you plan out what the video will look like and what you will include in your script.
Hack #3: Plan a story arch
The reason why people click out of a video or keep scrolling is because the video is boring. Remember, you are trying to engage the viewer's emotions to make them feel good and curious as to what happens next. Planning a story arch will keep the audience glued to your video. This often happens subconsciously in the viewer's mind. Even if the story arch is brief, it's still better than no arch at all. Paint a picture in the viewers head of what their life will look like after they buy your product or service. Coca-Cola executes the story arch perfectly in their videos. They are always telling a story where the character’s end state of mind is happiness because that's what they sell. Happiness, not brown poison sugar water.
Follow this general framework for creating a basic story arch:
Exposition (setting the scene)
Rising Action
Climax
Resolution
Hack #4: Determine an attractive hook
There are 2 kinds of hooks to consider. The visual hook and the audio hook. What are you going to say and show in the first 3 seconds? If you don’t get this part right then forget the rest of the video. Take the time to consider what you could say to grab the attention of your target viewer.
Here are 4 types of hooks you can use in your next video script:
The Interesting Question Hook
The Powerful Declaration Hook
The Shocking Fact Hook
The Controversial Statement Hook
For the visual hook you can show your face with a distinct facial expression like a shocked or confused look. This is because the human brain is hardwired to notice faces. You can also point to something in the frame and vaguely allude to what it could be. For example, you start the video with a confused look on your face, pointing to your phone and saying “Want to know how this app just made me a millionaire?”
Hack #5: Provide value
Give people a reason to share your video with their friends and keep coming back. When you provide free value, whether it be a quick tip or purely entertainment value, you are building credibility with your audience. Provide enough value and you will come across as the subject matter expert. This will get your audience to trust you because you will sound like you know what you’re doing. And for businesses trust is everything. So provide value at every touchpoint in your customer’s journey.
Hack #6: Use a Call-To-Action
Once you know your ideal viewer and what the goal of the video is, tell them what you want them to do next. Every video has a goal. Whether it be to sell a product, raise brand awareness, or get likes, you have a goal. Placing a call-to-action in your video will get the viewer to interact with your brand in some way which turns them from just a passer-by to an actual lead. Even if your call-to-action is as simple as “subscribe to my YouTube channel” or “smash that like button for more content just like this” having a CTA will get you video to achieve the goal you set. Calls-to-action get 380% more clicks when placed in videos (Wix).
Hack #7: Optimize the video for SEO
First off post your content on YouTube because YouTube is the world's second largest search engine, the first being Google which owns YouTube.
People don’t always think that videos need SEO (search engine optimization) but when posting on YouTube, it’s a must if you want your video to be seen. Consider that ‘How-to’ searches are increasing 70% year-over-year on YouTube. That's a huge opportunity for you to capture people’s attention simply by applying these tips:
Research trending keywords on Google Trends beforehand and base your video around a couple of niche specific target keywords. The goal is to provide value by answering questions people are already searching for.
Mention the keywords in your video’s title
Mention the keywords within the first 10 seconds of your video
Take advantage of YouTube’s tagging system. This helps the algorithm classify your video making it easier for people to find
Conclusion
Now that you made it to the end of this article, you are equipped to take your videos to the next level. If there is one thing you take away from this, it's that you need to plan your videos. Haphazard content creation is just a disaster waiting to happen. Since I like to practice what I preach I will now present to you with my call-to-action: If you found this article to be of value sign up for the Digital Imprint newsletter and receive a FREE copy of the 5 steps to creating effective videos for your business.
