It's perfect.
Everything has its place.
Every part has its function.
It makes us who we are; on the outside anyway.
Sure we don't have to have all our body parts to function, live, and breathe.
However, we do need most of them to position ourselves as best as we can in the society we live in.
Whether we like it or not, our appearance has a profound effect on how people react to us.
Imagine I had an eye missing; would you look at me the same way?
Hold on; I have an idea…
What do you think?
(Arrgh…I just wasted 20 minutes of my day trying to figure out how to patch up my eye; this image better go viral!)
This was a very round-about way to get to the main point for the post:
In video marketing, the better your video comes together, the better desired reaction you'll get from your audience.
Quick note before we go on: I never said your videos have to be perfect.
As a matter of fact, that's precisely why many of you haven't even touched video production.
You think your videos need to be perfect to work – a non-existing concept that becomes a perfect excuse to hold yourself back.
Take the video I'll be talking about in this post.
It's fun, entertaining, has a great call to action, and a few blunders I wish weren't there.
It didn't stop me from publishing it though.
It has all the body parts it needs to achieve my conversion goals, and that makes it a perfectly profitable video.
I am going to drop the “human body” analogy now (it's getting on my nerves) and simply show you what makes up a great video that works.
The Video
Here's my most recent video I posted on YouTube.
It's a great example for this study, even though Ms. Ileane and I disagree on the subject (feel free to ask her in the comments why).
Either way, very kind of her to let me use it in this post anyway.
Why I wanted to use this specific video in this post:
1. It tells a story.
It's anything but your typical cut-and-dry boring video that quickly gets buried in YouTube archives.
2. It's very visual.
This is the first time I tried this format for a video.
If you look at it closely, it's very similar to a Slideshare presentation.
As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I designed it to be: a PDF presentation that can be submitted to Slideshare, various PDF directories, and, with an audio voice-over or just music playing in the background, can be easily turned into a video.
It's all a part of my new content leverage system.
3. It's effective.
It gives value AND it delivers conversions.
Now let's take this video apart to see what makes it work.
By the way, if you need a little help remembering all the pieces, I created a handy-dandy mind map to download and refer to – no opt-in whatsoever; just download it and follow me along as I take you through the anatomy of a perfect video.
Part 1. Introduction & Branding
You want your viewers to know who you are.
If it sounds obvious, it's because it is.
Yet, most video marketers forget to actually do it.
In this particular video, these are the main branding elements:
1. Video intro.
Video intro is a quick branding clip that opens a video.
To make one for your business, you basically have three choices:
- Make the video yourself.
- Use a site like Splasheo.com: about $40 for a basic customization.
- Outsource it on Fiverr.com – that's what I did to make the intro you see in this video. $5 can go a long way on Fiverr!
2. Topic introduction
This is where you tell your viewers:
- what your video is about;
- why they should watch it;
- (possibly) how long the video is.
3. Branding throughout
I made sure to add my Traffic Generation Café logo to every non-image slide.
Quick tip: always add your branding to the top left corner of your video.
If your video is monetized through ads or you use a custom player like Viewbix, there are usually too many icons placed at the bottom and to the right side of the video.
Top left corner is your best bet if you want your branding to be actually seen by your viewers.
Part 2. Give Value
You are not making this video to sell something; rather to teach something.
If you do everything else right, “selling” will come naturally.
Selling is a by-product of good marketing.
My video wasn't about Tweet Adder. It was about generating traffic from Twitter and presenting the exact steps I've taken to produce incredible results for my own blog.
Part 3. A Perfectly Profitable Video Has Multiple Calls to Action
Even though my video was about delivering valuable content to my viewers, I wasn't afraid to ask for the sale either.
And neither should you.
After all, we are in business to make money, NOT become sweatshop bloggers.
The ultimate goal of your video should be to get your viewers to DO something.
Whether it's:
- Click on your affiliate link;
- Subscribe to your list;
- Or even as simple as “Come to my blog!“…
…they won't do it, unless you specifically tell them to.
Also, it's important that you add your call to action (CTA) more than once.
In my Tweet Adder video I did it twice (actually, three times to be precise):
- Twice in the middle of the video (I simply surrounded one of the image slides with my CTA slide – I didn't give any call to action, just paused for a second there);
- At the end of the video.
As long as you provide value in the video, plus choose an appropriate offer to go with it, your viewers won't mind seeing it.
Examples of CTAs
Not that I am great with it, but the following calls to action seemed to have worked well in my videos.
1. From the video above:
2. Another affiliate call to action (from this video on how to install WordPress):
Affiliate link tip: since you can't currently add active clickable links to your videos, make sure you create a memorable link for each and every video you make.
For instance, in this video I used Bit.ly URL shortner since most viewers will be familiar with it already; then added a simple customized extension.
3. Opt-In call to action
Most of the videos I make are educational and are not meant to sell anything at all.
It doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a CTA in those videos.
The following video outro was made to drive YouTube traffic to my email building opt-in page:
If you are turning green with video outro envy, take it easy; I told you $5 go a long way on Fiverr.com.
If you don't have $5, you are not off the hook.
Put together a slide with your blog logo or anything else that will make your viewers remember you and stick it at the end of your videos – ANY videos, whatever the topic.
Just like I did with this entirely unrelated clip from one of my favorite movies Moonstruck:
As you can see – the sky is the limit as to what you can do to use videos to brand your business, drive traffic, and increase sales.
Last point on calls to action:
Don't forget to add your CTA in the description of the video; preferably at the very beginning.
And you got it: do it more than once!
Part 4. Recap with a Conclusion
Always sum up what your viewers just saw and most importantly how they'll BENEFIT if they actually apply what they've just learned.
Part 5. Advise
This is a powerful psychological factor that many successful marketers use in their sales material:
Make it their decision!
Advise them of what they might want to do at this point, as in:
- “if you want to…”
- “I would…”
… but leave the final decision up to them – after all, it's their decision to make, isn't it?
Part 6. Another Call to Action
Just in case you already forgot:
Your call to action should be the last thing you leave your viewers with.
Part 7. Linger
Drag your call to action a bit at the end.
Give your views a chance to digest and make a decision.
Encourage them to take action by saying something like:
Click on the link below to get it / read it right now.
Another great reason to do it is YouTube's related videos.
You know how YouTube loves to pop them up on a viewers' screen the second your video is over?
If the person is considering your offer, but gets distracted by those videos too quickly, you might've just lost your chance to get them to act.
How long should you linger?
Up to you, of course.
In my example video, I dragged for about 10 seconds at the end. Seems natural.
Marketing Takeaway
There's a recipe to every successful video.
You just saw mine.
If I were you, I'd take it as a base, make the necessary adjustments for your specific business and niche, and apply it to all your future videos.
Start by downloading my Anatomy to a Perfect Video mind map here and let me know your progress.
Have fun storming the castle!
