One of the key things to making a quality video is getting your audience to connect with your content. If your content is boring, find a way to make it interesting. Presenting a message that captures your audience is by far the most important thing you can do to keep people tuned in to what you have to say.
Creating engaging content is a lot of work, as many factors will contribute to taking your message from a straightforward idea to an attention capturing story. This kind of work takes planning, so before you involve a camera, you should have a solid idea of what you want to communicate.
Firstly, consider your audience. More than likely, they are busy, distracted, and possibly not too keen to watch your video. Strive to make sure your message captures their attention by offering value to them, entertaining them in some way, and using language and terminology they will understand.
To offer value in your video consider how watching the content will benefit the viewer. Are they going to learn something new, or perhaps gain access to a great promotional deal? Think about what would grab your interest and try and translate that into a great hook for your video.
Now, even if your content is… dry… try to liven the material up to create entertainment. Whether you are creating a training video or promotional piece, you need to keep your audience’s attention. Whether you decide to hire engaging talent, utilize quirky graphics, add well-placed humour or work your material into a fun plot, do what you can to use a great visual medium to its fullest.
Finally, when it comes to using language and terminology think of the audience you identified and tailor your words to their experience. When you think of corporate, school, commercial and viral videos, think of how they speak to their audience and try to keep your video on the same level as your viewer.
Below are a few samples of videos that do engaging content well.
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton from Atomic Spark on Vimeo.
kitestring happy-appy from Atomic Spark on Vimeo.
