Online Video Storytelling and Call To Action
Using Online Video Storytelling for your small to medium-sized business is a substantial project. The final product may only be a few minutes long, but those few minutes represent a lot of work.
Someone had to write the script and edit it, someone had to provide and operate equipment and lighting, and probably several people spent time in an editing suite turning the raw footage into a coherent, compelling narrative. This is the essence of Online Video Storytelling.
You simply can’t get away with substandard videos today if you want to reach video marketing goals.
If you’re going to invest in Online Video Storytelling, you naturally want to get the best possible return on your investment. And to do that, you need a corporate video that prompts people to take an action, whether that’s downloading an e-book, ordering a product, signing up for an email newsletter, or contacting your business for more information. While the video itself should inspire action, it takes a clear call to action to really get viewers to respond.
Consumers, whether they realize it or not, want to be provided direction, and your call to action tells them that it’s time for them to take another step. So your clear call to action ties together the story of the video, tells the viewer what the next step is, and tells them how to accomplish that.
When You Don’t Include a Call to Action
You don’t want people to watch your video, shrug, and say to themselves, “So what?” But that can happen if there is no call to action. When a viewer finishes watching your video, not only should they have taken in the story the video was designed to tell, but they should know what you want them to do next and how to do that.
Your video may be informative and interesting, but you simply won’t get the video marketing response you want without that call to action. Articulate a goal to your viewer, and those who were interested in the video are far more likely to complete that goal.
What Makes an Effective Call to Action?
While you don’t need to hit the viewer over the head with your call to action, nonetheless it should be clear, concise, and persuasive. Ideally, you should mention what you want the viewer to do two or three times during the course of the video, and it should be woven into the overall story of the video.
Some companies choose to place the call to action at the beginning of the video, some at the end, and some at multiple points throughout.
By the end of your corporate video, the viewer should know exactly what next action you want him or her to take.
The great thing about online video is you can access valuable analytics that can give you terrific insights about when the best time is to place your call to action. You may find, for example, that the video with the call to action at the end gets a higher response rate than a similar video that has the call to action at the beginning. Much depends on your target audience and how they think. Analytics are extraordinarily powerful for fine-tuning your video marketing.
Ultimately It’s About Prompting Action and ROI
If you’re in business, you’re in business to make money, so every corporate video should deliver a return on your video marketing investment. Corporate videos do this by motivating viewers to do something. Your video may prompt a download, a demo, or a free trial, but including the call to action is one of the key factors separating an effective video with positive ROI from a just “OK” video that may or may not earn its keep.
Great Videos Don’t Just Tell a Story
The outstanding corporate video, whatever its ultimate purpose, tells a story, but also does more. It should keep the viewer engaged for the entire video journey, and then deliver a compelling call to action right at the point when the viewer is caught up and engaged in the story. That’s how you convert a viewer into a follower and a customer.
Be clear about what you want your viewer to do, and they’re far more likely to do it, and improve your return on your video marketing investment. We invite you to contact us at Foundation Digital Media to discuss corporate video production.Serving DC MD VA and the Mid -Atlantic Region, we offer an extensive menu of services, and would be more than happy to answer your questions.
