Did you know more than 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute? And that’s just one platform. Vimeo, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Dailymotion, Twitch, Periscope…the list goes on. Video networks are the fastest growing online communities in the world right now and the volumes of online videos produced are staggering. By 2019, an estimated 80% of all internet traffic will be video. But you already know this. The growth of online video is nearly unfathomable and can be daunting, especially if you haven’t yet started making them yet. However, as a business, you need to embrace video as a platform for marketing, sales, communication and engagement with your audience – and the sooner the better. To stand out from the competition and the sheer deluge of daily produced videos, it is crucial that you create compelling and memorable video content that engages your global audience and delivers your message. We’ve put together this high-level briefing full of useful tips on how your global video production can stay competitive and drive results.
Tell A Story
Stories are what discerns average videos from truly memorable ones that people will re-watch, share and talk about. A story provokes our curiosity, creates interest, grabs our attention and moves us to learn more or wait to see what happens next. Messages delivered in the form of a story are more memorable with deeper and longer-lasting reactions. More importantly, brainstorming under the arch of a storyline allows you to unlock your true creative potential: What is the message you want to convey? How will you string individual scenes or chapters together? Will you tell the story in a linear way, or show the impressive end result first and then narrate how you made it possible? What is that universal element of your idea that your global audience will relate to? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJU In some cases, you can literally employ a storyteller, a narrator or animated character; or you can use many voices in the form of interviewees; or simply let the images speak for themselves, with subtitles or a voiceover underlining the main points. To successfully tell a story with video, think about what you want to achieve with your video, and how it relates to what your audience wants or needs. Identify overlapping areas and work from there to develop a script.
Don’t Be Afraid Of B-roll
Because of the name, many people associate B-roll with B-movies, filler material, or stock footage. However, in video production, the term simply means footage intercut with the main shot. In feature films, B-roll is used to show simultaneous action or indicate a flashback. For your video production, you can keep things interesting by splicing in B-roll at the right moments.
For example, inserting B-roll is crucial for interview videos, because no one wants to watch a person sitting and talking for minutes on end. Instead, use related images and footage to illustrate the speaker’s point, enhance a concept or visualize data for the viewer. B-roll is important for smoothly edited interviews without jumps. With enough alternative footage, your general editing process will be a lot easier and free of headaches. B-roll imagery should relate to what is being explained or related by a speaker or in the audio, or add a different perspective or dimension to the words. B-roll footage does not accumulate by chance, so you have to actively hunt for it. As a rule of thumb, schedule as much time for shooting alternative footage as you do for main footage.
Localize Your Content
When thinking globally for your video content, you have to take your target audience into consideration and how they want to be reached. Localized versions of your video have a much higher chance of driving engagement. To fully connect with your audience, translation and localization of your video content for different countries and cultures is a crucial step. Locally targeting your video requires a localisation process that involves translating the message of your content, using subtitles, dubbing the video into a native language if necessary, and checking if the video is culturally appropriate for the new audience. Your aim with localization is always to achieve an end result that is as engaging and effective in a new culture just as it is in the original version. For subtitles, keep in mind that in English you are able to communicate a message with fewer words than in many other languages. Avoid rushed subtitles and carefully consider the required space for effective communication. Subtitles are a great way of enhancing your message since they can help your audience remember key words and phrases. Even when you are dubbing your video, subtitles have the benefits of keeping the attention of viewers focused and increasing the time spent watching video content.
Perhaps the strongest argument for subtitles comes from social media. Today, most feed-based social networks auto-play video, but only on mute. It’s up to the viewer to decide to activate the volume and many times they simply won’t, especially when watching it on their mobile device. Dubbing your video is another option, but it may come down to your budget as it is definitely more expensive. Dubbing is when the original spoken audio of your video is removed and replaced with audio in the native language. This can be done synchronized with the lip movement of people speaking in your video, or non-synchronized. You can also fade the original spoken audio to the background and overlay the translation, which requires less effort but can be more difficult to follow, especially over time. Lastly for localization, don’t forget to scrutinize your music choices as well and consider how well they translate into the target culture. Music in video is not just background but underlines your message, sets the mood, evokes emotion and enhances the engagement and memorability of your content. Music can be deeply embedded in pop culture and what people easily recognize and associate with music will vary greatly across countries and cultures.
Let Data Guide You
Simple clicks or view counts should not be your only metric for measuring the success of your video or your video marketing. How often someone clicked the play button used to be the only way you could measure the impact of your efforts, but today, you have more options available. Video engagement data informs you about the behavior of your global audience after your video has started playing and how they interact with the content. With video, you can pin-point the exact moment when viewers are dropping off, something that is not possible with a blog article or other forms of content. Where are your viewers located? Are people re-watching your videos? Which sections are they re-watching? Is your audience sharing? What percentage of viewers make it to your final call-to-action? Use your video data to analyze the performance of your content and drive improvement, optimization and localization. Identify opportunities for future videos and learn about the formats, lengths and presentations your audience finds most appealing.
Top Tips for Producing Engaging Videos
To generate good results with engaging videos, keep the following tips in mind.
- Keywords: If you want to be found through search engines, consider what people are searching for. Video content is becoming more and more present in the results pages.
- Know your audience and deliver the type of content they would rather watch than read.
- Diversify your approach and consider the appropriate format for your video: interview, case study, animation, promotion (see below for more types of videos).
- Evoke emotions with your video, because viewers will relate to passion, energy and dedication more than to mere promotion.
- Research other successful videos, but dare to test some innovation of your own and try out new ideas. You don’t necessarily need to say something new, but engage viewers in a unique way.
- The Title or headline is part of your video and is your chance to grab attention even before viewers click play. This also goes for the video still you can select to show on video platforms. Your message doesn’t need to be part of your title, but should be memorable and be repeated throughout the video if necessary. Sound and images go together. Make sure your compelling images are matched by compelling audio.
- DON’T always be closing: Engaging viewers through video is not about making a one-time sale. It’s a medium to build trust, develop relationships and share your message with their network.
Hit Record And Create Compelling Videos
Now it’s time to put these tips to work for you and create great videos to outperform your competition! The following are some ideas for types of videos with great potential to get your started on engaging content:
- Interviews: These are great for content your audience can relate to, because you are allowing people to tell the story. Engaging interviews go beyond simple Q&A and use words as well as other footage to illustrate points and connect the viewer with the people onscreen.
- Events: Video is nearly perfect for promoting and covering events and allowing your audience to participate even though they cannot attend in person. Summarize the highlights of a convention, present your viewers with impressions of a global meetup, or promote your events to drive attendance and get participants to sign up early. If your event is a product release, you can create excitement with a short series of teasers, exclusive previews or features in the run-up.
- Data visualization: Companies with a lot of numbers or data to share are quick to overwhelm their audience. Use video to convey necessary information at the right dosage and at a pace that’s easy to follow. Animation, visual language and other means of visualization enable you to share data in a memorable way and limited time without overloading your viewers. Get creative!
- Make your customer the hero: Don’t hesitate to put clients and customers on the screen to help your audience picture themselves as clients. Opinions, testimonials, reviews, tutorials and how-tos, reactions, unboxings and other demonstrations show your audience real people interacting with your business, products or service in a way that conveys legitimacy, intimacy and practicality.
- Make ’em laugh: Don’t forget the power of humor! Entertaining videos are the most engaging and will be shared by your audience without prompting. Humor can be a highly effective branding tool or means to create curiosity, interest and positive feelings. Videos that are funny allow a company to show their human side and offer a connection that is understood instinctively.
- Progress and evolution: Everyone has an “About us” page – why not tell your company story in a riveting video? Growth, transition, motivation, inspiration, launch, release, success are all great themes and topics to fascinate your audience while they’re learning about your business or company. Short, authentic videos lend your brand credibility and trustworthiness and form a connection with your audience. Showcase your highlights and achievements, but also don’t be afraid to include struggles and setbacks.
- Promotion: Never discount the value of explaining your products, services, business or company. Keep it simple and highlighting selling points, product capabilities or your company vision to communicate to customers what exactly they will gain (also read our blog post on four types of brand videos to enhance your corporate image).
Do you want to get started on your global video project? Save time and money on your international video efforts with Stark Crew. With our vast network of trustworthy, pre-selected video crews across the globe, we help you manage all the logistics in all countries involved. Rely on our local crews who are already on location and trust in the great results of our full creative agency for your global, engaging videos.