Creating video content for your business is a good way to reach a wide audience, promote your business, and increase sales.  People love to watch videos and are more likely to watch a 30 second video rather than sift through pages of text about a company or product.

However, poorly produced video has the potential to do more harm to your company’s marketing efforts than good. 

Today we will take a look at the top ten video marketing mistakes that make us all cringe so that when the time comes for you to produce your company’s next commercial, these things can be avoided at all costs.

 

 

Most Common Video Marketing Mistakes

1. Not Budgeting for Video Marketing

Failing to implement video marketing altogether is one of the biggest mistakes your company can make.  I get it, budgets are tight and producing a video commercial in Baltimore takes planning, shooting, uploading, and optimizing – and that’s just for one video.  Time, energy, and money all come into play when planning to produce a video commercial, but trust me, it’s worth it.

• Videos placed on a company’s website could help rank the website higher in search engine results.
• Websites with video engage site visitors for longer, increasing the likelihood of a conversion or sale.
• 90% of people surveyed said that viewing a video about a certain product helped them in their purchasing decision.
• 64% of those same people go on to say that they were likely to move forward with the purchase after viewing the video.
• YouTube attracts more than 1 billion unique visitors a month; some are bound to be part of your target audience.

 

The truth is, video marketing is very effective and there are reputable video production companies in the Baltimore area ready to help you produce a great video commercial for your business, regardless of budget. 

 

2. Failing to Plan

Producing a video takes effort.  You cannot whip together a video commercial with no goal in mind, script in place, or thought behind things such as location, audio quality, and actors. 

Some of the most successful video commercials, whether televised or found online, have revolved around a single, fleshed out concept directed at a target audience.  Consider working with a Baltimore production company to aid with your company’s concept so that you can proudly run an effective commercial.

 

3. Not Branding Your Company

Have you ever watched a commercial on TV that made you laugh out loud or remember your childhood in the most nostalgic way?

Have you then immediately forgotten what the commercial was even advertising?

It’s one thing to have a truly entertaining video commercial.  However, if your viewers cannot remember the name of your company, what product you were promoting, or basic things such as store location or website address, you are in video marketing trouble. 

You have to focus on the promotion of your company and the benefits you provide your customers on top of creating an entertaining video commercial for it to work.  Check out this memorable contact lense commercial to get an idea of the balance between branding your company and engaging your customers.

 

4. It’s Too Long

It only takes 10 seconds for a viewer to decide whether to continue watching a video commercial or turn it off.  That’s not a lot of time to grab someone’s attention and keep them watching through to the end.  Unless your video marketing strategy is to provide an instructional video and you know that your viewers are happy to watch lengthy video content, aim to keep your video 30-120 seconds long.

 

5. Information Overload (or Lack of Information)

Much like being too lengthy, a video commercial promoting your Baltimore business that is packed full of information (think business history, employee highlights, customer testimonials, exhaustive product information, and more) will be lost on your viewers.  This is especially true if it is crammed within the 30-120 second time limit recommendation.

 

Worse even is a commercial that lacks the appropriate information for a viewer to understand what your company is about and what product you are advertising.  Take for instance this example.  Say what?!

Keep your video’s message clear and direct and include only the most important information that will encourage your viewers to make a purchase or follow your call to action.

 

6. Speaking of a Call to Action…

You have to have one!  If you leave your viewers unsure of what to do after watching your video you run the risk of losing out on a valuable lead, click, or sale.  If your viewer was unsure about your company from the start, and is left not knowing what action you want them to do next (check out the website, visit the store, call for a free quote), you will definitely lose them in the end.

Dollar Shave Club does a great job with their call to action by informing viewers what to do at the end of their famous video commercial.  Not only does the actor state exactly where to go (their website) they include the website in large bold text at the end.

 

7. No SEO Optimization

For those companies promoting video online, you must understand there is more to it than simply uploading your videoand walking away.  Here are some great SEO best practices to follow that will ensure your video gets found in search engine results:

• Utilize popular keywords related to your business both in text form and in image descriptions.
• Watch where you upload your videos – sometimes YouTube or Vimeo gets ranked rather than your video which doesn’t help you in search results.
• Don’t allow video embedding.  This prevents people from using your video to rank their own websites.
• Include social sharing buttons.

 

8. Failure to Target a Specific Audience

Reaching a wide audience is a goal that every business has.  However, when it comes to video marketing your video will be more effective if you focus on your target audience.  Take for instance this Diet Coke commercial.  Although the audience knows what the product is, the commercial is not clear on what audience type is being targeted.  Is it concert-goers? Men, women, bike riders, everyone?  This can be a major turn off for viewers and can affect smaller businesses with a product that is not as well known.

Decide who you want to address in your video and show those viewers exactly how your company will benefit them.  You are likely to experience the best results this way.  Anyone else that you reach unintentionally can be considered a bonus.

 

9. Too Much Promotion

It is best to keep in mind that video commercials are being viewed by your customers because they already have a certain level of interest in your company.  Now is the time to entertain, inform, and outline the benefits you can provide customers.  Now is not the time to go on a long rant explaining every detail of your product like in this humorous commercial about Windows 1.0.   

 

10. Not Using a Professional

The last mistake that many companies make in their video marketing efforts is not using the expertise of a professional video production company like Sheffield Audio-Visual Productions.  Your video is a direct reflection of your brand.  Sheffield can provide your business with thorough concepts, cutting edge technology and equipment, and a final product that will leave your viewers wanting more.

If you are in need of a Baltimore area video production company and want nothing but high quality videos produced to promote your local business, consider contacting Sheffield Audio-Visual Productions.  Their team of industry professionals can help you with your video from start to finish, and trust me, they will not take part in any of the video marketing mistakes that make us all crinkle our nose and say “Ummm, no”.