When you are producing a video, chances are that you’re so focused on what you’re producing, following the tips you have heard, and thinking of your end goal for customers… that you forget about the individual viewer.
Humans are curious creatures. There are some people who will watch a video and then move away from it, never thinking about it again. The question is: is that the response that you want from your viewers? After all, a standalone video that only interests someone once does not proper video content make. You want someone to keep coming back to what you’re producing, to anticipate what you’re going to have to show next, to subscribe and be drawn in.
Why do people come back for more?
People tend to come back for more for one of two reasons:
- They are being shown something truly unique. If you’re producing content that is the hottest of hot takes, shown nowhere else, and uploaded in super fast time to catch the crest of the wave – chances are you’re not going to need tips on how to improve viewership. In reality, few people manage to produce this kind of content. That’s partly because there’s only so many people who can be “first”, so it’s a limited market. If you’ve captured in that congratulations and enjoy your ongoing success!
- They are interested in the entire presentation. That’s not just the video itself, but the story of the company behind it. People like to see a house style, to know what to expect, to feel familiar when they are viewing videos. Think about it like this: how often have you gone back to watch a TV show because it makes you feel good for the nostalgia factor? We have a tendency to seek the things we know and feel comfortable with, so we rewatch, we re-engage, and we do it happily.
How do you hook people in?
The best way to do this is to allow a glimpse behind the scenes, the details about the one thing that your videos have that no one else does: you. Think you’re too boring for that? Trust us – someone, somewhere, will be absolutely compelled by you and the way you do things. The entire blogging, vlogging, and memoir industries have shown us that.
How do you connect with viewers?
To be truly engaged, viewers need to have an idea of the person behind the video. They have to want to know more, to be able to contact you, to even be able to converse. Linking to other social media is a big part of that; you can even take it offline by including a home business address in the information on your video (and potentially within the video itself depending on whether it suits the flow).
The best way to guarantee continued engagement – outside of compelling content, which is a given – is to change the way people see your videos. If they see something new from you pop up, you don’t want them to think: “oh, there’s a new video”. You want them to think: “oh, there’s a new video from [you] – I wonder what they’ve got to say.”
By making content personal, you also make it more relatable. So don’t be afraid to let your personality seep in; it might just be the best marketing tool that you have.
Photograph by Geralt