That’s a question we hear a lot lately from our nonprofit clients, and no wonder. There are a lot of really good videos out there these days, competing for the attention of your target audience. The good news is, there are some pretty straightforward ways to make your video stand out.
Here are six tips to help make your video more impactful.
1. Make the story simple.
Life is complicated. Your video shouldn’t be. It should be laser-focused on making one main point. If the story truly can’t be distilled down to one thing, then consider breaking it up into multiple videos, each with a singular focus.
2. Tell it from the heart.
Your organization touches lives. Your video should demonstrate that in a sincere, heartfelt way. People everywhere are yearning for genuine and truthful experiences and this is also true of the media they consume. Find a way to personalize the story and tell it in the most human way possible.
3. Keep it short.
There is a direct relationship between a viewer’s engagement with the subject and your video’s optimal length. That is, the more engaging the topic is to the viewer, the longer the video can be. In reality, most viewers will have relatively low engagement (at least initially.) So, keep it short. Two minutes is the upper limit for most videos these days. 60 to 90 seconds is usually optimal.
4. Start strong.
YouTube analytics show that it’s not uncommon for a video to lose 50% of its audience within the first 10 seconds. Your viewers will make a snap judgment about whether or not your video is relevant to them. It’s vital that you hook them right out of the gate.
5. Have a call to action.
What exactly do you want the viewer to do after watching your video? Whatever it is, come right out and ask for it in the clearest possible way. And make it easy for them to do it. For example, send them to a landing page on your website that pulls through the messaging in the video.
6. Leverage your channels.
Now that you’ve created your highly impactful video, how will you get it out into the world? Consider all the tools at your disposal: Your website, blog, social media channels, eblasts, e-newsletter and in-house avenues such as digital signage systems. Make it easy for people to share it. And consider sponsored posts on Facebook and LinkedIn. They can expand your reach to a highly targeted audience, at modest cost.
Take a look at how we put these tips into action in a recent project. We produced a series of public service announcements for the awesome folks at the National Adoption Center.
As always, please let me know if we can help.
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