March 10, 2021 8 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
It is likely that you have been listening for a while now how many professionals and companies throw the blanket over their heads and open a channel on YouTube . And why haven’t you taken the step yet?
If you are still curious to test the potential of this platform, let me tell you, it is not too late. And it is that given the sad panorama that we are living with the pandemic, it is no longer enough to have a blog and a website to sell your products or services.
Video marketing is a growing trend and if you want to have visibility with your business, you must remove the fear of being on the screen (if you have it), give value to your audience and, most importantly, show yourself as you are. Naturalness always wins.
Some data to keep in mind
According to YouTube sources, more than 1.9 billion users log into the platform and watch more than one billion hours of video.
This is one of the main reasons why having a presence in the second most used search engine, after Google , is key to gaining positions with respect to your competition, reaching your audience and connecting with it.
And these good results are due to the fact that users increasingly prefer audiovisual content over reading a long text of two thousand words.
In addition, video is easy to consume and understand, it is a simple format to spread, it provokes emotions in the viewer and makes him travel through different sensations; In short, it is the ideal tool to generate brand awareness and penetrate your audience. And let’s not talk about the improvements it means for positioning in Google and to enrich the user experience.
After seeing all the benefits of video marketing, what is stopping you from making videos? Stop procrastinating and start your YouTube video marketing strategy now. But first pay attention to what comes in the next point.
What nobody told you to make quality and hooky videos on YouTube
It is useless if you have the best content ideas to upload to YouTube if you do not meet the basics later.
Next, I will tell you some key points that range from more technical aspects such as lighting to aspects more related to copy and persuasion, to hook your audience and generate engagement on your channel.
It is useless if you have the best content ideas to upload to YouTube if later you do not comply with the basics / Image: Depositphotos.com
Technical factors for shooting clear video
Did you know that the lighting, the background or the equipment are essential before you start recording? It’s the first thing you should look at:
- Lighting: the videos should be recorded whenever possible with natural light. But if for any reason you cannot, you will have to use artificial light. Mainly, you will need 3 points of light; two in front of the presenter, one on each side, and another spotlight behind as backlight. This is as important a factor as the quality of the content.
- Background: it is recommended that the background of the walls be clean, this means that it does not distract the audience.
- Camera: nowadays any mid-range mobile can make professional videos in Full HD. A very useful accessory so that the device does not move is the use of a tripod with a mobile adapter.
- Microphone: Audio is another very important factor in videos. So having a microphone, be it a lavalier or an external microphone for a smartphone, can improve the quality of the video. On the other hand, avoid recording in noisy places.
- Record horizontally: do not record vertically (this is only for Instagram stories).
- Shots: If you are not going to record everything at once, you will probably need to take several different shots to give your video dynamism. It is recommended to record the most important parts in shorter shots, to emphasize that relevance.
Persuasive factors to generate engagement
The other second most important part that you have to focus on is considering who you are targeting or how to go about it to connect with your target audience.
To do this, I recommend that you analyze the following:
What kind of language to use?
When writing your script, think about who your target audience is and based on that you should use appropriate language. If your audience is 25-35 years old, the language will be informal, close and not formal.
Find a common thread
Keep in mind that users want to see videos that entertain, educate or inspire them. And the best way to achieve this is by telling stories that connect with them (what we know as storytelling ).
Pay attention because this formula always works to capture attention with your story: present a problem – offer a solution – expose a benefit – and call for action.
What is the objective of each video?
Depending on the objective of the video, one plane or another will be used. For example, to create community and reinforce our brand, the most effective thing is to record a personal video and speak on camera.
If it is a tutorial, then it will be better to capture the computer screen. Although you can also combine both. Everything will depend on the material or the lesson.
Video length
The video must be concise and clear. Internet users prefer short videos (maximum 5-10 minutes approximately) to long videos (longer than 15 minutes). And it would be a key point to add subtitles to your videos. A large percentage of videos are viewed without audio.
If the subject is extensive, it may be possible to divide it into another video so as not to tire the viewer. In this case, inform the audience that there will be another video to delve into the topic at hand.
Script structure
Finally, the script must be divided into three parts:
1. Greeting
Say who you are and then introduce the topic you are going to talk about in 1 or 2 sentences, without trying to spend a minute.
One way to catch the audience during the first seconds is to identify a problem or need that our target audience has, empathize with them (Has it happened to you …?) And express in a few seconds how you will help them.
Create anticipation and interest so that the audience continues to hear the full story that you are going to tell them.
2. Development
To develop the topic in an organized way, you can make subsections. Try that each subsection does not exceed 2 minutes. The more concise the better, so that the viewer does not lose the thread.
A tool that YouTube offers to improve the user experience is to divide the video by chapters, adding time stamps. So the audience can easily select the content that interests them.
3. Farewell and call to action
Summarize the main ideas of the video for 30 seconds to a minute.
Lastly, don’t forget to make calls to action for users to comment on the video and like it. And also add a button inside the video so that they subscribe to your channel.