What is a snack?
Snack is a small serving of food eaten between meals. People follow routines everywhere. Some routines are professional and some are personal. A snack is usually consumed during a break from these routines. It is not meant to be or taste like a regular meal. As it is consumed during a break, it is meant to be a distraction. An entertaining distraction.
Why am I telling you about snacks all of a sudden? Snackable content has become quite popular recently. Since smartphones are in every other hand on the planet, the hunger for small bites of content is growing. It is up to marketers like us to satiate this demand.
When do people consume snackable videos?
As we mentioned above, snacks are usually consumed between breaks. People usually get their daily dose of content from conventional channels. News, journals, movies, series are the conventional sources of content. The time taken to consume that content is long and it also takes a big budget and a professional crew to get this content out.
When it comes to snackable videos, they are usually filmed randomly. The budget is less and it takes a very less time to publish and consume them. It really is about entertainment. Let’s look at what a snackable video is all about.
Three main elements of a snackable video content
Duration
Duration of the video is of prime importance. Videos more than a couple of mins are usually ignored on Facebook. If you look at the popular research, the best time to post on Facebook is generally around noon. Why is this? People usually take their lunch break during this time. They are looking for a fun way to de-stress and that is the best time to reach them. They don’t have a lot of time to spare either. That’s where they start watching these short videos. Which brings us to the next important factor.
Entertainment
The videos that are watched during this period are supposed to be entertaining. Educational videos generally don’t do well here. The popularity of College Humor and Buzzfeed are the best examples. These videos keep us occupied. Every time you’re in a queue at KFC or waiting your turn at the doctor’s office, you instinctively pick up your phone and gobble up a few videos.
These videos need to capture your attention as that’s the only thing you have to spare. If the video makes you wait for stuff to happen, you’ll immediately move to the next video. Facebook now has a new feed just for videos. There’s no short supply of them. So your snackable video has to ensure that it is short and entertaining enough for your viewers. Funny videos are the most common way to get someone’s attention. A cool concept with an entertaining twist is a close second. You run the risk of making the viewer wait, but if the ending is worth it, it can go viral. The recent rise in the volume of short films is a prime example of this trend.
Engagement
If you are able to engage your viewers, force them to voice their opinion then your video is sure to go viral. Remember the ‘white dress – blue dress’ conundrum. It had the internet split wide open with wide-ranging views.
Videos should force a reaction
Get your viewer’s opinion
Just like the dress, this video too divided the world. These short videos don’t need any effort from the viewers to voice their opinion. They are entertaining and short. More so they keep their audiences hooked.
Now that we have seen the factors that are essential to creating snackable videos, let’s understand how to create a great snackable video strategy.
Build videos using images
I guess the title here gave the ending away. Getting started is always the hard part. It really is tough to get a video strategy started. Just like a new year resolution to visit the gym regularly. A few weeks in and we forget all about it. You understand that it is hard work and you’ll never follow through. Unlike your new year resolution, here’s how you can get started.
The idea here is to start small. Let’s say you are celebrating someone’s birthday at the office. You’ll have cake, pizzas and a few drinks around if your office allows it. Goes without saying that you’ll be capturing this moment in pictures. Why stop there. It is great to showcase your company’s culture to the outside world. People love to see the culture that has shaped your company. String these images into videos and share them over social media. Allow your fans to understand what makes your company tick. Tools like Animoto and Movavi really help in transforming images into visual experiences.
Create animated videos
It is difficult to create animated videos. I would say its intimidating too. If you manage to put this off, the returns are great.
Nothing tells a story better than a character who personifies your brand or your target market. Your message through your animated characters can really spread the message. It can be a brand video, product explainer, product release or company news video. Animated videos do work. You don’t even have to hire a professional to do it, you could do it yourself. And you need to be armed with the right tools to get this done. Tools like Renderforest and Powtoon have templates that you can use to create animated videos. They even have an assortment of characters to choose from for your narrative.
Record narrative videos
Speak to your audience directly. If images or animated videos are not your style, you can always try this. Record a video where you speak directly to your followers. Your message needs to be direct. If you’re trying to convince your followers to take some action, this is the type of video to create. With tools like Hippo Video, getting this done is a breeze.
Confidence sells when it comes to narrative videos. Practice your lines before you face the camera. Articulate well. In some cases, people do get rigid and the voice sounds robotic. It loses all the convincing power before the camera. Don’t get bogged down by the pressure to record a video. Be yourself and practice to record a good video.
Have your audience participate
Get your viewers to participate in your content. Ask questions, opinions, feedback so that there is more interaction on your videos. Organize contests around your video content. Make sure it is very easy to participate in these contests or the purpose of these videos is lost. These videos will be watched during breaks and the contests have to be interesting and easy at the same time. Remember the Yanny or Laurel video. It should be that easy to participate in your contests.
Host these videos on your website
Your website is the official online address of your company. Every information related to your company should be found there. Product information, how to guidelines, pricing details and support contact numbers should be listed there. Most of the companies stop here though. There’s a lot more that needs to go on your website.
The snackable videos that you create need to be hosted on your website too. Your website can actually act as a repository for all your video content. You can use online video marketing platforms to host these videos online.
Social media posts have a very short shelf life. For Twitter posts, it is as low as 15 minutes. If there isn’t sufficient engagement within that time, the post loses its value. You have put a lot of hard work in creating this video. You wouldn’t want that effort to be wasted, would you? When you embed them on your webpages with subtitles, search engines index this content. These videos start showing up in search results. If you see your videos getting a lot of views from Google, add lead generation forms on these videos to capture your prospects. Videos offer great value to your business. So don’t just limit them to social media. Utilize them to the fullest.
That’s a wrap
Videos have already started to create a dent in the marketing world. Marketers across the globe are having separate budgets just to get their video strategy on the road. Contrary to the popular opinion, video can be made by any company. Regardless of their size and revenue, businesses can start investing in videos.
The main objective of this article is to introduce another dimension to the common video strategy. Snackable videos can be used to gain attention in this noisy world. Also, they can be made by anyone. With just the right strategy, they’ll deliver excellent results. Have you tried them yet? Have they worked for you? Let me know in the comments section below. If you have tried something else which has delivered results, mention them and we’ll add that to this article. Start using videos in 2019. Let that be your new year resolution.
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Latest posts by Nikhil Premanandan (see all)
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You will get much better and faster results partnering with established Youtubers/Influencers that post videos on your niche (if any). A lot of them will be happy to make videos about your products that look much more authentic, and for much less than you would on your own.
Great piece, Nikhil.
Movavi works well for me in creating snackable videos.
Like you rightly said, anything other than entertainment and engagement videos will never do well at such point.
Thank you so much for sharing great value here.
Aleaji