Crystal Clear Communications Blog

Videos as a form of content marketing continue to grow more and more popular. Additionally, as our attention spans become shorter, content marketing videos are following suit. Two years ago, our clients asked us to produce 2-3 minute videos. Today that length is often down to 90 seconds.

90 Seconds to get your message heard

When you have only 90 seconds to get your message heard by your target audience, you need to make every one of those 90 seconds count. Yet that can be difficult when you’re making a marketing video.

For tips on making the most of marketing videos, I asked my friend and colleague Ryan Lewis. Ryan is an experienced director of photography who has shot all types of productions, from corporate and marketing videos to feature films and everything in between.

Reasons to make a marketing video

Here’s what Ryan had to say:

“There are all sorts of different reasons someone would want to make a marketing video: introduce a company’s culture, demonstrate thought leadership, or promote a solution or service, to name a few. The internet is flooded with content, so you need to make sure your video stands out to grab your audience’s attention. When meeting with a client I like to make sure they’re aware of 3 important tips before production begins:

High-level view of your message

“1)    Most video content is best used as a way for your target audience to get a quick, high-level view of your message. While you have their attention, leave them wanting to know more. The initial video should open the door to further conversation and/or learning. Later videos could be a little more in-depth, but you want to entice the audience to continue their engagement, rather than just dumping all the content on them at once and potentially overwhelming them or turning them off.

“Ensuring everyone involved agrees on the goal of the video before production can save a lot of time and frustration.

Get Comfortable

“2)    When you have an interviewee on camera, try to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible. It will be much more engaging to your audience, if you can have a conversation of sorts, rather than letting them read from a script. I always suggest tossing a few questions at the start of the interview about things that the interviewee may be passionate about. People light up when they get to talk about their passions, and it simultaneously can help them to let their guard down.

“Additionally, we often get usable content out those questions because the spokesperson is so engaged.

Do your research on YouTube

“3)    Finally, it sounds simple, but take time to bounce around on YouTube. See what grabs your attention and what makes your mind drift off or click on a different link. Focus on how long you typically watch a video. See how long 90 seconds actually is in the realm of video. See what methods might work for your organization and what would clash with your messaging. Put yourself in the audience’s shoes and use your findings when you start to craft the message you want to broadcast.”

Speaking of crafting your message, making a Message Map can help keep your spokesperson concise and on track. A Message Map enables a spokesperson to see what to say and say what they mean.