VIDEO PRODUCTION – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

You know you need video to compete for leads in today’s online market. But you probably have some questions.

So here’s what we think you need to know before you begin.

HOW LONG SHOULD MY VIDEO BE?

A: As long as necessary and as short as possible

Most hosting sites and researchers recommend videos should be around 2 minutes long. After that there is precipitous drop in viewers.

Then the drop-off curve flattens out for a while before falling significantly again at around 7 minutes.

Those numbers were established by researchers who measured over half a million online video views.

But the purpose of a video also has a bearing on how long it should be.

Video Ads: should be a few seconds long. From 6 to 30 seconds, depending on the site, the context, and the action you want the viewers to take.

Marketing and corporate videos: Most online videos should be less than 2 minutes long. Longer is pushing the limits of viewer patience. Research shows that viewership drops off quickly around the two minute mark.

The exceptions are highly engaging stories where viewers will follow a character or storyline that hooks them in.

If you don’t have an especially engaging character or story, it’s better to break a video into several short ones.

Educational and how-to videos: Videos designed to teach – branded instructional, educational and how-to videos – can be up to 7 minutes long.

BUT 2 MIN. WON’T COVER EVERYTHING

Who said your video has to cover everything? And who said you should only make one video?

Better to communicate two things well than several things badly or boringly.

Prioritise the most unique and significant benefits of your product or service, and make one, two or three short videos.

If your product offers different benefits to different groups of people, then target each video at a different customer group with only the features and benefits that are relevant to a particular group.

A series of short videos is better for SEO, easier to target, and easier to track and compare the responses.

Multiple videos also allow you to target a wider range of potential customers more often.

And, considering today’s diminishing attention spans, with short videos, you won’t risk boring people.

OK, WHEN I’VE GOT MY VIDEO, WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

With videos and video ads, you can reach your potential customers where they congregate and concentrate online.

Think of Facebook, Vimeo, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube. These platforms offer highly targeted ways of reaching your potential customers, and turning video views into leads and sales.

But each platform has its own particular requirements, recommendations, and best practices.

We can help you get a handle on these, to make your videos work most effectively, for example:

Facebook

On Facebook, organic posts which include videos get up to 58% more engagement.

Videos for Facebook organic posts should be shorter than 2 minutes.

Facebook paid post videos (ads) should be much shorter. 5 to 15 secs is recommended.

And to make best use of the Facebook feed format, your videos will cover more screen area if, instead of the standard 16:9 format, you upload square videos at 1080 x 1080 pixels.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn organic post videos should be the standard 16:9 format, at 1920 x 1080 pixels. They should be 30 seconds long or less. And it’s important they make an impact in the first 6 seconds.

LinkedIn sponsored content videos (paid ads) should be 1920 x 1080 pixels, with a recommended video length of 15 sec.

Youtube

The ideal length for most Youtube marketing content is between 16 seconds and 2 minutes. But if your material is educational, entertainment, storyline-based, or episodic, it can run longer.

Videos look best when they’re uploaded to the Youtube servers at 1920 x 1080. You can upload ultra-high definition 4K files, but 4K files are big, and few people watch Youtube in ultra-high definition.

And your video needs to be mobile-friendly, too, because, at last count, 40% of Youtube videos were being viewed on phones.

IT’S NOT JUST THE VIDEO THAT COUNTS

Sales start when your potential customers start seeing your video.

And the right titles, tags, descriptions and headings ensure your videos are searched and seen by the maximum number of the right people.

So we apply education, analysis and thought when it comes to preparing titles and descriptions. To give your video marketing a flying start.

PLANT YOUR MESSAGE BEFORE THE AUDIENCE JUMPS OFF

If you include a call to action in your video to drive response, don’t place it at the end of your video.

Every video loses its audience over time. And of all the viewers who start to watch your video, as few as 25% of them may actually finish it.

Many viewers even anticipate the end of a video and jump off BEFORE the end.

So, set the hook early in your video. Include reasons why viewers should take action throughout the video.  Place the main features and benefits (especially competitive ones) at the beginning of your video, where more people will see them.

And make sure the on-page captions, headings, titles and descriptions that accompany your video have URLs and calls to action in them.

FINISH FAST

Finally, the most important piece of advice to follow regarding video length is also the oldest: as soon as there’s nothing else to say, stop.