10 Video Marketing Mistakes that Annoy Your Audience and Kill Your Sales

By: Stephanie Tuesday June 6, 2017 comments Tags: Video marketing, Marketing, Lead attraction, Public speaking, Client attraction, product launch, Content marketing, Lead nurture, Social media

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When you make a marketing video, are people watching the whole thing, and are they reaching the end of the video with a desire to take the next step?

Or are they clicking away and forgetting about it the moment it’s over – or, even worse, giving up on it halfway through and leaving?

Today, I’m going to share 10 classic mistakes I’ve seen people make in their marketing videos, and how to avoid boring your viewers into abandoning your videos.

Mistake #1: Not getting to the point IMMEDIATELY.

Yes, your animated logo is cool. No, it should not take twenty seconds to display it.

Yes, your montage of the products you sell is attractive – or so I hope. No, you should not display it long enough to make people wonder if it will ever end.

The first thirty seconds of your video are critical. That’s when people decide whether or not they actually want to watch it. If the first thing you do is bore them, a lot of them will leave.

Within that first thirty seconds, you should give them enough information that they know what the video is about and why they should want to keep watching it.

Mistake #2: Getting to the WRONG point immediately.

I recently watched a video that started with the question, “Do you want to hire a lawyer who...”

I instantly started to cringe, because seriously, who actually WANTS to hire a lawyer? Go ahead, name one person who said “I want to hire a lawyer,” and upon being asked why, replied, “I just want to – I don’t need another reason.”

Nobody wants to hire a lawyer for the sake of hiring a lawyer – what they want is to get their legal problems dealt with so they can move on with their lives!

Similarly, people don’t want to hire a coach for the sake of hiring a coach, to go on a diet just to be on a diet, to attend a weekend intensive just to attend an intensive, or to get coaching calls just for the sake of having coaching calls.

They don’t want the process – they want the RESULTS!

So instead of talking about what you do, what you are or what you’re offering, talk about the results that they want and you can provide.

Mistake #3: Making the initial video too long.

When you’re first introducing yourself to your clients, if your video is longer than two or three minutes, that could be enough to scare them off unless they know that the video contains information they desire.

If they know you, they’ve signed up to get the information contained in the video, or the title of the video clearly indicates that it gives them data they want, then you can get away with it being a lot longer.

But if they’re just glancing at it out of curiosity, don’t intimidate them with a ten-plus-minute video.

Mistake #4: Repeating yourself too much.

I remember watching one video that left me wondering, “How many times is this guy going to repeat the same freaking bullet-point list of benefits verbatim?”

It got to the point where the moment he mentioned his program, I cringed, because even if he’d JUST finished listing his benefit bullets less than two minutes ago, I knew he was going to do it again. And sure enough, he did.

I never did get to the awesome piece of information that he promised was waiting for me at the end, because for all I knew, he was going to blather on about the same things he’d already talked about for an additional ten minutes or more.

I had better things to do with my time, so I gave up and closed the tab.

Granted, that was an extreme example, but even a milder version is something to avoid.

If your video is long and packed with a lot of valuable information, then go ahead and give a recap of the highlights at the end of the video. And if you’re teaching someone how to do something, by all means state why each step is beneficial, and what result they can expect from it.

But don’t repeat the same list of benefits or problems over and over. That’s how you get boring, and boring is one of the LAST things you want to be in your marketing.

Mistake #5: Promising a juicy piece of information, then NOT giving it in the video.

Have you ever had one of those times when you were lured into watching a video with a tantalizing piece of information, like the answer to a question that was burning in your mind, or the secret to achieving something you’d desired for a long time…

Only to be informed at the end of the video that the only way to get that information was to buy a product?

Now, you probably already knew that this person wasn’t going to give away the entire farm in their free materials.

But you watched this video on the premise that the piece of information you were promised would be in that video, and because it wasn’t, instead of feeling a stronger desire for it, you just feel lied to.

Now, not only has your time been wasted, but the video-maker has lost your trust. If they’ll lie to you about the contents of the free video, what’s to stop them from lying about the contents of their course? What if the info you want isn’t in there, either?

Best not to risk it.

If you don’t want to inspire that reaction in your viewers, then DON’T promise that they’ll learn something in the video, then not deliver that information.

Mistake #6: Not letting your viewers see how long the video is.

There’s been some debate about whether or not to let your viewers see the control bar in your videos. Some say it increases conversions; others complain that it’s user-unfriendly.

Personally, if I see that a video lacks a control bar – and ESPECIALLY if I have no indication of how long the video is – that greatly increases the likelihood that I’ll just flat-out leave without giving it a chance.

Why?

Because I have no idea whether I have time for the video. And if I miss an important piece of information or don’t hear it clearly the first time, I have no way to go back and re-listen to it without re-watching the whole darn video.

Two of my mentors recently had an experience where they shared some half-hour videos with their audience, and people complained about the lack of control bars. At first, they resisted adding the bars – they’d been told that having no bars would improve their results.

But after they added the control bars, they actually found that their audience engagement INCREASED. 

Most of the people who wanted the control bars were people who really wanted to hear what they had to say, and who were using the bars to rewind bits of video that they didn’t catch the first time and wanted to replay.

Whether a control bar will improve or damage your results will likely depend on your audience – this is one thing I haven’t personally studied. But for the sake of respecting your audience’s time and giving them a more user-friendly experience, I recommend keeping the bar.

At MINIMUM, tell them how long the video is, and give them the ability to pause it.

Mistake #7: Giving beginner-level information.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are a LOT of videos out there, and there’s a correspondingly high volume of free information available.

If you only provide basic, beginner-level tips, your viewers have no reason to choose you over the crowd of similarly generic teachers who are telling them things they already know.

If you want to impress people into buying your product, you need to tell them something they don’t know – preferably something they can use right away to improve some aspect of their lives.

Mistake #8: Having bad audio quality.

Bad video quality is not optimal, but it is forgivable. Lots of people won’t even be looking at the screen while they listen to you anyway.

But bad AUDIO quality is a fatal flaw. If people have to strain to catch what you’re saying, they’re less likely to stay through the whole video, they’ll be less excited by your message, and they’ll be distracted from your words by their own struggle to hear you.

Mistake #9: Not showing your personality in your videos.

One of the best things about videos is that they enable your audience to see your personality and start to form a connection with you.

If you act like someone other than yourself in your videos, that robs you and your audience of a valuable chance for connection, and it makes you less appealing to the people who are a great fit for you and your unique style.

Mistake #10: Being too stiff and not smiling enough.

While it’s important to be authentic, it also helps if you’re animated.

You’d be surprised how stern, solemn or dull you can look if you don’t smile enough, or if you stand perfectly still through the whole video. What looks normal in face-to-face conversation can look unexpectedly flat on a screen.

So focus on the passion you have for your work, your clients, and the transformation you can create in their lives. Let that come through in your voice, and smile and gesture more than you usually would.

It can take some practice before this looks and feels natural, but you’ll find that you look a lot more welcoming and enthusiastic in your videos once you’ve mastered this.

Not sure what to say in your videos? I can help.

If you need help figuring out what to say in your videos, or you aren’t sure what kind of videos you should use for your business, I’d be happy to assist you.

Just send me a message to let me know what times and dates you’re available, and we’ll book a time to discuss your goals and create a video marketing strategy that brings you more clients and money, and enables you to make a bigger difference in more people’s lives.

About the Author: Stephanie

Stephanie is a writer and coaching program design specialist. She helps coaches to create and sell life-changing coaching programs, so they can help more people, make more money, and have more time freedom.