The surprisingly simple secret to great video content

Want to engage with a growing number of eager Facebook fans? Learn why video can be a cost-effective way of reaching your ideal customers, and the big secret to creating great video content.

It’s easy to assume that, to create really great video content, you need an equally great budget. But you don’t. In fact, the secret is surprisingly simple, and achievable for businesses of any size – as Hax from Hax Media reveals.

Video content is becoming more and more popular

It’s official: daily video views on Facebook have passed the 4 billion mark. While the figure itself may be astonishing, it doesn’t surprise me that video is so popular (not just for consumers of videos, but for the businesses that make them too).

So why is video so popular on Facebook? One reason may be that it’s easily sharable, particularly from a mobile (on a typical day, 25 million people in the UK will access Facebook on a mobile device according to Ciaran Quilty, Facebook’s SMB Director for EMEA). And Facebook’s silent video auto-run in the timeline makes video content irresistible, particularly if it’s relevant.

Facebook makes it easy for advertisers to use video

That’s where Facebook’s second business weapon comes in, too: they already know our individual viewing habits, what interests us and what we’re search for on Facebook.

So what does all this mean to you, as an advertiser looking for cost-effective ways of reaching your ideal customers? Firstly, Facebook’s ability to segment targeted audiences makes it easier for you to ensure your video content is shared with willing recipients – and ensures that the people who receive it will want to watch (and hopefully act) on it too.

And secondly, you have control over your ad spending; you can test campaigns and grow your reach as your budget allows.

Combined, this represents an excellent opportunity to put your business in front of a focused audience of potential customers, in a controlled, measurable strategy, before they have made their vital purchase decision. Frankly, it doesn’t get any better than that!

A case study of a successful Hyundai video

Last month the car manufacturer, Hyundai, published a four minute film that went viral. It wasn’t telling everybody how good their car was, it was telling a story of how a young girl was connecting with her father in the European space station.

In four weeks the film clocked up 60 million views on YouTube alone, outstripping the performance of any advert run on terrestrial TV nationally or globally for the same time period, at a fraction of the cost.

Yes, you could argue that a corporation like Hyundai has the clout to get behind the campaign like that. However, I have statistics from two much smaller entrepreneurs who have used videos we created in their marketing campaigns with great effect.

And two from smaller businesses

It’s not just large, corporate giants that are harnessing the power of video to boost their business. Lifestyle mentor Katie Phillips has more than doubled her customer list in less than 12 months.

Meanwhile, Louise Pepper, a chartered financial planner, has set her business position to provide a specialist and bespoke service to individuals in a particular wealth bracket and has used video to deliver her message.

So what’s the big secret behind great video content?

The success of small, solo entrepreneurs like Katie and Louise proves that you don’t need big budgets to produce and reap the rewards of great video content. Instead you just need one big-yet-simple secret – you need to bring your brand to life through storytelling and discovery.

You see, great video content conveys clearly what your business stands for. It understands who you want to talk to, what they want to see and hear, and how you can best help – and it tells them that.

Five tips to help you tell your story

So how can you convey your story and create fantastic video content? Here are five tips to help you become a master storyteller:

  • Use the five Cs – when considering your story, find ways to get the five Cs into it: Circumstance, Characters, Conversation, Curiosity and Conflict. When planning the script for telling your story, bear these five Cs in mind and make sure you tick each one off.
  • Engage emotions – try to create an emotional connection with your audience. Think about the emotion you want your story to convey and consider the content and words that will help that to come through. You may even want to take them on an emotional journey – from shock and sadness, to relief and joy, for example.
  • Be human – make sure your story is easy to relate to. Simply boasting or lecturing your audience will only serve to create a barrier between you. Instead, find ways to make you or your business more human. Share experiences that will help your audience to understand and like you.
  • Be vivid – bring your story to life with vivid, multi-sensory descriptions. Use rich language to round out your stories and help your audience to really experience what you are talking about. For example, if you are talking about the first time you walked into a bakery, describe the smells and sounds.
  • Don’t waffle – the worst thing you can do when telling a story is be boring! So understand what your audience finds interesting and wants to know, and stick to that. And get to it fairly quickly… you may find it fascination to give ten years of background on your business, but do your customers really need or want to know it?

Embrace other opportunities to tell your story

Video content isn’t the only opportunity you have to win over customers by telling your story (and using the five storytelling tips above). You can also share your story:

To find out how Hax Media can help you create great video content and get it in front of the right audience with a cost-effective campaign, visit their website