5 Tips For Creating Attention Grabbing Video Content

With video consumption on the rise and attention spans getting shorter, engaging, snackable video content is more popular than ever. Online video content now accounts for about 75% of all online traffic, and nearly 2/3s of consumers prefer video under 60 seconds.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard and said that if your video is too long, half of your audience won’t even give it a try. Again more reason to create short-form video content with a distinct and honest visual style that can grab your audience’s attention right away. But how do you do that?

Here are five things to remember if you’d like to create memorable video content with a distinct visual style:

1. Be clear about your intentions. There is an abundance of visual media to consume, and if you are asking for someone’s attention, it’s your responsibility to make it worth their while. Make them laugh. Make them cry. Make them smile. But DON’T waste their time.
2. Strike an emotional chord. Emotion and memory are inextricably linked. If you want to be remembered, you have to strike the right emotion for your intention.
3. Choose an HONEST style. Choosing a style that simply market tests well is not enough. It has to resonate with the identity of the brand and the intention behind the content you’re creating. The style should align with and enhance the message you want to convey.
4. Don’t skimp on design. Invest in exploring the right look for your intentions and your audience. Well-planned and well-developed design will help create a authentic and recognizable visual language for your brand. One that will immediately call up your brand in the mind of your audience.
5. Be courageous. Have fun and take risks with your visual identity. If that feels like too much for an established brand, then at least try this in the design phase. Explore the absurd, the wild, the creative. You will never know what aligns with your brand if you don’t engage in visual exploration. Again, there is so much visual content to consume, that viewers are easily bored. See if you can stretch and find a visual language that is both true to your brand but also willing to expand.

Two Examples of Successful Visual Branding with Engaging Video Content

A well thought out visual branding strategy that includes short-form video content is no longer a nice to have, rather it’s a necessity for companies that want to successfully attract their ideal audience. Here are two examples of visual branding done right.

1. Old Spice managed to transform itself from your grandfather’s brand to a young and edgy brand seemingly overnight. This was due to their engaging and unique advertising campaign with Terry Cruz.

One could argue that the branding is working because of the comedy, but I would argue that it’s more than that. The current branding has a distinct visual language and style that hits you fast and hard. It commits to absurdity and humor and maintains that visual language throughout.

2. Vox Media is another example of visual branding done right. Vox has a VAST amount of diverse content that it creates across many different subject matters. Using striking motion graphics inspired by the global Vox brand, this media company connected all its sub brands and wrapped them into a singular Vox-style visual language. Vox traditionally uses 2D graphics to accompany its live action, but for this Anthem video they took a visual risk in using 3D.

The animation is visually distinct and maintains the design of the Vox Media brand. The visuals energetically speak to the many different components of Vox that all come together in an organic manner to build the Vox brand.

Both of these brands, while taking different approaches, invested in designing snackable visual content that is honest to their brand and strikes an emotional chord with their audience. They also took a leap of faith by stepping out with unique and edgy styles that make them immediately recognizable and memorable.

Here’s How You Get Started

With the abundance of video content today, it is imperative for brands to take a creative leap of faith and provide visually distinct, easily digestible content. If you take the time to be clear about your intentions, to make an emotional connection with your audience, to be honest about your identity, to invest in design, and to be courageous, you are sure to create successful visual content for your brand.