What Stops Someone From Watching Your Video?
We’ve all been there. Looking at analytics on youtube, checking to see how people are enjoying the video we slaved over for weeks, only to be met with disappointment as we see that people are clicking away during the intro. For whatever reason, our hook didn’t work, the content isn’t engaging, or there’s just something off with the video performance.
Many people might pack it in and assume that video just isn’t for them, or isn’t useful, but this is far from the truth. There are a few glaring reasons that cause people to click off of videos, and we will look at them now. Correct these in your videos, or with your video production service (they shouldn’t have these issues if they’re good), and you’re videos are all but guaranteed to retain viewers longer!
Bad Audio
Audio is one of the most overlooked aspects of video. A new freelancer buys a camera, or a business owner gets a shop video camera to make his own videos, but they don’t think about how to capture audio. Because of this oversight, they end up recording audio with the built in microphone on their cellphone or camera. While built in microphones aren’t horrible, they are certainly not good. Without getting into the nitty gritty of how microphones work, an easy thing to remember is that distance = bad.
Why? The farther away you are from your subject, the worse it is going to sound. This is why movie sets have boom microphone operators, who hold the microphone just out of view of the camera, above the talent’s head. If you watch interviews, you’ll often notice a ‘lapel mic’ attached to the talent’s collar or shirt. These are telltale signs of a good audio engineer trying to get a microphone as close to the source as possible.
Bad audio is one of the top listed reasons why people click away from video. People will watch bad video, but won’t listen to bad audio. Even if your shots are great, color is dialed in, and content is good and true, bad audio is an immediate, subconscious turnoff to viewers.
2. ‘fake’ on-camera personality
If people know you, or know how you act in person, and then see a different ‘you’ on camera, it will come across as disingenuous, and that’s the last thing you want to be as a business. Be who you are, and be OK with it! There’s nothing wrong with being quiet or soft spoken, and it will be far worse, and more obvious, if you try to be someone or something you’re not.
People these days know how to spot a fake personality on YouTube. It’s not hard, and the internet is filled with imposters and copycats. So be yourself, and be confident in it, and people will notice.
3. Tell The Truth
This one should be obvious, but lying or misleading people in your videos is a terrible idea. Right up there with lying is fibbing or tricking people with bait and switch videos, click bait titles or doctored thumbnail images. If you want to lose customers and viewers fast, lie to them, mislead them, and make them understand that your videos aren’t what they seem to be.
So do the opposite! Tell the truth. Be honest about your product’s shortcomings, your struggles in your business, and your worries about tomorrow. People appreciate honesty and openness, and will go a long way in building credibility and trust, which are 2 of the most important factors in building return customers.
Too much to handle?
Making videos can be a huge strain on your time and energy. Many business owners are able to handle the small videos like instagram stories, and the occasional youtube video. But there’s also a time and place to hire a video production company, too. If your business is growing fast, you have a lot of ideas but no understanding of how to make them come to life, or simply want to increase your brand awareness and marketing by up to 90%, it might be time to consider hiring a video production service near you to help.
A video production service (like Magazzu Media) will take the load off of you for planning, shooting, editing and posting videos. A seasoned team will help coach and guide you to avoid these mistakes and get the most value out of your money. They will also come with all the cameras, lighting and audio gear you will need to stand out from the other guys shooting their own videos on their iPhone.
