How to get attention with short videos

“Attention of a goldfish” is a phrase you often hear to describe the way we use social media.

I argue that this is incorrect.

We are more than happy to sit through a 1-hour Minecraft Let’s Play video or binge-watch an entire season of an epic show on Netflix. It’s not that we can’t focus, it’s that we are selective on what we focus on. And it all starts with grabbing our attention which is where most businesses get it so wrong!

Social Media is throwing a lot at us all at once as we scroll down our feed, and this is where short-form video content needs to step up so that we stop and watch instead of scrolling right by it.

Here are some attention-grabbing fundamentals that every short-form video creator should use:

Video inside a frame

Don’t just upload your video but rather create a special frame for your video – this outlines the title of the video and the content that will be shown

Use Text Animation

Having an interesting, funny, or thought-provoking message as the first frame is likely to catch the viewer’s attention. For the best results, keep the text short and relevant and use bright, bold fonts.

Juxtaposing the text and background colors will help in establishing your point.

Get To The Point

Remember that your video is interrupting the viewer’s scroll through their social media feed. So get to the point!

An average viewer does not go past the first 10 seconds of a video.

You need to utilize these precious seconds by directly jumping to the point and showing value. When you want to create a short video for social media, you may want to use an intro maker to create a poignant first impression.

Study Your Data

Use data analytics to find the average watch time of the videos that you upload on different social media platforms. Knowing the point at which your viewers dropped off will help you figure out what went wrong and brainstorm ways of creating better content.

Focus on the post-engagement section to understand the reach of your video. This is especially useful if the call-to-action (CTA) of your video takes the viewer to a landing page for purchase.

You can then study the number of clicks received and other relevant data in order to create a better strategy that connects with your audience.

Use Tags Wisely

Tags play an instrumental role in increasing the reach of a video. When you upload a promotional video on any social media platform, make sure that you tag the people who have contributed to it, are mentioned in it, or those who have inspired you to make the video.

However, make sure that the people you tag in the post are relevant to the video. Randomly tagging any celebrity in a desperate effort to reach out to their followers will do your brand more harm than good.

Use Captions

When you venture into the world of short video making, you need to realize that a lot of people have their phones on silent. Therefore, you need to have captions so people can follow along even without sound. Also, remember that not everyone speaks the language that is spoken in the video and therefore having captions helps non-native-speaking people follow along.

Captions can also serve hearing-challenged customers, so don’t forget to include captions in your videos.

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