The First 15 Seconds – How to Hook a Viewer with Video

We know that video is a powerful medium. According to a recent report, 94% of businesses think video is a powerful tool when they are buying. 81% of sellers who used video in 2018 saw higher sales while 53% had reduced phone calls to their customer support. Video is powerful and its growth shows no sign of slowing down in 2019. It’s important to note that a video’s true effectiveness is getting viewers to watch all of your video. This is how you improve how much of a video is seen to ensure more people hear your message. Create a Hook and Deliver on It Whether you’re producing your own videos or hiring Top Pup Media to produce professional content on…

This year, all everybody seems to want to talk about video-wise is 3D and 360 degree videos. However, these technologies are not the only video marketing trends for 2018. Some of the following are just as exciting, if not more so. Video Ad “Snacking” In 2017, YouTube hailed the birth of the super-short video. Following a 47% surge in ad revenue, Facebook discovered that the shorter the video, the better than engagement. It’s not uncommon for video commercials to last just 6-30 seconds now. What’s more, Social Media Examiner found user attention to video ads dropped after just 6 seconds. Shorter, punchier advertising will define 2018. We even discussed in a blog article the necessity of capturing a viewer’s attention…

Despite websites packed with images and text pages, video content represents over 95% of viewed material on the internet. It’s a powerful medium for businesses of all sizes; without it, you are potentially hindering your business’ marketing efforts whether you use it for commercials, marketing or campaign promotions. Yet this desire for more engagement through video has tempted many businesses to bypass professional video production and go at it alone. DIY videos are fraught with many problems, and here’s why. Art Over Science When producing any business video, it’s easy to get carried away with such elements as design, effects and visuals. While these things are important, far too often we see that amateur video producers ignore the “science” of…

Having a good, quality video that sums up your business, product or service is never enough. Top Pup Media can deliver the video message you want, but the real work is in how to market and promote your video content. We know how effective video can be for marketing. However, without an effective video marketing strategy, you could be wasting time, effort and money. Here are some steps to building an effective video marketing strategy. What: Ask Yourself What You Are Trying to Achieve You should already have a comprehensive answer from before Top Pup Media begins producing your video. The question of what you want to achieve should be an ongoing issue of your promotion, and should weave through all your creative decisions…

In the world of advertising media, content is king. Using a chessboard analogy, we could argue “Exposure is Queen”. She is the most powerful piece on the board. You could win without her, but it makes it monumentally difficult. No matter how well thought out, planned and recorded your video campaign is, if it is not being seen by the right people then it could be a wasted campaign. Here are some tips on how to get YouTube to recommend your video. The Power of YouTube Recommendations According to web statistics, 40% of viewed YouTube content is a result of recommendations from the platform. This powerful medium comes in three basic forms. Suggested videos from the creator Videos by other…

We’d suspected it for years but now it’s official. A recent study found that among the younger generations, particularly Generation Z (roughly 13-25 year old group), social media video is the most important visual medium for advertising. It’s a fundamental change that began with the tech-savvy Generation Y, but those who follow in their footsteps are taking it one step further. It’s a generation brought up on the internet from a much earlier age than Gen Y and certainly more than Gen X. Their habits are forging the future for video marketing. The Findings The first and most critical finding is that Generation Z watches more YouTube than television content. This means that YouTube celebrities are more household names to…

There are many reasons for why an organization might employ Top Pup Media. We produce mostly promotional and marketing videos, but you may also require content for recruitment and campaigns. In an age of accountability and mistrust of the public towards businesses, some entities are seeing the value of using video for rebuilding your company reputation. BP and Lessons After Deepwater Horizon With social media being accessible to almost everyone, mistakes and disasters can become world news in a matter of minutes. BP discovered this in 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The rig exploded and sank, and over the following months, 4.9 million barrels of crude oil spilled out into the Gulf of Mexico.Following, BP embarked on a massive plan…

It has been a problem for many years, users file YouTube and copyright infringement claims against users who then find their well-constructed videos taken down. It provides a headache for the user as they seek to prove that they have the right to use the material or argue “Fair Use”. YouTube recently announced that it would take further steps to ensure that content is on their site legitimately – and this includes investigating false claims of use of such content as music where you need proper licensing and a claim of Fair Use does not apply.Top Pup Media produces original video content using assets specifically tailored for your business or project. That includes graphics and voiceover artists. If you should…

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Telling stories with video should be worth a whole lot more than that. In corporate storytelling, choosing the right visuals or video sequence is vital in conveying your message to the intended audience. Many times, we have explained how important video is to web marketing. Just as important is how you convey your message. Here are some ways in which you may show and not tell your audience what you want them to know about you or your product. The Work Environment A sweeping shot of the building, images of the corporate culture, employees looking happy and fulfilled, and bright airy rooms is important in demonstrating to potential employees just what they might…

When a client approaches Top Pup Media to produce a video, we usually ask for a simple video brief to work with. A brief is simply a set of instructions so we can understand you and your video production needs; it may be a written order or an email with a simple outline.Here is the typical information that you might include to help the early stages go smoothly: About You First, we need to know about you and your business. It is helpful for us to know information about your industry. In some cases, it would also be helpful for us know your market share and market competitiveness (for example a sales video), but most importantly the “personality” of you company and…

You may have produced the best video content in the world, but it will be for nothing if you haven’t effectively setup the video in YouTube. You may already know the standard tips, but one thing that is often easily missed is the YouTube description box. When you browse YouTube, take note of how uploaders utilize the description. See how many use the following tactics. Put Relevant Information in the First Few Lines Five lines are good, two are better. This is effectively your meta-description so it should contain the keyword and a very brief summary. The opening two lines will appear next to your video in the YouTube search list so ideally, the most relevant information should go here. The…

When any business or individual considers possible pathways for marketing video content, one platform that many rarely consider is Twitter. YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook business pages and LinkedIn are all well-known ways to promote video content but now the microblogging site is hoping to seize a share of the market. Few people, however, consider using video with Twitter in promoting their business beyond links to text-based pages. Video Content on Twitter There has always been great potential on Twitter but this year has seen a greater push towards video content. In May 2015, the microblogging site overhauled its platform to include a number of changes concerning how the platform and its users interact with video content. Most importantly, it began offering…

Your landing page is effectively the front door to your product or business – the means by which most traffic will first access your website. It should be designed with effective SEO strategies while being both welcoming and informative. Increasingly, businesses are using video as part of this “front door” experience. If you want people to stay on your site, watch your video and buy your product or service, here are a few landing page video strategies. Grab and Keep Their Attention You have just fifteen seconds to get the visitor’s attention. This means you must immediately hook and compel your visitors to want to watch the entire video before looking at anything else on your site. It’s very tempting to engage in self-promotion, but video viewers…

We’ve discussed many times the importance of proper production and distribution of your video, but one of the questions that comes us from our clients is whether they should embed their content from YouTube or Vimeo, or whether to self-host. Embed or self host? There are benefits and drawbacks to both. Advantages of Embedding One key advantage to embedded video is its effectiveness for Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Hundreds of thousands of people visit YouTube every second, and it is one of the highest-ranking websites anywhere on the web. Embedding your business video will help you grow your audience and increase your potential for click-throughs from YouTube.Vimeo is another great video platform that many businesses prefer. Though it doesn’t have…

You’ve taken that important step in creating a video for your website – whether a video introduction to your business, promoting a product or service, or simply a commercial to spread on social media. There are several factors you need to think about producing videos for your website. Production Value Production Value is your planning process for the content of the video and contains your production strategy, the content of the story, the quality of the production and the location – because where the video will be set is important and will differ depending on what you are producing and why. You’ll need to think about the type of cameras depending on the setting and conditions, about the audio, effects and…