As you are probably aware it has been proven time and time again that videos have the potential to engage viewers better than any other type of content. Not only do videos consistently get shared, commented on, and reacted to more frequently – but they also directly improve conversion rates.
That being said many people often make some fairly small yet critical mistakes that adversely affect their video engagement levels. To ensure that you don’t end up making the same mistakes, here are the 5 most common mistakes that you want to avoid:
Creating videos that are too long
When videos are too long they tend to lose a lot of viewers before the end of the video, and these viewers normally won’t end up sharing or reacting to the video. Needless to say this is bad for engagement – and so you will want to always make sure that your videos aren’t too long.
If you’re wondering what the ‘best’ length for engaging videos is, there is none. The ‘best’ length for your videos will depend on several factors including your target audience, the type of video, and the platform that you publish it on.
While you can find out more about optimal video lengths from various sources – as a rule the 2 minute mark is the one that you should aim for. That is when viewer retention starts to drop off, so keeping your videos under 2 minutes is a good start.
Opening with a long introduction
While you may have a lot to say in the introduction of your video and want to let viewers know all about your life story – do they really want to hear that? Most viewers watching your video will take just 8 seconds to decide whether or not to keep watching, so you need to make full use of that time.
A long winded introduction that beats around the bush is a good way to sway users not to watch your video, which will be very bad for engagement. Instead of that, you should be direct and immediately let your viewers know what the video is about and (more importantly) how it can help them.
Sometimes something as simple as using a title screen that consists of a photo with text added to it is better than a long-winded introduction. For example you could use Movavi Photo Editor to create one by following the instructions at https://www.movavi.com/support/how-to/how-to-add-text-to-photo.html.
Relying too heavily on the voiceover
Although voiceovers are a great way to provide information in a video – you shouldn’t rely on them too heavily. At the end of the day the reason videos are so engaging is due to their unique ability to present visual information, and that is what you should lean on instead.
The common adage is to ‘show, not tell’ and that is certainly true if you want your videos to be more engaging. In other words rather than relying on your voiceover to deliver the message, you should be trying to find ways that you could use the visuals to show it instead.
Trying to put across too many points or messages
If your video has too many points or messages that it is attempting to deliver, you risk all of them not getting through. The fact of the matter is that videos that attempt to focus on several messages at the same time won’t be able to get viewers to focus on one in particular.
That is why one of the best rules for creating engaging videos is to limit yourself to one message per video. Not only will this help you to ensure your viewers are completely focused on the message that you’re putting across – but it will also help you to create shorter videos that are more engaging as well.
No emotional triggers
Is your video funny? Inspiring? Shocking? Touching? Surprising? At very least is it entertaining?
For a video to be engaging it needs to connect with viewers on an emotional level in some way, otherwise it is unlikely to provoke a reaction. Using emotional triggers is a good way to do that, as it will spur viewers to react to the video and share it with others.
At very least your video should be entertaining so that viewers feel emotionally invested in it to a degree.
Now that you know the most common mistakes that could ruin engagement levels, make it a point to keep them firmly in mind and try to avoid them in the future. If you plan your videos carefully, understanding the problems listed above and overcoming them should help you to create much more engaging videos.
In short you should be able to tap into the potential of videos much more effectively if you avoid these pitfalls.