Engagement is all about capturing and maintaining your viewers’ attention, wherever it is.
Engaging your audience requires a comprehensive content strategy. Viewers are being targeted with more marketing messages per minute than ever before. Standing out from the noise can be challenging, but it helps to know who your target viewers are and where their attention is focused throughout the day. New media platforms are constantly gaining traction and these best practices can help your brand stay relevant on them.
In 2021, video is the most effective medium to capture and maintain a viewer’s attention. According to HubSpot, four times as many people prefer to watch a video over reading information about a product or service. The second most popular search engine in the world (after Google) is YouTube. If your brand does not have a well-maintained YouTube channel, you’re immediately missing out on a large share potential viewers.
Recently, and likely due to the diminishing human attention span, short-form video has had a large impact on our media consumption habits. TikTok became popular through its 60-second maximum video length, its ability to manufacture virality, and its ability to curate feeds based on specific interests. The platform is so captivating that last month, the average watch time for TikTok users surpassed that of YouTube users. TikTok has recently increased its maximum video length to three minutes. If your target audience includes members of Generations Y or Z, short-form video should be a fundamental part of your content strategy.
Once you’ve decided which platforms you are going to create content for, you can cater the content to each platform’s characteristics. Your strategy will depend on your audience and your industry, but your videos should generally leverage a combination of inbound and outbound tactics to maximize their performance. Viewers are more likely to respond positively to a video when they don’t feel like they’re being sold to or when the product being sold is relevant to them. An outbound video might highlight a new product or service and outline its features. It’s a valuable piece of content, but your strategy isn’t complete without inbound content.
Inbound content could include a video educating viewers on your industry or helping them reflect on some of the problems they have that your product solves. The point of inbound content is that viewers find it useful, beyond being an advertisement for your brand. Let’s say you own a financial services business specializing in life insurance. Your inbound content plan might include a video explaining when the right time to invest in life insurance is. Viewers will find the content valuable and once they are introduced to your brand, it is likely they will consider you when they eventually make the purchase.
No matter your industry or audience, video is inarguably one of the most important elements to include in your content strategy. If you’re looking to leave it to the experts, send us a message and see how MKM can help your brand develop and implement a video-centric content strategy.
