Why Simplicity in Video Content Attracts Clients

We all watch videos. Lots and lots of videos (if time allows it). We have all played and then abruptly closed hundreds of videos throughout our lives. We all long for a good story to watch during our busy hours. Since it’s my profession, I’ve thought a lot about why I tend to close so many videos that people have actually put a lot of energy into making. And on the other hand, what is it that not only provokes me to watch a video to the very end but actually brings me to like and share it with others?
Well, there are actually many factors, but one of the most important is simplicity. I can’t stress this enough to my clients. They all come to me with pages of technical content, asking me to include it all in their video. Well, I get bored just reading the stuff, let alone watching it in a video to be. I mean with so many choices out there in online video content, people get bored and distracted really easily. So why would you feed them five minutes of technical words that they can’t begin or don’t care to understand?
Don’t get me wrong, from that company’s point of view, they have a great app with lots of cool technical functions that they want the whole world to know about. But you won’t achieve that by narrating it all in a video even if you add really cool animation. You would just achieve death. I mean a bored to death audience of course.
So the first thing you need is a good content and story. All companies have a story to tell, right? That story usually comes in the form of your clients’ problems and how you want to solve them. That’s always a good start.
So always speak in a language your audience will understand and use humor where possible. Put yourself in your audiences’ shoes and think about what they want to see and how they want to see it. Don’t address all the problems of your audience, which would mean addressing all the functions of your app. Start with one, the most important one, and go from there. Be clever in conveying your message. That usually means using simple language or footage to tell a complicated story.
And in the end, we can learn a lot from the words of a very clever and complicated man when he said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. – Leonardo da Vinci
Erin Valdez