How to create engaging video content: 5 tips for success.

1. Understand your audience.

The first step is to understand and define who you’re creating video content for. ‘My audience’, you might reply – but who exactly is your audience?

The best way to start building an image of your prospective viewers is by conducting some analysis. Start by gathering as much information as possible, so you know you have a solid, accurate base from which to start creating engaging videos. You could do this by:

• Looking at your social media analytics. This will give you a good idea of who’s engaging with your brand. Analytics are also a great way to learn more about audience behaviours.
• Sending out questionnaires. Feedback is one of your most vital tools. Listening to your audience is one of the best ways to learn more about them. So, why not upload a few polls on your social channels, or send out a questionnaire as part of your customer journey.
• Researching your platforms. Each platform will have a different base of users. For example, around 29% of Instagram’s 34 million UK users in 2023 were aged between 25 and 34.

It’s important to note that this process might take some trial and error. But learning from mistakes and audience reactions is key to making relevant and engaging videos – so experiment and see what happens!

3. Conduct a competitor analysis.

So, now you know who you’re creating video content for – and who you are – it’s time to understand your competitors. Competitor analysis can help you gain important insights into other brands in your market.

It can help you understand more about their products and marketing and sales tactics. Importantly, it helps you see what works when looking to produce engaging video content – and what doesn’t.

This can feel like quite a big job, and it’s not always easy to know where to start. Let’s break it down with a few simple steps.

1. Make a list of your competitors. Start by simply identifying who your competitors are. If you run a bakery, you might look at coffee shops on your local high street, while a clothing brand might be competing with bigger brands online. Make a list of around 10-15 and begin from there.
2. Watch their most popular videos and make notes. Think about things like the type of content they’re making (tutorials, product releases, trends) and what they’re making the videos about. Look into the stats behind video length, views and popular content.
3. Pick out any obvious strategies used. Are they utilising popular keywords in their descriptions, titles or tags? What hashtags do they tend to target?
4. Analyse audience feedback. How are people reacting to their content? This will give you a great insight into the possible tactics you could replicate.
5. Identify gaps, failures and successes. Moving on from the above, where are they falling short? How could you improve on their strategy? Write it all down!

4. Practice crafting narratives.

Whatever your video content is about – and however short – it should follow some form of narrative. Video storytelling is an important tool, as it can help provide that initial hook and keep people watching. A great narrative can tell a story about your brand or the products you create and lead your audience towards a conversion more effectively.

You can create effective video narratives by:

• Defining the story arc. Where do you want the narrative to end? E.g. is your aim to encourage people to buy? Do you want to entertain, inform? How do you plan to get there?
• Practicing editing. Seamlessly sequencing your narrative is important – so it’s time to start practicing pulling it all together. Platforms like Adobe Express have all the tools you need to get started, whatever your experience.
• Getting creative. One of the more creative aspects of creating engaging videos is making them look amazing. Keep to your defined brand image, but have fun with graphics, animations and illustrations.