Guide to Keeping Your Viewers Engaged for Longer with Online Video

Online video and how to keep your viewers engaged for longer

Online video marketing provides businesses with a powerful new way of bringing their product to new audiences. When you put your video online, however, you’re putting yourself in competition with many other demands on your viewers’ attention. As a result, the conventional wisdom about video production is that you need to keep your video nice and short. The most commonly quoted ideal length is a minute or less.

The numbers definitely back up this idea; studies have shown that viewers are far less likely to turn off a 30-second video than they are to turn off a video between one and two minutes in length. The lesson seems simple: keep your video short.

This is all very well, but what if the subject you need to cover in your video takes longer than one minute to explain? After all, a minute isn’t very long, and complex subjects necessarily have complex explanations. A sixty-second explanation of a two-minute subject isn’t going to turn viewers into customers; it’s going to leave them confused and dissatisfied. In video production as in everything else, content is king — and as a result, you’re occasionally going to have to create a longer video.

So how do you keep the attention of fickle viewers throughout a longer video? Nothing is certain, but there are a few tips you can use to encourage your potential customers to stick around for the conclusion.

First and most importantly, don’t make your video any longer than it needs to be. Viewers are willing to be patient if they see that a long video is long because it contains lots of important information. They won’t wait for a video that seems long because the script isn’t tightly constructed or because unnecessary details are being included.

Creating an element of suspense is another important factor in keeping the attention of viewers. Begin your video with a question that you intend to answer, enticing the audience to follow along with you as you explain the process.

Beginning with a question or promise doesn’t mean that you should conceal the point of your presentation. In journalism, leaving critical information out of the introduction to a story is known as “burying the lede”. In video production, it’s just as serious a mistake. Unless viewers understand the content and importance of what they’re about to see, they won’t stick around for the finale.

If you’d like an online video production with a great story that will keep your viewers engaged and will persuade them to buy then contact us. We are your friendly experts in video production – call us on 01527 910050

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