Consumers’ attention spans are getting shorter by the year. According to the latest research, the average adult will only pay attention to digital content for 47 seconds before moving on to something else.
Of course, there are methods to engage people with the right type of content. Visual formats, as well as video, have gained in popularity over the past couple of decades.
Considering the benefits of video, this is not much of a surprise. It can convey more information than its textual counterparts, while also being more entertaining and easier to understand.
Nevertheless, convincing your target audience to truly engage with your brand’s video content isn’t easy.
In fact, simply producing and distributing video is no longer enough to capture consumers’ attention and draw them into your sales funnel — especially considering that 89% of businesses currently use video marketing.
So, if you want your brand’s video content to stand out, capture, and retain user attention, you need to use the science of attention.
This guide provides an overview of the best techniques for creating engaging video content, along with several examples of how you can incorporate them into your video marketing strategy. Let’s get started.
Customer-Centricity Is Non-Negotiable
One of the first rules for creating engaging video content that’s optimized for building brand and product awareness and leading your prospects through the sales funnel is that it needs to be hyper-relevant to your target audience’s interests and needs.
Ultimately, today’s consumers have very little patience for irrelevant content. And they’re even less likely to pay attention to marketing messages.
In fact, research shows that 71% of consumers expect brands to personalize their interactions. 76% become frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Additionally, 73% of people expect brands to demonstrate they understand and care about their unique needs.
So, unless your video content feels personal and relatable, consumers are most likely to actively ignore it (and form a poor opinion about your brand in the meantime).
With this in mind, the most important thing you can do to truly engage your audience and convince them to become customers is to adopt a customer-centric approach to your video marketing strategy.
For example, Fellow is a niche brand that targets coffee aficionados who are highly engaged by the process of preparing craft coffee drinks. Its social media strategy doesn’t focus on promotional messaging or product features.
Instead, its content calendar is filled with calming videos of brewing coffee and pulling espresso shots, which is precisely what Fellow’s ideal customers want and expect to see from the business. (And it’s what makes them want to invest in one of its aesthetically stunning products).
Product Education Always Trumps Sales-Oriented Messaging
When exploring strategies to boost video engagement rates, start by identifying the type of value your target audience wants to extract from your content.
Let’s begin with why people use the internet in the first place.
For 60.7% of the population, the most popular reason for using the internet is to find information. For 54.2%, it’s entertainment. Additionally, 44.1% go online to research products and brands.
In other words, your video content could be fulfilling very different purposes for your target audience. But let’s imagine that you’re trying to engage buyers who have entered the sales funnel. What do they want from your videos?
The most likely answer is accessible, easy-to-understand information about the value your solutions offer.
With this in mind, one of the best methods to make your video content engaging is to use it to educate your audience on the opportunities they could unlock by becoming customers.
Don’t do this by trying to aggressively sell to them. Instead, adopt a gentle, empowering approach that relies on short and valuable content that’s relatable to your ideal customers.
For example, take a look at how R.E. Cost Seg incorporates this tactic on its homepage. The brand dedicates the hero section of its website to showcasing a 2-minute explainer video. It’s a short resource. Yet it’s engaging and informative.
In just 120 seconds, the video manages to explain what the business does (which is an impressive feat in itself, seeing that RE Cost Seg performs cost segregation studies for tax-saving purposes).
Moreover, it explains who the service is beneficial to. Finally, it presents valuable social proof that proves that the value customers receive far outweighs the actual cost of the service.
Engagement is made in the Editing Room
Ok, let’s face it. You can film amazing videos with exceptional production value. They might even deliver unmatched value to your target audience. But if your editing isn’t up to par, you’ll never manage to grab and retain your ideal customers’ attention long enough to get them to convert.
This is why post-production is so crucial — especially if you’re distributing short-form video.
To appeal to today’s consumers, you want to show off fresh and snappy transitions, beautifully framed shots, and sufficient attention to detail without making the result boring.
Yes, you can slow down or even make bold claims. But the ultimate goal is to keep things interesting while also retaining a sense of credibility and an aesthetic direction that aligns with your brand’s visual identity.
For example, consider the two brands below and their dissimilar approaches to video editing.
On the one hand, there’s IceCartel, a jewelry brand trying to appeal to hip-hop lovers with a strong preference for aspirational street style. This business clearly favors a snappy approach that almost feels like a music video.
The shots are short. They heavily feature the brand’s breathtakingly beautiful products. Finally, the founder’s message clearly conveys luxury, which is precisely what IceCartel’s buyers want to receive when purchasing jewelry.
Behind the Scenes at IceCartel | Jewelry Shop + Factory Tour with Jason:
On the other hand, Cadence knows that its target audience doesn’t want flash. Instead, it seeks silent functionality.
So, this brand’s videos focus on what the solutions do, aiming to engage viewers through sound rather than visuals, with an oddly satisfying ASMR approach to video marketing that is simply fascinating.
Your Potential Customers Trust Peers & Experts. Feature These Voices!
Brand engagement, let alone conversion, is impossible without trust. In fact, research suggests that consumers consider trust to be a top purchase factor, equally important to price and quality.
So, if you want people to truly engage with your video content, you first need to earn their confidence by showing you’re a credible, integrity-led business.
There are many methods to earn customer trust and use trust marketing to drive business growth. But if you’re focusing solely on video marketing, two tactics will effectively help you stand out.
First and foremost, use video format social proof throughout your online presence.
If you look at brands like Uproas, you’ll see that the primary reason they enjoy such a high level of consumer confidence is that they showcase verified, unfiltered, and relatable customer feedback that expertly sums up the value the brand’s services provide.
Secondly, don’t underestimate the power of established industry voices (whether they’re scientists, experts, or influencers) in helping you reach, engage, and convert new customers.
Quince is a brand that expertly implements this tactic. Essentially, it uses influencer collaborations to maximize product awareness. Moreover, it thoughtfully chooses industry voices that have the highest chances of engaging its target audience, ensuring the best possible outcomes across all platforms.
Video Is Better When It’s Accessible
We know that consumers spend a huge amount of time watching video content, which is why this format is ideal for grabbing their attention.
But did you know that 69% of people watch video content with sound off in public places (and one-quarter do the same in private spaces)?
With this info in mind, your video content must be accessible and engaging even when your audience can’t hear the audio.
The good news is that there’s a simple solution to this “issue” — captions.
By doing something as elementary as uploading your videos with embedded captions, you can ensure that your audience receives your message and enjoys interacting with your brand. Alternatively, you can give viewers the option to turn subtitles on or off depending on their preferences. That’s an even better approach if your audience appreciates personalization.
For instance, Performance Lab implements this approach on its Instagram profile, where each video includes captions. It makes content consumption super easy for its audience, which is particularly important, seeing that this brand prioritizes educational and influencer video content on its social profiles.
Video Doesn’t Have to Be the Star of the Show
When exploring video marketing tactics for maximizing engagement, most business owners think that they need to focus on the video content itself.
And, sure, a dose of storytelling, exciting editing techniques, or immense viewer value can make a resource exceptionally engaging (and effective at inspiring future brand interactions).
But sometimes, the best way to incorporate video into your digital marketing strategy isn’t to make it the star of the show. Instead, it can be equally effective at directing your audience’s attention to specific website elements you want them to notice.
By utilizing video as a background element in web design, you can maximize the aesthetic appeal of your online presence. More importantly, you can send subtle but powerful signals to web visitors regarding where they should look if they want to resolve their pain points or fulfill their aspirations.
For instance, check out how the John Campbell homepage does this. The site’s main feature is an interactive and powerful search function.
But instead of burying it among a ton of content (no matter how exciting), this business transforms it into a highlight by using a beautifully calming video background that makes it stand out. Yes, the approach is rather unconventional.
But it works exceptionally well at engaging potential customers, which is its exact purpose in the first place.
Final Thoughts
Video is one of the most engaging content formats you can use to grab your target audience’s attention. But if you want it to help your brand stand out (in a good way), you’ll want to learn how to use it right.
By following the tips above, you’re guaranteed to see positive engagement rates and a heightened interest in your products and services. Of course, don’t forget to adapt these strategies to your business’s specific requirements, as personalization always works in your favor, regardless of whom you’re trying to convert.
