This week’s #TipsyTuesday Marketing Tip is taken from a post on Savy Sexy Social where Amy Schmittauer talks about the biggest video mistake people make in the first second of their video. I know wat you are thinking “Crikey! Mistakes in the first second, we’re just making our introduction.”
You are bang on.
Amy recommends that you use the first few seconds of You Tube video to make the most impact with your audience by talking with your face on camera to make your introduction instead of using slides and intro music. This enables your audience to connect with you on a more personal level when they see your face and hear your voice.
Whilst I agree with the Human to Human (#H2H) approach (people are human, people like people, people buy from people) I'm not sure I agree with Amy’s video intro strategy for all You Tube videos. I agree with the value of connection, and people connecting with people, and maybe I’m on my own here, but I am not watching cat videos on You Tube, actually I'm usually watching ‘How To’ videos for instructions or demonstrations and I don't need to see a face, an intro slide reassures me it's the right solution to my problem, or the right video in a series I’m following. And take a look a TED Talks, I love those, and the 'plink plonky whoosh' intro music subconsciously sets me up for what I know will be an inspirational 20 mins. It’s like sitting down with a brew to watch your favourite TV show, the theme tune sucks you in as you wait in eager anticipation for the story to unfold before you.
With TED Talks I want to watch the speaker walkout on stage to applause and feel like I'm right there in the audience. I don't want a talking head intro and I certainly don't need one for context.
And in fact what I find to be the biggest mistake in the first 60 seconds is rambling on without getting to your point. I know you want to hook people in and you want people to watch for longer , but here I am watching Amy's Video: The Biggest Mistake at the One Second Mark and while I’m waiting to find out what that mistake in the first second is I’m left wondering if I’m watching the right video, has she made the mistake yet? I don’t even know if this is Amy because she didn’t introduce herself. And so, I totally agree with her that if you waste time in your intros you will lose to audience retention loss.
She lost me at relatability, and the repetition of context and relatability buzzwords. Yes, your video needs to be in keeping with the types of videos your audience is already watching on You Tube (this is the context of the platform) so yes ask yourself why your audience are using You Tube what do they enjoy watching and what style of video are they used to watching. When you understand why they will be watching your video you will know how to be more relatable. Not just a face, but the language and humour you use, will help you connect with your audience.
If your audience isn’t the ‘average viewer who watches cat videos and home vlogs’, if you are targeting a niche viewer you can look at their playlists and other channels they follow to get a feel for the types of videos they watch.
As with any marketing tool you need to use what’s right for your business, making sure that the techniques that work best for your audience also meet your commercial objectives.
So, how do you start your video intros? Do you use intro slides and music with success or do you find a personal introduction engages your audience better? Drop your You Tube links in the comments below and let’s see what works for you!
