Biggest Video Blunders and How to Avoid Them

Making videos is essential for any business that wants to engage its customers online. Since YouTube came into existence ten years ago, businesses have gotten a platform through which they can share visual information. This method of marketing is grounded on the principle that people recall more of what they see than what they hear. However, there are many critics who claim that making a video adds no value to a business but this is not the case. This is probably because they make blunders while making their videos. Are you wondering what these costly blunders could be? Well, worry no more because I am going to outline for you the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Making a lengthy video; you should desist from making a lengthy video because people are likely to click away before it ends. This way, you will not have achieved your objective which will be to capture the viewers’ attention until you pass your message across. Research shows that people prefer watching videos that are about ten seconds long. Therefore, you have to condense your message and ensure that you make your video as captivating as possible from the start to the end.
2. Failing to focus on one topic; another common mistake is discussing about too many issues within one video. The danger of doing this is that viewers will hardly recall anything after viewing your video. Therefore, your video should have a concise objective.
3. Failing to include a call to action; your video should include a call of action at the end which tells people either to call you, place an order, view your website or anything else you may want them to do.
4. Overlooking the need to curate content; content curation is an essential aspect of online marketing that no business should ignore. Most video makers tend to follow their guts when deciding on what they should talk about in their video. To avoid this, you should use appropriate software to curate and find out the most suitable topic to focus on at a given moment.
5. Sounding unnatural or scripted; most people make a mistake of assigning inexperienced to write a script. Thus, they end up sounding like they are detached from the words they are saying. This way, they fail to connect with viewers. To avoid this, you should look for a skilled script writer to write the script for you and go through it before making the video.
6. Not knowing who your target audience is; some substandard videos display lack of prior planning on the part of the video maker because they do not appear to know who they are talking to. The trick is to be fully aware of who you are targeting with your message so that you can do thorough research on the kind of message that will interest them. For instance, if the product you are selling is targeting men, you should tailor your message to fit them.
7. Failing to market the video through online platforms; video makers assume that once they upload the video, then it will automatically go viral without any effort on their part. This is a naïve assumption that ends up frustrating marketers. To avoid this, you should encourage people to watch the video by adding a URL in other social media platforms where the company has a large presence be it Facebook, twitter or others.
8. Incorrect branding; having a video that does not have appropriate branding is another popular mistake that people make. They do this when they fail to include logos and the company’s name in the video. This way, viewers do not realize what brand the video is promoting which can be a total marketing failure. To avoid this, you should include the company’s name, logo and anything else that can stick in the viewer’s eyes and make them buy from the company in future.
9. Making a video for the sake of making a video; some videos available on the internet display total lack of planning and seriousness in the way they have been made. This is because of poor quality of sound and images. Their stories also lack flow and may be poorly punctuated. To avoid this, you should try to be as professional as possible when making a video by incorporating all the aspects of a good video such as sound, image, story and overall presentation.
10. Telling instead of showing; some half-baked videos have more of talking than actually showing people. People are mostly interested in learning how they can do certain thing instead of listening to a lengthy explanation on how to go about doing something. Therefore, your video should include a comprehensive demonstration of what you are discussing about. Let the pictures and images talk on behalf of the video.