Updated January 11, 2023
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Who’s Watching
Creating video content to promote your business was probably on your 2017 To Do list, if it wasn’t on your 2016 one. Maybe you’ve created a few, but not got many views. This isn’t what you expected though is it?
Online video is growing in popularity, with young viewers watching 2.5 times as many more online video than TV in 2016. As services like Netflix and Hulu change the entertainment landscape there is also a knock-on effect in marketing. Understandably businesses are trying to climb on to this video bandwagon. But it seems most are falling off the back…
So why is nobody watching your videos?
It’s just too long – Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Especially while we’re online. This trend can also be seen in website loading times. If it takes more than 10 seconds for your video to hook a viewer, the chances of them sticking out to the end aren’t great. Keep things as short and sweet as you can.
You will typically see popular YouTubers creating video content that’s between ten and twenty minutes long. Even vloggers with large subscriber bases struggle to put out content over twenty minutes that is watched all the way through. Businesses need to be even briefer and more succinct. We wouldn’t recommend creating any video that is over five minutes long unless you already have a committed number of people following your channel. Ideally, we think most business related video content should be around the three-minute mark.
You’re not speaking to your customers – You always need to come back to the question “what are my customer’s needs?”. Sure you can create a great funny viral video, but does that fit with your business? You need to keep in mind why someone would watch YOUR videos. For example, It’s no good doing a series of workout tips videos if you’re an accountancy firm because even if the videos are great, the people visiting your site won’t be looking for workout tips.
You need to balance what is popular and getting interactions, with what people expect from your business. As a side point to this, you need to have a strong CTA or reason to be creating the video content in the first place. If you’re not creating the video with an intention in mind, it will be obvious to anyone watching it.
Putting it on YouTube isn’t enough – You can’t expect video views to start rolling in after you’ve uploaded a video to YouTube. While YouTube generates a great number of views on its own, initially at least, it is better to see it as a place to host your content, not promote it.
Businesses often upload a series of videos to their channel and then leave it at that. For video content to be successful you need to be promoting it on a number of different channels and social media platforms. Then once you’ve found a tactic that works, double down on it.
Then, if you generate an online following, you will start to see the power of YouTube as it’s own promotion tool. But until you have subscribers and lots of views, don’t expect YouTube to be promoting your content, or pointing viewers in your direction.
Viral Video Content
Do you regularly create video content for your business? If you do we’d love to hear how you get viewers engaged with your recorded content.
Photo credit – Top: Wikipedia
Photo credit – Bottom: Wikipedia
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