There’s no doubt that marketers have recognised the power of video in their corporate video content strategy. However, with countless videos flooding your audience’s social media feed, creating ‘scroll-stopping’ content often comes down to the first few seconds.
In this blog, we’ll share our insights and tips on how to grab your audience’s attention — and keep it — to make B2B and corporate video content that increases watch time and boost engagement.
Start with the Biggest Clincher
The opening seconds of your video are critical. This is where you deliver the “biggest clincher” — the most compelling idea, fact, or question that hooks your audience. Recent studies have unveiled that our attention span is now just 8 seconds — less than a goldfish! You’ll want to include your most important message within that timeframe.
Think about what matters most to your target viewers.
- What problem are they facing?
- What solution are you offering?
Start strong, and you’ll set the tone for a corporate video that resonates. For ideas on how to get your audience hooked, check out our list here.
Optimise Video Length for Engagement
While the hook grabs attention, maintaining attention requires thoughtful pacing and clear messaging. Focus on your key message and talking points, and segment your information carefully.
With the rise of TikTok, Facebook Stories, Instagram Reelz, and even LinkedIn video, it’s easy to assume bitsize thirty-second content is the foolproof format. For B2B video content that can be a struggle. However, remember that very few people have time to watch a long corporate video — especially at work. For a case study, our team have found that not more than two minutes is ideal.
Design an Eye-Catching Thumbnail
Thumbnails are your video’s first impression. Use bold imagery, high contrast, with just a few words and a symbolic image to quickly convey what your video is about, ensuring it can be read on mobile devices.
For example:
- Finance-related videos could showcase a vibrant graph with a title like: ‘ASX watch: Q1 market summary’’.
- An Event Highlights reel could show a vibrant crowd shot with a title like ‘Best Moments from Conference [Name]’
A thumbnail can boost video engagement, with the bonus of helping discoverability through search results.
Catch Their Eye with Graphics and Subtitles
Audiences are drawn to pictures. Use bold graphics, eye-catching transitions, and polished shots to create a professional feel. For health, tech or finance, consider pairing motion graphics with your presenter to ease comprehension of numbers. Roughly 85% of viewers watch videos with sound off, so we frequently recommend adding subtitles.
Know Your Audience
Know your target audience and get to the point, fast. A tech audience may respond to corporate video content with dynamic visuals, cutting-edge trends, or a bold question like, ‘What’s next for AI in your business?’. Professionals in financial services might be more drawn to authoritative figures, real-world success stories, or data that highlights measurable results.
Are they paying attention? Testing and Measuring Your Video Performance
A strong video strategy isn’t complete without measurement, and you, and your clients want to know the results.
Here are a few metrics to check for insight into what’s working and what’s not.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): can tell you whether your thumbnail, title, or caption is compelling and attention-grabbing.
- Watch rate: a drop at the 50% mark can indicate that your content was too long, or the topic didn’t resonate strongly with your target audience.
- Creative format: do animated statistics perform better than presenter-led content?
Facebook analytics, Vimeo, LinkedIn, and YouTube Content Tab provide this data. For videos hosted on your website, you can add Google Tag Manager. Marketing benchmark reports can be a helpful indicator if you’re starting fresh.
The Power of Professional Production
High-quality production elevates your brand and your message. The Rocket Productions team aren’t just videographers and editors, we’re creative communications professionals who understand the importance of producing powerful videos as part of your content marketing strategy.
Whether you’re just starting out, or fine-tuning your video strategy, or an agency that’s expanding into video, we’d be happy to help. Contact us here.