And the Oscar Goes to…

By. Jonathon Lay, PTP New Media

Great videos produced by credit unions do exist. A few top notch ones, even. And then there are quite a few that I begin to watch, quickly become bored and move along with my life. Just by looking at the length of the video, I become pessimistic about my prospects of sitting through the epic production. Why is there a ten minute testimonial video about the credit union?

To make a fantastic video for an online audience, several components must work together. Let’s be clear: a video should not be another item on your to-do list.  Not just anyone can produce a quality online video, nor should they attempt to just because the tools are there (I will address these in an upcoming post). I can get the tools to remodel my kitchen; however, this does not mean that I should attempt to.

There is not only art and storytelling behind a well thought-out video, but scientific steps driving the process from the very beginning. The first steps, just like any other marketing piece, is to address the following:

1. People: Who is the video for?

2. Product: What should the messaging of the video be?

3. Process: What is the call to action, if any, at the end?

Lastly, it should look and sound like it’s a part of your brand.

Let’s assume you’ve completed these steps and are ready to move forward with production.

The first ten seconds are critical. Research has shown that you have approximately this amount of time to capture your viewers’ attention. Ten seconds!

Not much time at all. With ten seconds you could:

• Play approximately eight games of paper, rock, scissors
• Post an extremely short comment to this article
• Do a poor job of brushing your teeth
• Figure out what x equals in the following equation: (16-2X)4=152
• CAPTURE A READER’S ATTENTION BY USING ALL CAPS AND BOLD FONT!

Now that’s taken care of, I must apologize as caps lock malfunctioned just then. But yes! The first ten seconds of your video are critical to maintaining a viewer’s interest. Put your best content at the beginning and capture their attention immediately. Otherwise, you face the near certain doom of someone clicking away (sometimes referred to as a “boredom click”) from what you may consider to be the pinnacle of your video editing skills. This is easy to track simply by looking at the analytics of your video.

Once you’ve grabbed their eyeballs, now what? Well, a couple of things.

Produce Engaging, Compelling Content. The successful videos out there keep your attention. They are able to capture your attention and avoid the threatening “boredom click.” The content keeps you intrigued and you want to know what happens next.  Let’s take this article for example. If it were 4,117 words, it’s a good bet that you would not reach the end in which I herald my grand conclusion about online videos, unless it was informative and entertaining. Or, if it had plenty of pictures to compliment the words. And if you’ve made it this far, I give myself a gold statue because you’re still engaged! Whoo!

Show, Don’t Tell. This is one of the top three lessons I learned at film school. Videos that actually utilize the visual medium are better than those who just passively tell you a story. You know that member testimonial in which they are recounting their memorable experience at your credit union? Instead of sticking a camera on a tripod and having them recount their story verbally, communicate the story through action. And if the story doesn’t work out, it’s ok to leave it on the cutting room floor. Or how about that video with a lot of talking heads discussing the mission of the credit union? Instead, show the mission of the credit union in action.

Cut That Out. Once you have reached the point of capturing footage and have edited it together, STOP! Before you do anything else with the footage, review it again and see if there are any shots you can remove to speed up the video. Pacing is everything and pre-planning your shots, to show and not tell, can set you on the right track from the beginning. Simply picking up a camera and pressing the record button will not work.

When it comes to videos I’ve edited, I try to have an objective party review the project to get their feedback. Get someone who isn’t invested in the video to check it out. Make sure you have thick skin because the comments may not always be positive, which is what you need to hear. That’s why I never send them to my mom for feedback; she’s way too nice.

And the grand conclusion is… Ultimately, there is no precise formula when it comes to producing online video as every video project addresses people, product and process differently. Probably not what you were expecting, but by following the process above, you should be set on the right path. My suggestion is to keep redefining the production experience to see what works. And when you get something that connects with your intended audience and fulfills the end goal of what you were attempting to achieve, congratulations!

I shall now award you with your own gold statue.

And if you found that x=-11, then add another gold statue to your mantle as well.