So users are looking for it, and usually finding it on social behemoths like YouTube and Facebook, but some great digital publishers are doing a great job as well. We’ve gathered here a few tips from the pros on what you can do to get your users attention in this highly competitive area.
Video Engagement From Start to Finish
Keeping them interested with a good story is important (and you can read all about it here), but first make sure they‘ll give it a bit of attention. This means -
A Catchy Title
The importance of the title cannot be exaggerated, you know you click on clickbait every day, so do your users. Stimulate curiosity and leave questions unanswered, that way users will just have to click to bridge the knowledge gap.
An Eye Catching Thumbnail
You’ve probably heard a million times “don’t judge a book by its cover”, which may be solid advice, but arguably the most neglected. Pictures with eye-pleasing visuals, hinting on what the user will see inside will do the trick.
Relevance Relevance Relevance
We all know about banner blindness and one of the main reasons for it is that humans block out information that is not relevant to them. Either make it contextually relevant to the article, or match it specifically to the users’ interest, and you can raise engagement by up to 300%.
All in the Start
We’ve heard a million times about the importance of first impression in inter-relations instances such as dating and interviews, and the same goes for videos. The stats tell us that users decide within the first 8 seconds if they’re going to give the video a chance. Put the main point right in the start, and cut right to the chase.
A Perfect Fit
Of course, if it’s a huge video player high-jacking the users’ whole browser, then he’s bound to get engaged; yet probably in a bad way. On the other hand, a tiny player on the bottom and to the side will miss him entirely. So instead of disrupting through an intrusive unit, use a perfectly fitting video unit; that way it can be fairly big to capture users attention, and at the same time offering an uninterrupted user journey. This lets the content do the magic of capturing their attention, instead of video units that are out of place and out of flow.
Now That You're a Video Engagement Master...
Now you’ve mastered video engagement with a good title and a catchy cover photo, used technology to match the users’ interest perfectly, put your content in the perfect placement, and you want to know what’s next. How to tell a good story and keep him engaged? How to make sure he watches another one, and stays on page? Subscribe below to get our next articles.
