Probably one of the most common mistakes we see clients make is when they get attached to that one big video idea. Sometimes it’s that they want to document a big event. Other times it’s because they think that it’s better to pool all their money into one special video for their home page. No matter what your business is, you have more than one story to tell, so why limit yourself?
Publishing several small videos (or even short clips) has many advantages. Here’s just a few we’ve noticed over the years.
You can build an audience. One video = just one link to click on, one moment of engagement, one chance to be shared. The best internet videos will bring people to your website or YouTube/Vimeo channel more than one time. Ideally you’re actually building an ongoing relationship with your audience.
You can test and refine. Video is a great tool for trying out different messages, targeting specific audiences, and evaluating the effectiveness of a variety of ‘call to action’s. When you plan multiple videos from the beginning, you don’t have to wonder “What if we did _____ different?”, you can actually check it.
You can hold viewer’s attention. No matter how interesting your content is, most viewers suffer from attention drift. As people become more and more accustomed to short video content, they are less likely to watch a long video through to it’s end. Several short videos increase the odds that viewers will watch all (or most) of your content.
You can build your SEO. YouTube is owned by Google, so websites with YouTube content get a slight boost in page ranking. But there are so many websites with just one video. Adding more videos (and linking to your website in the YouTube video description) is a great way to set your company apart. If possible, make sure you’re launching your videos to your website on different days so that Google can see that you’re regularly updating content.
Note that in this study from video platform Animoto, most people said the ideal length for a several kinds of videos was 3 minutes or less. Whether talking about a customer testimonial, company profile, product overview, or video of how the product is made – customers want videos to be less than 3 minutes long and sometimes as short as 30 seconds. In only one case, product demo, did the numbers jump up. And even then, it’s only one in 5 viewers that would want the video to be longer than 3 minutes.
When it comes to video, our advice is to show more, talk less, and do it all in a format that’s concise. Then, do it all again, in another short and sweet package. Then make another message, in a nutshell. And so on.
Community Bridge Video staff make quality videos for online marketing & outreach campaigns. To learn more or get a quote, contact us.
