If your small business marketing isn’t employing mobile video, you’re missing a key opportunity for customer engagement. More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices. This should not be a surprise, however, considering that most customers have a smartphone and for an increasing number, it’s their primary way to get online. Among millennials, 21 percent no longer use desktop computers to go online, according to comScore.
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, Forrester Research says “a minute of video is worth 1.8 million words.” It’s a powerful medium to showcase a product or service and provide any other branding information about an offering and your small business to help consumers make a purchase decision.
There are other advantages to the video format. While text may be difficult to read on a small screen, video content is delivered in full screen mode on a mobile device, which makes it easy for users to absorb the content. And it’s easy to launch. Unlike a web page or app that requires search and navigation, users simply ‘tap’ play to begin.
Audio also makes the experience even more memorable. MagnetVideo points out that it adds another dimension to the content. Even if the user isn’t intently focused on watching the video, the audio – music, voice-over and sounds – can help deliver your marketing message.
Unfortunately, you have no control over background noise, which can interfere with message delivery. Noise cancelling headsets and headphones can help by blocking about distracting sounds. To that end, a survey from SOL REPUBLIC found that “more than half of millennials (53 percent) report they own three or more headphones and wear those headphones nearly four hours every day.”
Make mobile marketing videos stand out
When it comes to creating the video content, in “How to Create Memorable Mobile Video Content: Tips from Three Pros” on Marketing Land, three video experts Steve Garfield, well known video blogger; Jeben Berg, creative director at Google and chief creative officer at Zealot Networks; and Scott Kramer, Emmy award winning TV and digital content producer and strategist, offer some tips. Among them:
Capture a moment: Before you shoot, think about the results you want. You want to capture moments that are most shareable. If someone is giving a talk, don’t shoot the whole speech; ask the speaker to share the main part of their speech. Ask for a minute or two to shoot and have the speaker talk directly to you or into the camera.
Applied to small business marketing, if you have a customer who is a major fan, record one or two inspiring moments of them talking into the camera about how your product solved a problem or answered a need.
Close-ups work best: Close-ups are best for the small screen. When shots are wide, viewers can’t see all the detail.
Keep it short (and cut out the fluff): Since mobile video is generally watched on the go, keep it short, and get to the point. Your goal is to get the viewer’s attention and keep it.
Make text big and bold: If you want to add text to your video – a call to action at the end, for example – make it big and bold so that it’s easy to read.
Your customers and prospects are on their mobile devices to get information. Make mobile video integral to your marketing to get and keep their attention.