How to create engaging video content for your business

Every engaging video answers something. Before you film, write down the single question the video answers or the single problem it solves. How do I know if my water heater needs replacing? is a video. About our company usually is not.

Good sources for video ideas:

• Questions customers ask on calls and in emails.
• Objections you hear before people buy.
• Steps people get wrong when they try something themselves.
• Before and after results from your work, shared with permission.

Then write a short outline before you press record: the question, the two or three points that answer it and the next step you want viewers to take. A few minutes of planning saves a lot of editing.

YouTube's help page on audience retention includes a measure called Intro, which shows what percentage of your audience was still watching after the first 30 seconds. That number tells you whether your opening works.

To keep people past the opening:

• Say what they will get. State the question and promise the answer in the first few lines.
• Skip the long intro. Logos, music and greetings can wait, or be cut.
• Show the result early. If the video teaches a fix, show the finished fix first, then how to do it.
• Open on the problem. Start with the moment your viewer recognizes, such as a leaking pipe or an empty appointment calendar.

Plan the video like a short article with a clear beginning, middle and end. Break the middle into steps or sections, and tell viewers where they are, such as step two is the one most people skip. Change the shot, add a close-up or show a screen recording when a section runs long. Cut anything that does not serve the question.

The same YouTube report explains that spikes appear when more viewers are watching, rewatching or sharing parts of your video, and dips mean viewers are abandoning or skipping at that point. YouTube also notes that videos generally taper off during playback, so a gradual decline is normal.

Use those moments as editing notes for your next video:

• Spikes show what people found most valuable. Make more of it, or move it earlier.
• Dips show where you lost people. Look for a slow section, a confusing explanation or an off-topic tangent.

YouTube's help page on subtitles and captions says they let you share your videos with a larger audience, including deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and viewers who speak another language. Captions also help anyone watching in a quiet office or on a train with the sound off. Review automatic captions before you publish, because names, products and industry terms are easy for software to get wrong.

YouTube's guide to custom thumbnails describes thumbnails as a way for your audience to view a quick snapshot of your content. Treat the thumbnail and title as a pair. Together, they should make the question and the payoff clear before anyone clicks. Try a clear photo of the result, a face showing a real reaction or a few large words, rather than a busy collage.

There is no perfect length. A quick tip can be 30 seconds, and a full walkthrough can run much longer. Let the question set the length, then cut every second that does not help answer it. Your retention data will tell you whether you got it right.

End with one clear next step. That might be a link to a related guide, an invitation to book a consultation or a prompt to watch the next video in a series. Put the same link in the description so viewers can act without searching.

One good video can do several jobs. Embed it in the blog post that covers the same question, send it to customers who ask that question and cut short clips from it for your social channels. Each use gives the work you put into filming a little more return.

Views are encouraging, but they are not the goal. Track how many viewers click through to your website, how many inquiries mention a video and which videos people bring up on sales calls. Those numbers show whether your video marketing is working.

For more on building content that brings in customers, see our guides to content marketing strategies and social media marketing services.