Sometimes it can be hard to understand exactly where to start when you wanna make really great stuff. You wanna remain consistent, and ultimately, you wanna get results. But just because it’s hard now, doesn’t mean it always has to be.
Why it’s so important to have a video editorial calendar, how to write really awesome calls-to-action. And finally, how to use a pre-production checklist. So let’s get straight into it. The fact is, we all have very short attention spans, especially when we’re hanging out on YouTube.
And so, we need to be very conscious of that first 10 to 15 seconds of our video and really grab the viewers attention right out of the gate.
TubeBuddy and Hey.com did a study in which they found that simply by including the word You in your intro, you can increase views by over 97%. And this just shows us that viewers want content that they feel like was tailored and truly meant for them.
So how do we create this vibe?
Well, I’ve got a really easy method you can start to use today. It’s called the APP method. It’s an acronym and it stands for 
Agree, Promise and Preview. During the agree stage, you’re gonna make a statement that the viewer might be able to agree with. Next, during the promise stage, you’re gonna promise them a solution to their problem.
Finally, during the preview stage, you’re gonna give them a sense for how you plan to deliver that content. So, do you think that the APP method would work? Well, let’s go back to the beginning of this video and see if it worked on you. Okay so, it can be tough to get started with video. In this video, I wanna show you four of the most important elements of a video marketing strategy and you’re gonna know how to start to make really great content today.
Number two is setting up a video editorial calendar and actually sticking to it.
The thing is, schedules are important. They just make the process easier and it helps keep everybody accountable within the production process. I like to say that what’s important gets scheduled and what’s scheduled, usually gets completed. This is also gonna make it easier for you to remain consistent in your production.
And as you create more videos, you’ll inherently make better content. I found that the companies that are most successful with video marketing, and the ones who create the best content and most consistent content are the ones who have a calendar and have someone who enforces the deadlines. To make things easier, I’ve got a template you can download in the description below.
It’s gonna help you prioritize all of your content and track it through production. Our third point is having clear and aligned calls-to-action.
So once you’ve come up with a valuable content offering, let’s say, an ebook or an assessment or consultation, you know how the destination where you want to get the viewer. So you’re gonna have to build a bridge now between your destination and the content that the viewer is watching right now. Knowing this ahead of time is gonna help you add this to your script and also add context when it’s needed. If you’re uploading a video to YouTube, you’re gonna say, click in the link in the description below or click a card or something like that.
Whereas if you’re uploading on LinkedIn, you might say, click the link in the comments or click the link in the post.
Knowing these things ahead of time, helps you create really relevant calls-to-action depending on where your video is going. The bottom line is, if you don’t know what you want the viewer to do after they’re done watching, then they’re definitely not gonna know. So make sure you come up with the calls-to-action ahead of time, work them into your script at the time that makes sense and your videos will just become better at converting leads. Our fourth and final point is using a pre-production checklist to start every video project. If you’re gonna make an effective video, you’re gonna have to know who you’re talking to, what problems they’re experiencing right now and how you plan to position your content to help them solve that problem.
You’re also gonna have to know how they’re even gonna find your video. So use a checklist that includes traits of your viewer, what your major goal is, what verbal or onscreen calls-to-action you need to include in your video, and then some basic keyword research.
This is gonna make the entire video production process easier on your and your team. And ultimately the viewer is gonna start to see that these videos were made specifically for them to address a specific problem. So they’re gonna start to see more value in the content you produce.
If you’d like to download our pre-production checklist template, you can click the link in the description below and go and download that.
But in closing, in order for you to make highly effective videos, you’re gonna need to determine what highly effective actually means for every piece of content. Establish a goal ahead of time, is this video meant to get more subscribers to our YouTube channel? Is it meant to get more likes on Facebook? Meant to drive leads to a certain landing page?
Meant to get more visits to our store front? If you know ahead of time exactly what the video is supposed to achieve, you’ll be inherently more effective because you’ll be able to address that goal directly in the video.