Video Content That Helps You Stand Out From Your Competitors
“There is nothing new under the sun, it’s not how you do it but how it’s done”
This quote is about as real as it gets. Businesses face competition in every facet from products to services. Markets are flooded with the same offers. Advertisements that target the same demographic are using the same marketing ploy. Now more than ever, as a business you need to learn how to stand out from competitors.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, shows that 20% of national small businesses fail within the first year, 50% by the fifth year, and by the tenth year, only a quarter are still in business. An even scarier statistic is that Yelp noted that 41% of all business closures reported in March 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic, were permanent.
According to Lendingtree.com, out of the top 20 reasons businesses failed, 14% were due to poor marketing, and 19% were out-competed.
So how does a business create video content that makes it stand out from the competition?
First Impression
The first look a customer has of your video, will either catch their eye or they will move on. A thumbnail that instantly grabs the viewers’ attention, and a caption that sparks their interest are extremely important. Thumbnails with imagery that creates curiosity and a caption that creates a need for the viewer to further explore, create clicks. Clicks = views. There are millions of videos out there, and many of them are trying to achieve the same goal as you are. That is to capture and hold on to your audience’s attention. e.g. Instead of using a thumbnail with a picture of soda bottle with a company’s logo, the company could use an image of a lamb fighting a lion over a soda. With the caption ‘Nothing gets between me and my soda!”. This takes away the dull image of a soda bottle and replaces it with an exciting visual and funny caption. Audiences want to click on the thumbnail just to see who wins the fight between the lamb and the lion inadvertently then learning about your brand
Create video content that’s different
Highlight what makes you different from the competition. Not just what you do better than the competition. Customers will gravitate towards something different. Something they can’t get anywhere else. Scrutinize your competition and go in the opposite direction. Doing what they do because it works, is a sure way to blend into the crowd.
Hook your audience instantly
Forget long, boring introductions. According to sociable.co, marketers have just 10 seconds to grab an audience and call them to action. If you miss this mark, engagement will drop significantly. Are your competitors’ videos effectively grabbing attention in the initial few seconds? If not this is an area you can stand-out and out-compete them.
Impacting your audience early = further engagement
The early stages of your video are likely where your audience has the least amount of patience. Once hooked by the introduction they are more likely to watch the entire video. Use your most captivating visuals and interesting subject matter at the start of the video. In the age of the world wide web, information is just a click away. Attention spans have shortened, and viewers are accustomed to getting instant gratification. Instagram and TikTok have become savvy to this trend and have adjusted accordingly.
Adjust your video lengths & formats
Life runs at a fast pace. People don’t have time for long videos and prefer to get their information in a short and quick fashion. Most commercials are either one minute or 30 seconds in length, though 15-second versions get the most views. Audiences see the length of the video before clicking. Long-running times can scare potential viewers.
Understand your chosen platform
Not all platforms are used in the same way. TikTok and Instagram are mostly used for quick or micro-videos that average 15 seconds or less. Facebook and YouTube videos average between 45 seconds and 4 minutes. So make sure to adjust your videos’ length and format to fit the platform you are presenting them on.
It’s ok to be you
You don’t have to conform to the rules and be like everyone else. Capitalize on what makes your brand unique and what makes it stand out. By adding your brand’s own true style and feel to a video, it becomes more personal. Once this is accomplished, keep drawing in the viewer who now identifies with your brand. When you try and do what other brands do, it comes across as fake and desperate.
Evoke emotion
Whether it’s joy and laughter, or fear and sadness, evoking emotion from your audience will get them invested. And again of your competitors are not doing this, it is a potential point of differentiation.
Appeal to their senses
Your potential customers are not robots that react solely to narratives and data. Music alone can lift your spirits, get you excited, cause you to be irritable, or even sad. Good audio and visuals can have physical effects. Think of how a soda commercial is used to make you thirsty. The sound of the can opening, the sight of water droplets running down a can. Play to the human senses and make them feel, not only hear and see.
Be bold and brash
Confidence creates confidence. Nobody is interested in a quiet, timid approach. Don’t be afraid to be self-assured. You will make believers by believing in your brand. Confidence is a form of guarantee.
Use comedy and wit
Most of us can’t resist a good laugh and a sharp workout for our intellect. Not only does being funny and smart get you noticed, but you will also be remembered!
Use exclusive storylines
Use unique stories with subject and character matter that audiences want to know more about. If it’s your first time hearing a good story, you will probably stick around for the ending.
Create fresh and current content
How many times have you searched the web and have randomly come across some new content that grabs your attention? We all naturally want to be kept in the loop. Use this engrained curiosity by creating fresh and current content. Audiences want something in return for their time. Regularly creating fresh and current content is a sure way to get people to return.
VideoFresh believes that videos should not only look great, but also perform great.
With every video that VideoFresh produces, it also performs deep analysis on key factors to set your content up for success. One of the key data sets that we examine is to research what your competition are producing and then to make sure we are differentiating your brand to stand out from what they are doing. Too many video production companies try to emulate what competitors are doing. Video Fresh takes a very different approach.
Wrap-up
The bottom line is that the better you are at creating video content that helps you stand-out from your competitors, the more market share you can grab. VideoFresh believes that researching your competitors and identifying how they can then produce videos that make you stand-out from them is a neccesary requirement that they perform for almost every video production project that they produce.
Are you looking to create video content that will blow your competitors away? If you are, lets chat.
Extras
Wanted to also share a few blogs that provide some additional ideas & strategies on how to on how stand-out from your competition.
From Laura Click at Blue Kite “10 Proven Ways to Make Your Business Stand Out From Competitors”
And from Trusted Shops, “9 Ways to Differentiate Yourself From Your Competition”