Our attention spans are getting shorter. In fact, research from Microsoft found that the average person’s attention span dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015. Marketers are catering to the shorter attention spans of today with several strategies, including the use of micro videos across many platforms. Micro videos are generally defined as clips shorter than 15 seconds. They allow businesses and influencers to present a focused message within the short time that most viewers will be paying attention.
A micro video is the perfect choice for use on social media platforms, where attention can be extremely limited by dense and highly personalized content feeds. In this post, we’ll discuss several best practices for producing effective micro videos. These suggestions are broad enough to apply to nearly any industry, with advice for defining micro video strategies and tactics that suit your target audience.
Set Clear Goals
As with any important work, having clear and strong goals is an absolute necessity. Micro videos may be small and bite-sized pieces of content, but they still require careful planning if you want to create a quality product that generates results. The use of micro videos should support your existing organizational and marketing priorities that may include launching a new product or improving customer satisfaction. When establishing your micro video goals, try to keep things simple. Select the metric(s) that you expect to improve from launching micro videos and create a schedule for reviewing progress during your campaign.
Select a Promotion Strategy
Micro videos are a great tool to use for omnichannel marketing strategies that include social media. Since a micro video can be easily shared across many platforms, it’s possible to build significant brand awareness in a short amount of time. When designing a promotion strategy, it’s always helpful to segment your target customers at the start of the process. Audience segmentation helps when selecting the best potential micro videos for each platform. Videos that are properly targeted have a greater chance of connecting with each viewer.
Design a Recording Workflow
Another important best practice when creating micro videos is designing a recording workflow. This process much easier if you already produce video content, as you can likely use most or all your existing software and equipment. The post-production steps are crucial for micro videos as the compatible formats, such as file type or aspect ratio, may differ between platforms. Many marketers also mix a variety of video content such as live-action, animations, and screen recordings to produce high-quality and unique micro videos.
Choose a Video Style
The tone and visual style of your micro videos is just as important as any other marketing materials. Before shooting any micro video content, it can be helpful to define the intended tone for your video, such as informative or entertaining. Since the run time of a micro video is so short, a viewer must be able to recognize and understand your basic theme nearly immediately.
Following proven video production best practices such as optimizing lighting and making use of the entire screen size are important. It can also be beneficial to reference a brand style guide for information regarding style choices such as colors, watermarks, and text sizes. One final suggestion is to always include a clear call to action (CTA) within each video. This can be challenging when only working with a few seconds of video content but directing viewers to a particular action is one of the best ways to achieve strong marketing results.
Write a Script
One great way to save time is recording videos in batches, creating several micro videos in a relatively short period of time. When producing your clips, it is always a good idea to work from a script even if it’s just a basic one. Good dialogue gets to the point quickly, and a well-written script will help deliver a clear and professional message that’s in line with your brand voice. Scripts are also useful for rehearsing any prepared lines.
Streamline Your Distribution
Another valuable best practice for micro videos is streamlining your content distribution. Micro videos have become a highly effective marketing tool in today’s fast paced world, and you should test the performance of your strategies by collecting and reviewing data. Always review the metadata associated with each clip including hashtags, titles, keywords, and descriptions to ensure maximum visibility. You can also run A/B tests and other marketing assessments to determine which clips perform best for certain use cases.
Micro videos are a useful way to capture audiences’ short attention spans and deliver a concise marketing message. Digital tools make it easier to optimize your planning, production, and distribution steps so you can achieve excellent results in minimal time. The best practices presented in this post can help you develop a micro video strategy that adds value to your existing brand marketing objectives.
Hello, My name is Shari & I am a writer for the ‘Outlook AppIns’ blog. I’m a CSIT graduate & I’ve been working in the IT industry for 3 years.