Increasing your audience engagement can be difficult with so many distractions and information taking viewers' attention from one thing to the next. With that being said, how do you grab the attention of your audience when so many odds are against you.
If you want to increase your engagement on social media, you want to make sure you are talking to your buying audience and know them so well that you speak their language. So many business owners take the time to create their video content with expectations of people flocking to buy from them but fail to say things that they are looking to know. This added to not talking to the right audience leaves you frustrated and ready to quit. In this blog, we’re going to talk about finding your buying market, learning how to speak their language, and knowing which platforms are best for you to post where your audience will best receive your message.
Identify your Target Audience and Create Video Content that Speaks to their Interests
There are many reasons to use video content in your business, but if you want your content to be effective, you have to direct it to a specific audience. This is called your Buyer Audience, also known as Target Audience. Knowing who your target audience is will help you communicate to them exactly what you want to get across in the way they need to hear it. For instance, if your target audience is baby boomers, you wouldn’t create video content talking like a Gen Z’er.
To identify your target audience, there are 3 things you want to look for. Demographics, Psychographics, and Behavior Profile. Demographics are statistical data relating to the population and particular groups within it. This can include age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, income, education, and employment. Psychographics is the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research. An example of this would be someone's interests, activities, and opinions. You can also use these to create your video content. Lastly, a Behavior Profile is the act of suspecting or targeting a person based on observed characteristics or behavior. By understanding your target market's preferences and adapting your marketing strategies in response, you can optimize the likelihood of selling to them.
Knowing these 3 things will put you in the shoes of your audience understanding them like the back of your hand. You’ll know how they think, what they feel, what they wear, smell, hear, and touch. Doing this will allow you to communicate directly with them and them receiving your messaging and wanting to engage more with your video content. You can get more on how to find your target audience from this blog:
Research your Audience to see What Kind of Video Content they’re looking for
Once you have identified your target audience, now it’s time to look at the type of content you’ll need to create. There are many different types of video content to choose from. From Reels to Video posts to Stories and so on. What’s important is to know what kind of content your audience prefers to view and engage with. Let’s say you run a food truck and you want to start creating video content. You personally like to use LinkedIn to network with others in the industry so you’re thinking about posting your content there. According to this blog, LinkedIn may not be the best place to post your content. It says, “LinkedIn is great for blog posts, written content, articles, and guides. Make sure you create in-depth articles between 1,500 and 2,000 words.” So even though you may get some engagement, the Idea is to create the content that your audience wants to see on the preferred platform they want to see it.
Analyze and Decide on the Right Platform for your Video Content
Another way you can make sure you are reaching the right audience on the right platform is to think about the type of content you would like to create. You may want to create content promoting your product or service, or content that shows off your brand. You may want to create content that shows off your personality. Those three different types of content can be posted on different platforms. Deciding the type of content you want to create, can help you decide which platform to post your content.
One other question you can ask yourself to help pick a platform is to identify where your audience is located. Think about it. If you were a divorce lawyer, you wouldn’t go to the courthouse looking for newlyweds to promote your services. It’s the same with content. Where can you post your content that will give you the best chance for your target audience to see it? This may be difficult to ask without knowing which type of content is best for which platform. You can take a look at this blog to learn more about insights on the top 5 social media platforms.
Make sure your Videos are Engaging and Creative
Business owners need to maintain their audience's attention with engaging and creative social media video content. The introductory part of the video is crucial in ensuring viewers continue watching. Research conducted by Wistia indicates that viewers lose interest after around 2 seconds of watching a video, so it is necessary to pique their interest during that time. One way to draw viewers in is to use an attention-grabbing hook at the beginning. Using compelling visual elements such as animations, and infographics, or using influential people can help sustain viewers' interest.
Leave Your Audience wanting more
One of the most important things to include in your video content to keep your audience engaged is a hook. A hook is a sentence or a couple of sentences that attempt to grab the reader's attention to want to read more. You want a hook in most if not all of your content because the longer someone looks at your content, the more engaged they will be, and the more they would be willing to react to your content. The hook is all about the wording and how you put your words together to draw the attention of your audience. If you want to know more about writing hooks, you can check this out.
How long should your Video Content be?
When creating video content, sometimes business owners can get caught up in explaining everything about what they do, how their product or service can help, or their purchasing process, and word vomit all on the audience at one time. This results in a long-length video that is not engaging and doesn’t hold the attention of your audience. Your video content should be short and to the point. If you use a platform like Instagram to post your video content, it is best to limit your content length to 30 seconds to 1 minute. That way you can keep the attention of your audience and create multiple videos for your audience to enjoy.
Captivating Title and Description
Just like the hook, having a captivating title and description can not only get the attention of your audience but also can have your content perform well with SEO. This can work well when your audience is scrolling through social media. They may miss your video content but can still read the caption and description of your video, become interested, and engage with you by viewing, liking, commenting, or sharing.
Tell A Story
Storytelling in your content is another great way to keep your audience engaged in your content. I want to share a video that went viral and was told in a story format. It was about a grandmother giving a strange gift to her great-grandson for his 1st birthday. (Notice the hook I just gave)
Take A Look!
Share Behind-The-Scenes footage to make Viewers Feel More Connected with you and/or your Product/Service
If you want to create a high level of engagement with your audience, think about doing more behind-the-scenes video content. I will bring this point home with an example. Have you ever gone to a concert and paid for backstage passes? How was that experience? Were you able to see the artist? See them in their element. Getting ready for the show or the excitement they had after the show? If that has happened to you, I want you to think back on that moment. If you’ve never experienced it, I want you to imagine it. That same feeling you have when you are backstage with your favorite artist is the same feeling you can give to your audience. Showing them what it’s like to own a business not only can inspire them but can also give them insight into what it means to run a business.
Your audience follows you because of who you are. If you are authentic enough, they can see you in different elements and start to feel like they know you. This is when your engagement skyrockets and you gain more than followers, you start to gain buyers. They trust you, they feel they know you, they like and love you. All the components are there to gain an engaged client or customer and that’s what you want in your business. You can also engage your audience with polls, Q&As, and other interactive elements. With the attention span getting shorter every day, it is important as a business owner to keep the attention of your audience on you and your business as much as possible. With the many creative ways talked about in this blog, you can take your audience engagement on social media from low and non-existent to high and people being excited to see what you have next.
To sum it up, the key to creating successful video content lies in getting to know your target audience and researching their interests. Once you have a better understanding of what makes them tick, you can create engaging and creative content that meets their needs. Analyzing which platforms provide the best user experience is also important for video success. Don't forget to include interactive elements such as Q&As or polls, as well as behind-the-scenes footage that allows viewers to connect with you or your product/service on a more human level. Taking the time to consider all of these things will pay off in the long run and leave viewers wanting more!