Blah blah blah - WAIT - DON’T GO!

How to balance your urge to talk, with your audience’s desire to listen

Everyone has something to say - though sadly, not always for the benefit of someone else! Face it, it’s part of being human. We all have the right to express ourselves alongside the desire to do it. So when you need to talk directly to an audience using a one-way communication channel, like video, how can you keep them listening to you instead of talking to you?

It’s a fine line you tread between keeping your audience engaged and ticking your own marketing boxes. There’s no perfect science you can apply to produce a ROI fairytale ending, but I believe there are some key fundamentals that should be considered when working with video before you get to anything overly strategic. If you start with these in mind, the brand/customer balance will be right where it should be. Read on...

HAVE A CLEAR MESSAGE

A challenge for any comms professional is usually an editorial one. What stays in and what goes out? That’s why any briefing document should contain these two simple questions:

1. What are the key messages?

2. What do you want your audience to think, believe, feel, do after watching your content?

Ideally, this first question would be ‘What IS your key message?’ – what single USP is going to make you stand out when everyone else is shouting about what THEY do better. But it’s almost impossible to commit to just one. And it’s understandable. There are usually many valid points to get across in such a competitive comms space - but resorting to a ‘throw it and see what sticks’ approach will only ever confuse.

Instead, be confident of your proposition and showcase what really differentiates you from the crowd.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

‘Simplicity’ in this context is about the delivery of your messages. There’s always a danger of having too many contributors in a programme - but how simple can you go? Sometimes all a communication needs to be is just a CEO, or business leader piece-to-camera, no one else required. That’s as simple as it gets. But my heart gently weeps when the ‘leader’ talks for 10+minutes, without passion, clarity or confidence - on the flip side, when you get it right it can be quite captivating.

Ok, not a fair comparison at all but I'll do it anyway - a perfect demonstration of the power of a direct single voice is Radiohead’s No Surprises or Sinead O’Conner singing Nothing Compares to You. One unchanging shot made absolutely captivating by the performer – the perfect timing of Sinead O’Conner’s tear falling is perfection - and not planned!

My point here, is think hard about the presentation and how much focus can be achieved by removing the potential clutter. Yes there are risks to oversimplifying and it leaves no hiding places, but you can slowly introduce visual tools back into the video to support your presenter – music, graphics, and text. Even if the messaging is spot-on, in this case, it’s all about the delivery.

KEEP IT SHORT

One way to keep content engaging is to keep it short and direct. Again, only focussing on 1 or 2 key messages will allow the material to be short and sweet. This is more likely to win over a potentially uncaptive audience without them begrudging you for interrupting their busy lives. They will learn something without conflict and so love you more for it.

If you can’t get your presenter to be more emotional, dynamic or interesting, or agree to cut any content, try breaking your content up into separate programmes connected thematically, or visually as a series. That’s the social strategy taken by most brands – create as many touchpoints without being overbearing. So rather than serve up a marketing feast to leave everyone intellectually bloated, try serving up some bite size marketing hors d'oeuvre instead!

EMOTION WORKS

Lastly, even in corporate B2B environments you can get people on board by sharing passion and emotion. I’ve worked on many events highlights films. Essentially a high-energy, memories review of all the best bits! You see them at the end of every sports event too – with the message that says – thanks for investing your time and energy into the last xx hours. Here’s a reminder how worthwhile it all really was!

The strategy for this type of content is to pack it dense with emotion, faces, actions and key statements that best represent the tone, and lasting experience encouraged by the brand.

How do you want your audience to feel after watching this? Mostly energised, forgetful of the delays, dull bits and internal politics, and ready to commit to you to do it all over again, even harder!

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So those are some fundamentals of creating content so it has the best chance of actually getting your message across in full to your audience. When you’re looking to use video to sell, promote or educate, you won’t have a second chance to recapture your viewer – if they lose interest, it’s very unlikely they’ll come back for a second try, so make it work right from the start.

Don’t put YOUR objectives or stories YOU want to tell above the needs and desires of your audience. If you do, then you’re heading down a slippery slope to the ‘No Views’ content graveyard. And that's a sad place to be!

Instead, be bold; know when to hold back and when to push on. Just like Goldilocks, you need something not too hot, and not too cold…but just right!

Maybe you’ll have that ROI fairytale ending after all.

For support with your Strategy, Creative and Production - or if you just like a happy ending for your content - get in touch