5 Tips on How To Create Engaging Videos

To start, let’s look at some statistics:

• the internet has 3.5 billion users

• internet users have an average of 7.6 social media accounts

• social media users grew by 121 million between 2017 and 2018

• collectively, people now watch 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day

• by 2019, 80% of global Internet consumption will be video content.

Based on this information, having a good content strategy will certainly help you to achieve your marketing objectives, and knowing how to create compelling videos will further enable you to engage effectively with your target audience.

You don’t need to be the next Steven Spielberg, or a video editing guru - you just need to read the below, and find out the Top 5 Tips on how to produce good video content.

1. Have clear objectives in mind

Before you engage with your creative process, you need to ask yourself what the purpose of your video is. What do I want my video to achieve? Are there any actions I want the viewers of this video to take after watching it? Is there a particular message or story I want to convey?

A full understanding of your video’s objectives is the first step towards a successful video content strategy, so make sure you ask yourself the right questions, and that you write down clear and concise objectives - this will guide you throughout the content plan.

2. Inspire your Audience

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

If you want your videos to resonate with your viewers, then they need to make them ‘feel’ something - there’s no doubt about it – emotions drive action. So you should probably be using emotion in your videos in a smart and strategic way. Happiness, amusement, joy, excitement - no matter what emotion you’re trying to evoke, make sure that you think of ways to make an emotional impact on your audience.   

3. Follow the KISS Principle

KISS is the acronym for "Keep it Short and Simple". According to a research, the average human attention span is now 8 seconds, while the average length watched of a single internet video is 2 minutes.

Try to avoid over complicated formats; instead, create short videos that will send a simple and clear message. Write a script or an outline before you record your video so that you do not waste valuable production time trying to figure out a storyline. Be short and to the point.

4. Research Your Channels

When you create your video content strategy, make sure you have identified all the channels that you want to exploit: your website, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, your blog. Once you know the channel(s) that you want to use, start researching on best practice, videos formats, successful stories, audience behaviour; in this way, you will have a better idea on how to shape your videos, and how you can effectively reach your audience.

      5. Tell a Story

Last but not least, if you want to inspire your audience and convey the right message, you can do it through storytelling. Everyone loves a good story. Stories delight, motivate, challenge, anger and touch us.

You might have noticed how my 5 tips are all linked together:  you will need to know your communication channels; have clear objectives of your videos, and identify the message you want to share; you want to inspire people, by telling a story; and you need to keep it short and simple.

As a starting point, why not enter this video competition - you can show your talent and creativity, by sending a 30 seconds video.

Get inspired by this video - it tells your amazing stories!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Pearson