- Do you find it difficult sometimes to come up
with a storyline for your content
that keeps your viewers engaged throughout the entire video?
Are you losing viewers in the first 30 seconds,
20 or even 10 seconds?
Well, the wonderful people over at Google
have been doing some research into the different types
of ads that people will actually stick around and watch.
They've found that the ads that work specifically
on YouTube have a few things in common.
So today I wanted to show you how Google's study
of ads could help you make videos
that people actually stick around and watch.
Because if Google has figured
out what gets people to not click, skip ad
I'm sure the methods and the tactics that they use
could help you in your regular video content.
Do you want me to just skip ahead to the big secret?
Well, it's as easy as A, B, C, D.
No, no, really.
That's actually what it's called.
There's a whole playbook
on it that Google made called A B, C, D called A B, C, D
your Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Creative on YouTube.
Now, there's a lot of marketing speaking here
so let's break it down.
The A stands for attention,
B is for branding,
C is for connection, and D stands for direction.
These standards are for marketers who are creating ads
but there is no reason why content creators can't take these
and kind of tweak 'em a little bit for their video content
and I'll show you how.
Let's start at the top.
You have one goal every time you post a new video
and that is to get people to watch, at the very least
the first eight seconds of your video.
You need this eight seconds to grab the attention
of the viewer.
- Hello, it's been a while.
I know I'm not gone.
I have just been extremely busy.
- Your intro just needs to really push someone
to keep watching, and this is what we call a hook.
So how do you create a good hook?
Well, there's a number of ways you could be relatable.
Pick at your audience's pain points.
Open up with a fascinating fact or ask a question.
Whatever you do, raise the curiosity at the beginning
of the video and make sure that somewhere
in the actual video you deliver on that curiosity.
You're basically giving them confirmation
after they've clicked on your video in the first few seconds
that they are indeed in the right place
and they're going to get the value they seek
from your content.
I'll post a card right now, we actually talk about this
in much greater detail
and I encourage you to go watch that video
after you're done with this one.
Now that you've caught your viewer's attention
it's time to brand the video.
A company would use this opportunity to show
off the branding in the ad
but you as a creator are gonna do this to demonstrate
what your channel is all about.
You know how some people's brands
when you see their ads feel kind of sketchy
and untrustworthy?
Well, this is your opportunity to make sure
that you don't come across that way.
Your goal here is to just build trust with your audience
so they decide to continue watching your video
and not only that, hopefully subscribe.
An example of this, by the way, would be
let's say you're a doctor giving medical advice in a video.
You might wanna lead with that at some point
so people know that you have the credibility to be speaking
with expertise on the topics you're covering in this video.
It also helps here to think of YouTube
as a multisensory experience for your viewer.
Other than the value of the content itself
it's important to keep working on
and focusing on things like top quality visuals.
Improving your editing style is important, and of course
95% of all videos on YouTube are played with the sound on
so you wanna make sure that your audio quality is good
and what you're saying actually makes sense,
is coherent and is overall helping the retention
of that video.
So what's next?
Well, now that the viewers are reeled into the content
it's time to build a connection.
Your short-term goal here is to get them to watch the video
as long as possible.
Your long-term goal is to get them to watch more
and more videos and ideally subscribe
and continue coming back for more.
To do this, you want to connect with your viewers
as individuals and find ways that you can relate to them.
Let them know that you understand their problem.
You too have been through this and good news for them.
You have a solution that just might help.
You wanna be upfront, helpful and credible,
but also you wanna connect with your audience
on a human level.
Do things with your content that incorporates
storytelling elements.
Add some humor if you need to.
Maybe throw in some surprises in your videos along the way.
At the end of the day, we all like to have some sort
of connection to the people that we're watching on YouTube.
So you've caught their attention,
you've connected with them, and now you're done.
You're good to go, right? Wrong.
The next thing you need to do is give some direction.
It's very important to do this to help your viewers
understand what they need to do next.
What I'm talking about specifically is that next step
in getting them to become part of your community.
A lot of people ask us,
should you be asking viewers to subscribe
or hit the like button or leave a comment?
And the answer to all of those questions would be, yeah,
I wouldn't overdo it.
But in every video you should ask something of them
because it's likely that people who enjoyed the content
are willing to engage in that way
simply by being reminded to do so.
Something you'll see us do here at vidIQ a lot
is use this opportunity to direct people
to another video using an end screen.
We like doing this because it creates
kind of a binge session.
People watch multiple videos at one time
and you don't really need to ask them to subscribe
at that point because they're probably pretty invested
after they've watched their second or third video.
Our goal here is to get them to stay on the channel
so we show them more videos similar to the one
they've just watched and hopefully they'll enjoy.
Highlighting where you want your viewers to go next
is super important when you're trying
to get more subscribers and more views.
Just to prove my point, why don't you go to this video next.
It'll help you understand a key metric
that's going to tell you exactly where your viewers
are spending the most time on your channel.