How to engage with video: 6 tips for making video fun!

How would you engage with video? Why should you use a video and what do we mean by user engagement?

According to research by Forrester, engagement can be defined as “the level of involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence an individual has with a brand over time” So we’re talking about a deeper relationship that is created through active user engagement. Simply put, it is the connection between a business and the user forged through communications.

Why is user engagement important? Because it forms a bond between you and your customers that encourages long-term loyalty based on mutual growth. Providing a high-quality Customer Experience is an important component in your user engagement strategy.

There isn’t a single engagement method that works for every company across all industries; however, a sincere focus on empathy, clarity, and simplicity in your dealings with users should be the basis for all of your user engagement activities. The widespread adoption of the internet has changedthe process of user engagement which has evolved into a social phenomenon where people engage online in communities where the focus isn’t on a particular product, but serve as meeting or networking places.

Since the world has reached a population of over 3 billion internet users, it is conclusive that society’s interactive culture is significantly influenced by technology. Connectivity is bringing consumers and organizations together, which makes it critical for companies to take advantage and focus on capturing the attention of consumers and interacting with them. Connecting with customers establishes exclusivity in their experience, which potentially will increase brand loyalty, word of mouth, and provides businesses with valuable consumer analytics, insight, and retention.

The improvement in the speed of internet connection in 5G, the evolution of multimedia content allows a better relationship with the customer that is more active and immediate. Among these new solutions, the video proves to be an important engagement tool. How to engage with videos? Below we will show you some effective ways for how to engage your users through video.

How to turn boredom into engagement with videos

A study by Wyzowl highlighted that 72% of businesses interviewed believe that using video has improved the conversion rate of their website and 64% believe that it has directly led to increased sales. Video is a versatile and engaging content format that not only gives us a real-life picture of what is going on; it’s also easy to share across multiple platforms. Consumers like it because it’s easy to digest, entertaining and engaging, and marketers like it because it can give a potentially huge return on investment (ROI) through many channels.

Video is also very accessible to anyone with internet access, both to watch and to produce. B2B and B2C marketing are two sides of the same coin and this is the case with video. While their subjects of focus may be different, both forms have ultimately similar aims, and both can benefit immensely from the undeniable power of video to engage their users. How? Let’s look at some useful ways for how to engage with video and users.

1. Give a demonstration and give a solution

According to Wyzowl, 93% of companies who use video in their marketing strategy believe that it has increased user understanding of their product or service. For example, a tutorial video or a walkthrough of a product’s features can provide helpful information and advice for encouraging consumers to return to the website and increase the level of engagement throughout their customer journey.

Another example is the explainer video. This video could help your audience better understand why they need your product or service. Many explainer videos focus on a fictional journey of the company’s core buyer persona who is struggling with a problem. This helps users overcomes the issue by adopting or buying the business’s solution (blog.hubspot.com).

For example, Spotify thought outside of the box by creating a unique and creative explainer video. Instead of taking the traditional route and just explaining how their product works, they chose to take the opportunity to explain how their product is personalized just for you. Between the bright neon colours and the shifts from real people to animation, Spotify made a video that is incredibly engaging and fun for any generation.

2. How to engage with video: Be social

How to engage with video? Be social. Social media is a massive driver for user engagement. By definition, it’s a collaborative platform: people share content, comment on links, recommend videos and so on. So, a video is an easy sharing tool on social media for some practical reasons. Firstly, the ability of mobile phones to allow videos to be available 24/7, many consumers turn to video content for research and product reviews, so you need to be on the main social search channel like Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, LinkedIn. Secondly, it can allow you to demonstrate your product or service, or give your brand image a boost, in a highly appealing and interesting format.

3. Insert the right call-to-action

Regardless of the type of content you want to convey to users, even high-quality content will be useless if it doesn’t have a particular purpose.

The role of a call-to-action in a video marketing strategy is to connect the action and action of your viewers, guiding them to the next stage of the customer journey. A good method is to use different types of CTAs, integrate them into your videos naturally over the course of viewing, and adapt the intended message type depending on the purpose of the video.

Using a tool like video allows you to experiment with various types of calls to action and combine them to increase the effectiveness of your video. For example, a viral video by Coldplay and the cast of Game of Thrones includes a textual call-to-action at the very beginning, urging viewers to donate to Red Nose Day Charity (yumyumvideos.com).

Understanding what might be the right time to stop viewing the video and insert a call to action asking your customers to take an action requires attention because there is a risk that the recipient of the video will stop viewing before they can get to the CTA. On the other hand, it’s important not to be too pushy. Immediately following the request to sign up or a request to download, it would also be appropriate to include an explanation of the choice by briefly including a rationale as to how they can benefit from doing what you ask or why it is so important.

Among the most frequent CTAs are:

• questions that the user can answer in the comments;
• viewing a related video or other content;
• link to the landing page or website;
• subscribe to the newsletter or webinar;
• connect on social media.

4. Videos enhance the quality of your SEO content

Video undoubtedly provides better organic visibility, plus it increases engagement on your website, which is a powerful factor for search engine ranking. In fact, a good level of engagement on the page sends good signals to Google.

Therefore, a correct use of SEO concepts combined with the suggestive power of a video helps your positioning and induces Google to like and trust your site. Keyword research is very useful when it comes to creating a title and description for your video.

For example, when a company’s content isn’t displayed well on a certain device or browser, the business loses traffic and its conversions drop. Fortunately, video content can be viewed on all types of devices, from computers to smartphones. This increases the reach of the videos and makes them more user-friendly and consumer-oriented.

5. Tell your story with data

How to engage with video through a good story to tell?

Using storytelling – a marketing tactic that uses the video format in an engaging way – to tell the story of your brand, company or product. Video storytelling guides viewers through easily recognizable narrative content that triggers an emotional connection between the brand and the customer. People get involved in what’s happening due to a combination of factors, ranging from different shooting points to the soundtrack, characters and emotions of the story itself.

Video storytelling is more than just a sales presentation, as it focuses on a story rather than a product. It is engaging and powerful and very effective in driving engagement.

For example, Patagonia is one of the very best in the business at this, creating longer visual masterpieces that capture the essence of the adventurous, environmental brand.

In a world where the consumer finds himself inundated with data from every available channel, the difficulty lies in obtaining a homogeneous view of the business and the performance of the activity and that is  “different” from the competition.

Here is how digital revolutionizes the way the story is told. Data storytelling is the ability to tell a story with carefully selected data that is directed to the individual recipient of the video. It goes beyond the simple presentation of a series of numbers in a table and makes the information accessible and understandable to one’s target audience, thanks to the story being told.

6. Using the power of personalization

Let’s see how to engage with video by taking advantage of the power of personalization.

Personalization refers to the creation of personalized content for each user. Personalization has become a powerful tool for marketers because it helps build better connections with the audience.

Imagine receiving a personal video message from your brand, which speaks to you in an almost “colloquial” language, with content made exclusively based on your interests. Wouldn’t it be a pleasant surprise that would make you feel special in some way?

Email, blogs, and social media are different types of communication tools to ensure a personalized customer journey for each user. Personalizationisbased on the acquisition of consumer data to build unique experiences that aim to satisfy specific needs or requirements. One-to-one communication (versus one-to-many)also helps increase customer loyalty. Additionally, adopting a personalized video, combined with marketing automation, helps positively engage customers and allows brands to be more responsive.

Personalized videos also makes the editing process simpler in terms of narration, through the use of metadata. The videos can be adapted for different communication models depending on the touchpoint that the user comes into contact with during the customer journey.

Brands can build their social media followers by creating video content that is accessible, information-rich, memorable, and engaging, brands.

Thanks to its viral nature, its accessibility and its value, video is an effective tool for engaging customers by providing personalized content that has a strong emotional connection, and not just aimed at selling the product. All companies can have a good product, but knowing how to enhance it through the user’s voice and his level of involvement allows you to reach a higher level.

Babelee

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