Why Short and Snackable Videos Are In Demand (Episode 124)

All right, grab your popcorn. Welcome to the Video Made Simple podcast that takes a mystery outta video production and provides business leaders support to help them break through the monotony of day to day communication. I'm your host, Chris Schwager, and if your video is a minute too long, too complex, or crammed with too much information, you're doing something wrong. So keep your video short and succinct if you want. Know how long your video should be. Make sure you stick around and I'll help you later on in this episode.

[00:00:32] Why short video? It's only getting shorter, you know, But when you have an engaged audience, you can hold their attention a lot longer. And a great example is YouTube. It typically has longer form content, apart from YouTube shorts, of course. But usually on YouTube, at least the videos that I search for are typically longer in duration. Now, video duration shouldn't be governed by length. It's how easy it is to hold the audience's attention. And there's, that's something that's really a clear distinction.

[00:01:05] You know, if you've got a long, boring video, don't expect people to hang around for it. But if you got a long video, that has a lot of dynamic cuts and it's very content rich, you're gonna do a lot better at holding your attention of the audience.

[00:01:19] Now, the common mistakes that amateur video producers make is that they try and add too much information and it's just too complex, it's too repetitive, or it just lacks structure. So what I'm gonna do is give you six reasons to keep your video short.

[00:01:36] One attention is scarce. The attention span is about seven seconds, or it used to be seven seconds. In my world, in the world of corporate video marketing, it's still seven seconds, and if you can keep them engaged after that seven seconds span, you get higher chances of getting them to like share and comment on the video, and it's a higher potential for it to do wonderful things and of course, we all want our videos to go viral to be seen by everybody right?

[00:02:03] Now. Number two, get to the point, baby. Get to the point. Short videos are straightforward and easy to understand in most cases. Complex products or services are hard to contain under 30 seconds, but strategists believe complex content is better received in smaller chunks, and that's why we always talk about bite size, packets of information in our video marketing.

[00:02:28] So three. What is the marketability? Video marketers are all vying for the attention of consumers through multiple platforms. It's much easier to convince a viewer to watch 30 seconds than it is to have them watch 10 minutes. So why not create a 30-second video like a teaser that draws people's attention to the longer 10 minute content like it's the main feature.

[00:02:53] Now, here's how long your videos should be. I promised it at the start, and here it is. Now on Instagram. If you're on Instagram, 30 seconds only. On Twitter, who uses Twitter, man? 45 seconds. Facebook allows four-hour uploads, but research shows most users engage only for a minute before scrolling along. YouTube videos under five minutes generally garner the most user engagement and LinkedIn videos less than two minutes. Now that's across social. In the world of video marketing, for instance, if you've got a company profile video on your homepage, just stick to the rule of thumb with all these videos, less than 90 seconds. Less than 90 seconds. And if you'd produce professional content, you can pack a hell of a lot into 90 seconds or less.

[00:03:47] In fact, if you script something clearly and succinctly, I always find it's fascinating that we've got a 30-second product called a personal profile video. I find it really interesting once you get down to the nitty gritty of the scripting process, how much you can pack in to even 30 seconds or 90 words. Um. Give it a crack, you'll be surprised how much you can do if you professionally script the content.

[00:04:09] Number four, it's gotta be cost effective, baby. It's gotta be cost effective. Typically, short videos are just less expensive just by virtue of the fact that there's less going into them. Less, less production value you need to worry about.

[00:04:24] Okay, And five ish. 5-oh, 5-oh.. Invest in quality. According to marketing experts, consumers prefer a professionally produced video lasting 30 seconds, more than a longer video with lesser quality. Mm. Controversial.

[00:04:39] Six, short videos last longer than you think. Now, to my point about the personal profile is 30 seconds long, you can pack a lot under that 30 seconds and, they will still give you longevity. So don't think that a shorter video is going to do less for you. It will still do a hell of a lot in achieving your marketing objectives.

[00:05:03] Here are some tips to create videos that yield more engagement.

[00:05:07] One, shoot high quality video with increased popularity of videos on social media channels comes higher expectations for higher quality content. The fact is Instagram has deprioritized blurry videos that are low resolution. Make sure to use good equipment for camera lighting and an audio just like I'm using now. The DIY Desktop Studio.

[00:05:34] Number two, create compelling hook from the start. How are you going to keep them interesting? Now hook is that area that sometimes shows the result in the first couple of seconds just to get people interested in, in watching the video. Showing the result at the start and explaining how it works is a really great tactic, a really great opportunity for hook, a compelling question, a reason to watch. Its seven seconds in the world of video marketing to hold their attention. It's three seconds more like it on social media, but basically every millisecond counts, particularly if you're doing video ads on social media. Now you gotta capture their attention in that very first frame and make sure that you kick them along down the ad so that they can get straight to your call to action and engage with you.

[00:06:26] Number three, create a flow, baby. Videos must have a clear intro, a clear middle, a clear end. You know, I love the principle and I always revert back to it. Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em. Tell 'em and tell 'em what you told them, right. Adding that structure that your audience knows and loves and wants from you.

[00:06:45] Number four, show your face on video. This is your money maker baby. Establishes trust with the viewers. You've gotta make sure people gravitate towards faces in the buying decision. It's an important process.

[00:06:58] Number five, add text or subtitles. Um. And there is a lot of data coming out now. If you don't do that, you are losing opportunities. It makes your video accessible to viewers even without the volume. How many times? I mean, like I'm lying in bed with my wife, I don't want the noisy iPhone. In some cases I'll just read what is going on to get an understanding about the video. . Otherwise I would be lost without it, and it would be absolutely useless.

[00:07:24] So spend a little bit of extra time, get those subtitles either baked into your video or add them in, you know, LinkedIn, you can add closed captions, which are done. Uh, add in via LinkedIn, which is like a, I'm not gonna bore you with all that stuff.

[00:07:36] Number six, call to action. If you want them to do something, tell them to do it. Don't just leave them hanging. If you really want videos to work and you want to show results for all your efforts, then you need to ask them for something. You know, if you don't ask, you don't get. Now, by keeping your video short, you make the most of your viewer's attention, and that's what they love. It's easier to digest, it's easier to engage with, and easier to decide whether to buy from you and that's what you need.

[00:08:11] If you want more personalized coaching on this, we now have a one-on-one video coaching service to support you through any aspect of content creation. I'll stick a link below and jump on a 15 minute video call and let's discover what's needed together. Join in next week where you'll get weekly Video Made Simple ideas to produce videos like a pro.

[00:08:32] That's all for this episode. Thanks for listening. And see you next week.