5 Common Video Marketing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage your audience and drive conversions. However if you’re not seeing results, you might be making some critical mistakes. Here are five common video marketing pitfalls and how you can avoid them to see greater returns on your videos in no time!
#1: Ignoring your Target Audience
This is the biggest and most important mistake I see businesses making time and time again - putting numerous hours and resources into creating content to post, but completely ignoring the desires of their target audience. It’s easy for you, as a business, to post the stuff that you want to promote - however more often than not, that doesn’t align with what your audience wants to see.
Before even picking up a camera, it is important to take a second and think about your audience. Do they really care about another Canva graphic reminding them that your product is in stock? This will potentially capture the interest of people already in the market for your product, but those who aren’t ready to buy will swipe right past it without a second thought.
Businesses need content that is interesting to their target market, before they are ready to buy - or even know they want it. The ideal strategy involves creating content that is shareable, entertaining, and engaging to your target market, regardless of how invested they are in your business.
#2: Low Effort Productions
Notice the phrasing: low effort, not low quality. These days, you can make iPhone footage look professional enough to work for your business, you just need to put in the effort to make them look and sound top-notch.
But, you may ask: why is it important to invest in quality? The higher of a perceived value you can give your brand, the more people will be willing to pay for your product or service, which leads to more sales.
While it can help to invest in better cameras, audio equipment, or even hire a production company for the best results, it is certainly not required for a successful strategy.
The number one thing you should take into account in your videos is, to the surprise of many, audio. If people cannot hear your video - or worse, if it’s irritating to listen to - they will swipe away in the blink of an eye. So before you invest in anything else, make sure you have a good audio solution.
In addition to audio, it’s also helpful to understand basic lighting principles. The more professional the lighting, the more pleasing the video will be to the eye, again giving your video a higher perceived production value.
Regardless of the equipment you’re working with, the core idea is this: low quality reflects poorly, while high quality makes sales.
#3: Skipping a Clear Call to Action
For those who are unfamiliar with the phrase, the call to action (CTA) is the part of a message that gives the audience a clear direction or action to take in order to respond to the information they have received.
Without a clear CTA in your videos, your viewers can often feel unsure about what to do after watching - leading to lost opportunity and revenue left on the table.
To avoid this, include a clear CTA in your video that directs the audience to one clear actionable step they can take next. Whether it’s visiting your website, subscribing to your channel, or making a purchase. Use on-screen text, voiceovers, or clickable buttons to guide them to their next step.
#4: Extending Videos Too Long
In the attention economy of today, viewers are being absolutely bombarded with all kinds of content from multiple different angles, all day, every day. In order to get your message across, it is crucial that it isn’t overly lengthy or drawn out - in fact, the goal should be to make it as short as possible.
Now, this doesn’t mean every single video should be fast paced - you can still see success with an engaging slower paced message. But it shouldn’t be slowed down to the point of wasting time or boredom. Attention spans are at a record low and only dropping - so make every frame count!
A good rule of thumb - if you can still get the message of a video across without a scene, cut it out.
#5: Failing to Optimize
This is a silent killer. You might have the best video content in your niche, but if no one can find it, it’s not doing you any good. Many creators and businesses upload content without any optimization, hoping the algorithm does them a favor. Spoiler: it won’t.
Optimization is how you make your videos discoverable. It’s also how you signal to both search engines and users what your content is about - and why they should watch it.
To fix this, start with keywords. Use relevant keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags. Think like your audience: what would they type into YouTube or Google to find a video like yours? Use those phrases naturally.
Add captions and transcripts. These boost accessibility and give platforms more data to understand your content. Captions also help users who watch without sound (which is a whopping majority on short form platforms like TikTok).
Don’t forget your thumbnails. A compelling, clear thumbnail can mean the difference between someone clicking, or scrolling past. Use high-contrast images, bold text, and a visual hook that matches the video’s content.
Lastly, share your videos across as many platforms as possible - email lists, blogs, social media - to drive traffic and signal engagement.
In Conclusion
When done right, video marketing is one of the most powerful tools in marketing today. If you're putting time and energy into videos that aren’t converting, chances are you're falling into one of these common traps. The good news? They're all fixable.
Know your audience, put in the effort to make your content look and sound great, always include a clear call to action, respect your viewers’ time, and don’t skip the optimization step. Mastering these basics will put you miles ahead of the competition.
Make your content worth watching - and more importantly, worth acting on.
Don’t have the time to level up your video marketing on your own? Contact us today - we’d love to help you make content that converts!