Whether you’d like to increase awareness, tell a story, generate buzz, or boost your reputation, online video marketing is an incredibly powerful tool.

It can also be confusing. ‘How long should it be? Why will people want to watch? What should I ask them to do?’, are all common questions.

We’ve analysed what makes a good online video so you don’t have to.

Remaining clear and concise

Since the year 2000, the human attention span has dropped by a third, from 12 seconds to eight seconds.

Vidyard’s 2017 Video in Business Benchmark Report found that videos under 90 seconds generated an average retention rate of 53 per cent, while 56 per cent of all videos published in the last year are less than two minutes long.

The takeaway - if you want to make your web video a success, it needs to be clear and concise; short, sweet and to the point.

Other ideas? You might want to try putting your most interesting, informative, or entertaining content towards the beginning of the piece.

Alternatively, try creating an ‘open loop’ by introducing a little bit of information early, without revealing the full story. The idea is to build curiosity and keep viewers watching until the ‘loop’ of the narrative is closed.

If you’re keen to learn how to create an engaging and brand-relevant script, check out our 9 Top Tips For A Killer Explainer Video Script and grab your free scriptwriting template.

Thinking outside the box

It’s fair to say that anything goes on the internet. In fact, unusual or offbeat videos stand a much better chance of gaining traction among audiences who are used to seeing all manner of creative content.

Within reason, a video can have a truly surreal narrative or be completely off-the-wall, and still manage to show your business in the right light.

The key is to determine which particular approach will work for your business, and which are best left alone.

Take this Mountain Dew ad for example. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it works.

It was also the first ad from Super Bowl 50 that people started talking about on social media using #PuppyMonkeyBaby.

Repurposing video to attract new audiences

Even if your video doesn’t generate the millions of views you hoped, you can extend its life exponentially by repurposing it for other platforms.

Turn it into an animated GIF. Not your style? Write a blog post about the content discussed (including some direct quotes), create slideshow, or deliver a series of social media posts breaking the main points down into bite-sized chunks.

These are all simple ways to ensure your core messages resonate across platforms and audience segments.

There are many other reasons why repurposing video makes sense - it enables your content to go further, offers a strong return on investment, requires less effort than creating something from scratch, and builds brand affinity among your audiences.

If you’re looking for ideas or inspiration, download The Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Video cheat sheet.

Being inspirational and upbeat

You don’t have to go totally left-field in the pursuit of ‘virality’ in your online video marketing. Instead, you could tell a story that resonates with your audience and stirs emotion.

Use your imagination and think of upbeat concepts that showcase your brand’s best qualities. Jonah Berger, author of the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On, found that the most shareable content had a positive perspective.

How can you imbue positive emotion in your web videos? Case studies, testimonials and stories about how your brand found success are all good starting points.

Animation is also a great tool for conveying emotion. Why? By nature it can be precisely crafted, and often involves the use of drawings and cartoons, which many people associate with childhood. Studies suggest that nostalgia has the power to filter out negative emotions, giving you that all-important positive promo material.

So, let’s give your audience something they can get emotionally involved with.

Use animation or motion graphics

We might be a little biased with this assertion, but seeing as the go-to approach for video is almost always live-action, you’re bound to stand out from today’s congested online crowd with animation or motion graphics.

Just check out the TVC we produced for Suzuki Australia as part of the Swift Sport launch.

With the ability to convey complex messages in a matter of seconds, animation and motion graphics can get to the crux of the matter immediately. This increases viewer engagement and minimises the number of people swiping past your video.

As one viral piece by Kristen Lepore shows, online audiences go crazy for obscure animation. It may even get picked up by bigger media outlets and become headline news.

Repurposing your online marketing video

As we mentioned earlier, repurposing your web videos can really boost your ROI, keep audiences engaged, and deliver value well beyond their initial use.

So dust off that video living in that dark corner of your website and extend its shelf-life with the Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Video.