Video Is Easily Skippable
In our rush to video-ize everything, there is a need to remember that, with any video content, consumers carry a huge club to kill our exuberance about the technique. The club has three ideas on it: Ignore, Scrub-through or Skip. Interruptive video is just not the same these days.
No video length or concept fits all media outlets: A video that works great for Instagram just doesn’t hold up in a Facebook experience or in a broadcast environment. Thirty seconds seems to fit many media outlets, but it is a safe bet, not a strategic bet on the power of each outlet. The right length is just the first choice for optimizing your video.
I heard this line used in a podcast, “Don’t interrupt with video, inspire.” The video experience must “show” something of real value to the viewer. Digital video must be visually appealing, novel, emotional and take the right amount of time to tell the story.
Most research points to the fact that we are growing tired of interruptive advertising. This should change how we are viewing video strategy going forward. People want to be engaged: They want to be invited into the story and then immersed in a story worthy of their time. It’s not just about being funny or loud. (Car dealers will struggle in a non-interruptive world.) It’s about being totally aware of your target audience point of view.
It’s about being relevant, informative, engaging and aligned with viewers’ wants and needs. (If you need a car repair, do you want the owner or the head mechanic?)
Start with this premise for your next digital video: What does the target audience of this video want to see and hear? You’ll never go wrong focusing on the needs of your prospective patient, customers, client or donor.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
