6 Killer Tips to Make Content-Based Videos Sticky
This is an Awesome Guest post Written by Des Woodruff, President
By 2017, 79% of all Internet traffic is projected to be via broad video consumption (TV, video-on-demand, and P2P). Video will dramatically continue to get stronger in the upcoming years. In June 2014 Cisco wrote a white paper called “Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2013-2018”, where they stated that, by 2017, video-based content will make up 69% of all online traffic. Furthermore, if we include video-on-demand usage, the projection is a staggering 79%.
In the financial industry, I was among one of the first people to ever create daily content-driven videos. Back in the day when the internet was on the rise to becoming the popular phenomenon it is today, I was beginning to learn how to trade stocks online. Shockingly, no one had yet started utilizing the global stage and world wide web to deliver stock-trading information. That is, until I had an idea.
I recognized the power of sharing stock-trading content online, and became one of the very first pioneers to begin delivering daily trading videos. Since then I have become the owner of FreeTradingVideos.com, and we have amassed a multitude of followers from 155 countries. Although I am a national speaker, have been published, and was a leading educator for some of the largest brands in stock trading, nothing compares to the power that our daily stock-trading videos provide us. They’re our secret sauce!
Our trading videos took off faster than we ever could have possibly imagined; we were #1 on Google for several search terms, and enjoyed a rapidly growing customer base for our stock-trading education. It did not take us long to understand that our content-based videos were a fantastic marketing vehicle. However, others also caught on to the opportunity, and the market soon became full of direct competitors.
For the first time ever, we at Grok Trade had to start thinking about how our users would benefit most from our content and how to effectively deliver that content to them. Solving this dilemma for our stock trader base was paramount for us to remain competitive in our specialized investment arena.
In our quest to deliver relevant stock-trading information in the most productive and efficient manner possible, we learned several lessons—sometimes the hard way, and from the lessons we have learned we have compiled the following tips that will significantly help you think about the anatomy of your videos:
Sticky Tip #1: Don’t be a bore
you’re fortunate to have someone click the play button to watch your video, so DO NOT make them regret it. If you do, you will have swept a prospect right out the back door, and you won’t even know it happened. Your audience will forgive you for just about everything imaginable, but not the greatest of all marketing sins… Boredom.
Because, lets be hones, most people would rather be gagged by a chainsaw than suffer through a boring video, and you will quietly experience the perils of video abandonment. Also, it’s helpful to know that you shouldn’t strive to be like an awkward guest at a party and ‘attempt’ to be funny if you’re not. Hire the specific talents you need for your videos if you are not capable portraying what you truly want or need.
Sticky Tip #2: Be worthy of delivering content
No one wants to be fed information by a newbie. We want to hear from the best expert in the field. So… be the best! If you’re not, make me believe that you are. Case in point, the reason that you’re still reading this article is because I hyped myself up to win your favor. If you don’t shout out your own accolades, no one will. You have to be credible, so you have to promote yourself shamelessly.
Sticky Tip #3: Master storytelling
The genius of the popular TED Talks is that the premise of each informational talk is a story. If you want to be sticky and lessen the possibility for video abandonment, simply tell a story and make it interesting. If you do this, and do it well, you will be greatly rewarded.
Sticky Tip #4: Brevity is your friend
Those with the shortest videos win! Next time you watch TV, count the seconds between each new clip. The average is around 2 seconds before a new clip is displayed. Decades ago, The time between clip changes used to be eight seconds, and it keeps getting shorter. Be quick in delivering content; never drag a point on and on. Long-winded people will be voted off the island.
Sticky Tip #5: Call-to-Action
Don’t forget to ask for the sale or to make the call to action (CTA) that you’re hoping for. Don’t be bashful, and certainly do not come across as either too salesy or too timid. Consider offering the CTA in the middle of your video, so those who will inevitably drop off the video early will hear/see the CTA. There is no reason why you can’t offer the CTA twice. It’s a balance; if the content rocks, viewers will excuse your promos.
There you have it–five super sticky tips to make your videos sticky.
You have probably noticed that I did not give detailed steps for creating your videos. It’s much more important to create the plan of attack for your video’s anatomy first. These tips are foundational and will drastically help with the marketability of your videos. After all, you do want your videos to be sticky.
Des Woodruff
President / Founder: FreeTradingVideos.com
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- 6 Killer Tips to Make Content-Based Videos Sticky - August 12, 2015
