Complete Guide for Creating Video Content That Converts
No one can ignore the importance and influence of video in today’s fast-moving world.
People nowadays consume more content than ever before and we can only assume that the numbers will be going up.
In fact, live streaming events have seen a remarkable increase of 300% between March and August 2020.
In this context, creating videos that convert and videos that people actually want to engage with is important, both for individuals and brands.
Because of the importance of such a topic, we’ve created this guide in which we’re going to talk about:
- Creating a video headline that draws attention
- Cross-promotion of video content on various online platforms
- Creating videos with clear calls-to-action (CTAs)
Plus, some more things you can do to make sure you create high-quality content that converts.
Let’s get into it.
6 Ways for Creating Video Content That Converts:
- Create a Headline That Draws Attention
- Pay Attention to Your Copy
- Cross-Promote Your Video on Different Channels
- Keep it Short
- Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
- Tell a Story
#1 Create a Headline That Draws Attention
The first thing to do when it comes to creating high-converting video content is to create a catchy headline.
A headline that catches the eye of the viewer can be extremely powerful in terms of helping you increase your content’s engagement level.
That’s not to say that a great headline will definitely get your video viewed, but it’s definitely a great place to start.
Let’s get into an example that’ll help us illustrate this.
Example #1: Gary Vaynerchuck
Our first example comes from the YouTube channel of well-known entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck, whose YouTube channel, with over three million subscribers, is called GaryVee.
Source: YouTube
The video you see above is just one out of many examples of catchy headlines that can be found on the GaryVee YouTube channel.
Many of Gary’s video headlines are giving his audience some sort of excitement and curiosity in terms of wanting to engage with the content and definitely makes them want to click the play button and get to know what this “advice” is that all of us need to know.
Right?
Example #2: Tara Michelle
The second example we’d like to show you comes from Tara Michelle, a famous Canadian YouTuber.
Source: YouTube
Tara’s YouTube channel, and pretty much all content she’s putting out there, is based on sharing her lifestyle and personal information with her audience.
The screenshot above gives you a little taste of the topics her channel is dealing with.
More specifically, this video headline is interesting because the first half of it creates some sort of anticipation and makes viewers want to know more about, but what really catches the attention of the viewer is the second half.
This short phrase – “that change my life” – definitely makes the viewer feel curious, thus making watching the video irresistible.
Example #3: Rosanna Pansino
Rosanna Pansino, famous YouTuber and influencer, has a large following of almost thirteen million subscribers on YouTube.
Source: YouTube
When it comes to the video content she’s creating for her YouTube audience, Rosanna seems to know exactly how to make a viewer click on the Play button.
Her video headline here is short and sweet, while still managing to fire up the viewers’ interest.
How about having a look at one final example of a great video headline?
Example #4: Jeffree Star
American YouTuber and make-up artist Jeffree Star is one of those content creators that definitely knows how to catch the attention of the audience.
Source: YouTube
Undeniably, Jeffree’s been very successful in terms of sharing all kinds of stories, makeup tutorials, and vlogs with his audience on YouTube and other social media platforms.
Short, provocative, and intriguing video headlines are a powerful way to catch attention and Jeffree is definitely making use of them.
Exactly as shown above.
#2 Pay Attention to Your Copy
Your video copy is one of the first things someone is going to see from your video.
Based on the medium you’re using to post your video, your copy might look different.
However, whether it’s Facebook video copy, a YouTube video description, or an Instagram video caption, it better be great and engaging.
The examples we’ve collected for you will give you a clear idea of great copy and captions.
Example #1: Tony Robbins
Content that converts is content that gets shared and makes viewers want to engage with it.
Tony Robbins seems to know a thing or two about creating exactly this type of content.
Source: YouTube
What you see above is the copy of a YouTube video posted by Robbins some months ago.
The video currently has around 300,000 views and over 4,000 likes on YouTube.
Its copy is engaging and honest, while also giving the viewer all the information they might want to know about the video before they even get to watch, or even after they do.
Example #2: Neil Patel
Author, marketer, and entrepreneur Neil Patel owns, among other things, a successful niche YouTube channel.
Here we see the copy from one of his recent videos:
Source: YouTube
Although the copy might be considered quite long, the main point of it, the sentences that almost all viewers will read, is given in the first paragraph that’s highlighted in red.
As simple as that!
Example #3: Oprah Winfrey
Don’t know if you were expecting to read about Oprah in a blog post about video that converts?
However, one thing is for sure: Oprah knows how to create engaging content for her audience.
Source: Facebook
The copy she’s written to introduce the readers to her video conversation with former US President Barack Obama is funny and direct.
Having this type of copy can make users not only want to watch, but also want to comment on and share it.
#3 Cross-Promote Your Video on Different Channels
Cross-promotion is essential when it comes to getting more people to view your video and thus encourage more people to convert.
How does cross-promotion work?
Let’s assume that you’ve published your video on YouTube.
You should try to promote your video – or snippets of your video – to other channels, such as, Facebook or your newsletter highlights, as a way to reach more people.
Let’s see an example.
Example #1: Neil Patel
Remember the Neil Patel YouTube video copy we saw a little further up in this post?
Well, the very same video was also published on the same day on Patel’s Facebook account.
Source: Facebook
The level of engagement is very high if you consider that this is a niche video that’s not going to be watched by everyone.
In this case, cross-promoting the video can be very beneficial because it can reach both his YouTube and Facebook audiences.
Example #2: Outbrain
Outbrain obviously knows how to create high-converting videos and other types of content.
As an example, we’re using just one of of many videos that has been posted both on YouTube:
Source: YouTube
As well as on Facebook:
Source: Facebook
Like we’ve already covered, doing this increases the chances of your video getting the attention it deserves!
The following example also illustrates the same point.
Example #3: Airfocus
Prioritization and roadmapping tool Airfocus is yet another great example of content repurposing, even though the niche nature of the team’s content might make reaching a high level of engagement a little tricky.
Source: YouTube
As we can see, all of their videos are posted both on YouTube and Facebook.
Source: Facebook
The reason we’re sharing this example with you is to show you that, no matter how big your reach is, you should be doing your best to reach as much of your audience as possible.
Example #4: Rosanna Pansino
We’ve already seen Rosanna Pansino and her super successful YouTube channel.
We’re now looking at an example of a cross-promoted video.
Have a look at the YouTube video:
Source: YouTube
Here’s the same content posted on Rosanna’s Instagram account.
Source: Instagram
This way, you’re increasing your chances of getting a higher reach and also engaging with different kinds of audiences that might prefer using different platforms.
Let’s now talk about the ideal length of your video content.
#4 Keep it Short
If there’s one rule when it comes to the ideal video length, it’s that usually shorter videos convert better than longer videos.
In fact, a Wistia study that examined the correlation between video length and engagement showed that, if you want to avoid significant engagement drop-off, then the ideal video length would be two minutes.
Getting the length of your video right might sound like a challenging task, but there are a few benchmarks and key points you should keep in mind when creating video content for various platforms.
Before we get deeper into this, we need to stress that the length of your video heavily depends on the platform you’re using.
In other words, are you using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Youtube to share your video content?
Each of these platforms present different levels of engagement.
A video benchmark report proved that the majority of videos are less than two minutes long, although the number of videos over twenty minutes has grown over 65% in 2020.
To cut a long story short, keeping your videos short in length can help you make sure you’re creating compelling content for Instagram and Facebook, while you can always use a platform like YouTube to upload longer, informative videos.
Let’s discuss two examples.
Example #1: Zach King
Our first example comes from popular YouTuber Zach King.
Source: YouTube
We could say that Zach is a master of short videos that get very high levels of engagement.
As we can see from the screenshot above, many of his most recent videos last around a few minutes, while there’s no video that goes for more than twelve minutes.
The tens of thousands – in some cases millions – of views these videos get means that they are definitely engaging and easy to follow.
Here’s a second example.
Example #2: Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla
Here are a few Instagram videos posted by popular stuntman and athlete Mike Escamilla.
Source: Instagram
Similar to what we discussed earlier, Mike’s high converting Instagram videos all last between two and five minutes, thus increasing the chances of his audience engaging with his content.
After having established the importance of keeping your videos short and sweet, let’s get to the next way of optimizing your video content and making it convert.
#5 Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
One of the easiest ways to create videos that convert is by including clear CTAs at the end of your videos, exactly as you probably do with your outreach email when creating an email outreach campaign.
To do so, you could ask yourself some easy questions:
- What steps do I want people to take after watching my video?
- Do I want them to sign up for my product?
- Do I want them to visit my website, or simply subscribe to my channel?
And so on and so forth.
Our advice is that you present clear steps when it comes to prompting people to take action after watching your video.
Let’s have a look at two interesting examples that feature CTAs that prompt people to take action.
Example #1: Disguised Toast
Our first example here comes from gaming channel Disguised Toast.
Source: YouTube
In the final ten seconds of the video, there are links that can take the viewer to two other videos from the same channel.
This is a very clear CTA that prompts users to keep engaging with the channel by keeping consuming their video content.
Keep reading to find one more example.
Example #2: Zach King
We’ve already talked about Zach King’s popular YouTube channel.
Source: YouTube
His videos might be short, but there’s already space for including a few CTA buttons at the end.
Here, we see two buttons that can take viewers to other Zach King videos and a CTA that invites people to subscribe to the channel, just by clicking on the Subscribe button.
Pretty neat, right?
Pro Tip: When it comes to creating your own CTA, you could consider using an online design software that’ll save you valuable time and will help create killer content.
We’re now moving towards the final tip we have for you and a personal favorite.
#6 Tell a Story
Telling a story is the best way to convince someone to take action and continue engaging with your content for a long time.
When it comes to video marketing and marketing in general, video storytelling can be a powerful tool that’ll allow you to come closer to your viewers and create strong connections with them.
Telling a story is about creating content that’s planned and well-organized.
Additionally, storytelling on social media and in the online community is just what creators need to stand out and make sure their content won’t go unnoticed.
Pro Tip: Storytelling in video content might also have to do with the visual stories you’re creating, so make sure to include engaging and compelling graphics or other visual elements.
Example #1: Jeff Brown
Here’s an interesting example of a video that tells a story and invites the viewer to engage with it.
Source: YouTube
Jeff Brown, with the Near Future Report, takes viewers on a journey.
What kind of journey?
Well, he presents Elon Musk’s next big project in a truly engaging and intriguing way while he also gives data, reports, and information to back up his story.
We can see that the video lasts around an hour, so having a strong story to present your viewers with is a must!
Additionally, towards the end of the video there’s a CTA for viewers to subscribe to Brownstone Research‘s ‘The Near Future Report’, which is the main goal of the whole video.
You might think that Jeff could have prompted viewers to engage with Brownstone Research without having to take them through a story, but the truth is that, through a captivating and interesting story, viewers can be funnelled into almost any action you want them to take next.
Example #2: National Geographic
National Geographic is undeniably a channel that knows exactly how to tell stories in a magnificent and captivating way.
Source: Instagram
Whether it’s on Instagram, like the videos we’re presenting you here, on YouTube, or any other media, their content converts and gets truly remarkable levels of engagements, shares, and likes.
So there you have it – all our tips for how to create high quality and effective video, and examples of successful videos that got results. Hopefully, these will inspire you in your own video content creation challenges.
