When you’re producing a video, coming up with the big ideas for it can be one of the most exciting parts of the production process. It’s easy to get carried away with these ideas and forget the most important part of the video: your audience. Audience-centric videos are the videos that do the best. Wondering how to keep your audience at the center of your pre-production planning process? Read on for our 5 tips for producing a successful audience-centric video.
- Make sure you’ve chosen the right audience.
One of the biggest mistakes companies make when producing a video is not choosing the correct target audience for your product and, by proxy, your TV or online commercial. All too often, brands take on the idea of “Everyone can enjoy my product!” but that is rarely the case. Choosing a more niche target audience makes your message more impactful by being better able to communicate with your consumers. If you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. Consider who your true audience is, and you’ll be on track to produce a great video.
- Choose your tone.
The tone you use in your video should reflect both your audience and your brand. Is your brand lighthearted, philanthropic, or serious? Choosing the proper tone is vital to making sure your message comes across properly. Picking the wrong tone can heavily alter your message and can miscommunicate your brand as a whole. Your tone should be appropriate to your audience as well. Will they need something more lively and entertaining to keep them engaged, or serious and factual? Catering your tone to mesh well with your audience will keep them engaged and watching until the very end!
- Watch your language.
We’re talking about more than profanity. Some industries tend to be more jargon-filled than others, but it’s important that consumers at any knowledge level understand the message you’re sending. While there’s no need to dumb down the information you’re presenting, it’s good to remember that not every potential customer will have an expert knowledge of the product from the get go. Using broader and more simplistic terms in your video helps keep your audience on track with your message. And an informed video audience is a purchasing video audience!
- Pick the right content.
Your audience should strongly influence the type of content you decide to put in the video. Your content needs to cater to what your audience wants to see. This can differ along product lines and generational lines, amongst other factors. Do you need to provide solutions to your audience’s problems? Do you need to build up a brand lifestyle your audience can buy into? Think of the difference between commercials like Charmin or Coke. One clearly provides the benefits of the product upon purchase while the other builds this happy, carefree lifestyle around its brand image. Your audience’s needs dictate what kind of video commercial your company needs to be broadcasting. Give them what they want, and they’ll come back time and time again.
- Change up your editing style.
Just as your content will need to change depending your audience, so too will your editing style. The content type combined with your audience’s needs can heavily influence how the final video will look, in terms of style. This is especially true along generational lines. Millennials tends to rely more on quick cuts and interesting visuals to keep them engaged. For them, it’s all about the action and feel of a video. For older generations, you can get away with longer shots and more straightforward camera work. Editing to your audience guarantees they’ll watch from beginning to end, gearing them up to purchase your product.
Would you like to learn more about social media marketing, or about any other video topic? Reach out to IDR for additional information and answers to all your questions. You’ll discover why we’re Orange County’s premier producer of TV commercials, infomercials, and online videos for a wide range of businesses, organizations, and brands.
