Focus on the first 10 seconds of your video. If you look at your YouTube audience retention and stats, you’ll probably notice that approximately 20% of your viewers drop off in the first 10 seconds. If video is important for your business, this is a very big deal.
About 18 months ago, the phenomenon began taking place, primarily due to social media. When viewers click on your video attracted by the topic, the title, the thumbnail, or just because it popped up in the right place at the right time, you’ve earned your first win.
Now, you need to hook them in and make them stay for the entire video, and the pre-roll, of course. And the first 10 seconds of your video are crucial for that. So, what’s the biggest thing you need to communicate in these 10 seconds?
Benefits.
Ask yourself, why should people view your video? What solution are you providing them? What pain are you relieving them off? How will they benefit through this video?
Be specific. Be clear. Be extremely relevant.
3-Step Process
You’ve got your video script ready. Now you need to create the perfect 10-second opening to hook in your audience.
Here’s how you do that.
Step 1: Outline the main message of your script
Ask yourself, “Why should my audience listen to this?” “How will it make their lives better?” “What is the one most important message I need to give my audience through this video?”
Condense your entire video script down to one message. “What is it that you’re trying to solve, show or describe?”
Involve others. Show friends, family, colleagues and your employees the script or video and ask them, “What key message did they receive through this video?”
Step 2: Tweet it and post it on Facebook like you mean it.
Now, write it down and make sure you’re using 150 or less characters. Anything more and it’s too long. Trim, trim, trim till it’s under 150 characters. Write it on twitter to further restrict yourself.
Tips:
- Use 4th grade English. Use layman terms. Avoid using fancy English words.
- Forget about creating perfect sentences – with a verb, a noun and a proper structure.
- Ask a friend\family member\employee to sit with you and tell them the message. The sentence will flow better, it’ll be conversational, and you can’t blame writer’s block for procrastinating.
- Use words and terms that your audience uses to describe their pain.
- Avoid using multiple adjectives – instead use a stronger adjective.
- Use active voice, not passive voice.
- Focus more on ‘you’, instead of ‘I’, ‘we’, etc.
- Simplify your message as much as you can.
The same, short concise message also applies to Facebook. Keep it short, use slightly more complete sentences, and make sure the message summarizes the video. Again, benefits, tease, solutions.
Step 3: Get straight to the point
Typically, older YouTube videos have these long introductions that give a high-level view of the topic at-hand. So, for a video on keyword research most would say something like “Keyword research is important for SEO because, blah, blah, blah.”
And it turns out that the audience retention is actually terrible!
Today, simply just reiterate what the person will learn in the video. For example: “In this video you’ll learn how to X.”
Center Your Video Around the Story, Not The Sale
There is a heap of sales clutter on the Internet that is actively annoying and repelling your customers. Don’t let your brand do that. Instead, your video should be centered around the story and not the sale. Remember that the same rules that apply for written content marketing apply for video marketing. You should concentrate on the value you’re providing for your customers.
Make the most of the emotive power of video by appealing to your consumers’ needs and hidden desires. Scared you’ll lose leads this way? You can always place a strategic and relevant call to action alongside a tracked URL at the end of your video as long as it fits into your overall story.
Make your Video Feature the Best 10 Seconds Ever!
One-fifth of viewers will click away from a video within 10 seconds or less. Short and to the point – that’s what the video experts are recommending. Our advice? Get right to the grit of the tale and manage expectations from the outset (within the first 5 to 10 seconds).
Try sparking your audience’s curiosity by asking questions and using teasers to hook their attention right away.
Your video should immediately convey its value and answer that “why should I watch it?” question that will be on your audience’s mind. Should they watch it because it will make them laugh, because it will inspire them to act or because it will teach them something new?
Remember our video marketing Tips 101 – making the first 10 seconds count!
