The 5 Success Factors Of Video Content

The path to visibility in social networks leads through multi-valued, entertaining, Video content – most of us are now aware of this. But producing such content that also meets all these requirements is not that easy. After all, company posts are always in competition with influencers, hobby bloggers and private social updates from family and friends. How can you stand out in such a hustle and bustle of content? What makes the strong top content that generates clicks and subscribers? We take a closer look at the five most important quality characteristics of video content.

1. Authority

Who’s speaking? Does the person who addresses the viewer even have the competence to express himself in a qualified manner on the topic? Each video must in some way highlight the level of authority with which the content is conveyed and compensate for a lack of authority if necessary.

Do you remember Rezo, the young influencer devoid of any political science qualification, who made headlines some time ago with his video about “The Destruction of the CDU”? He does not present his arguments with evidence and research results at the speed of a machine gun for no reason, because since he has few technical qualifications, he has to convince purely through the content (how you then assess his arguments is another construction site – we don’t have to do this here open up). The situation is different with video content, where experts speak up.

In some formats, a qualified journalist is invited and interviewed, in others the sender and the expert are identical. After all, companies have a natural advantage here, because those who do business with a topic are automatically granted a higher expert status than someone who only deals with the topic in their free time. You should subtly highlight your expert status in the preparation, picture and sound of your videos.

2. Sympathy

YouTuber Danielle Kristy films herself applying make-up in the video and, in these twenty minutes, reports simultaneously journalistically on criminal cases that she researches as a hobby criminalist. It cleverly covers two very different topics that are always booming on video platforms (true crime and lifestyle), but with the weird combination it doesn’t exactly collect points in terms of authority. But that’s not how their offer works either.

With the journalism of applying eyeshadow she takes the issue of authority directly from the (make-up) table. She convinces in her stories with intelligence, care and lots of evidence, is at the same time modest and does not presume to want to measure herself against an expert. So she counts directly on the sympathy account.

Your top target group takes both make-up tips and docutainment with them, so it has double the added value. But most of all, Kristy isnice . She is pleasant. The decision to follow her is made quickly, and of course mistakes would be forgiven more quickly.

In terms of sympathy, the advantage lies more with private individuals. Anyone who does not post as a person but “as a company” and does not focus on a single employee will find it much more difficult when it comes to showing personality. Micro-entrepreneurs and the self-employed, on the other hand, can collect points through successful self-presentation and clever ego-branding.

3. Reciprocity

Like you to me, like me to you: Reciprocity is one of the oldest selling principles. We concentrate considerably more on posts with the senders of which we have already been in direct contact, and we also follow such accounts for a longer period of time. We redistribute contributions significantly more often if we were at some level a personal addressee of the contribution.

The American company Old Spice once took advantage of this and sent videos of the “Old Spice Guys” to a number of Twitter influencers (which has recently been featured in German TV advertising) in which the advertising character responded to specific tweets , wishing one influencer with the flu “Get well soon!”, contributed to the discussion with another, and so on.

Ideally, you don’t share your videos with the general public, but rather take part in the social interaction on your platform – e.g. YouTube or Instagram. You follow relevant accounts, comment and react, and respond to current trending topics. They use the interactive power of social networks. 

4. Uniqueness

Clearly: You win if you are the only video producer on a particular topic (provided that the topic is also searched for). In today’s flood of content, this can only be achieved with highly specialized niche videos – as with the influencer above, who specifically addresses true crime fans with an interest in make-up. But you can also create unique selling points on other levels.

5. Build Up Tension

Sure – captivating and entertaining videos pull better. Journalistic contributions (that tell a story) naturally have an easier time than educational videos (that explain something). But even those who teach the Cyrillic alphabet or reveal Photoshop tricks can do it in an entertaining way, and where docutainment is completely inadequate – let’s say in a video about grave maintenance – it is still possible to use the right staging and structures to manage the content and to prepare a good cut in an exciting way.

On the YouTube channel 747 Gear, pilot Kelsey takes up topics from everyday cockpit life, gives assessments of tower-pilot dialogues and tries out flight simulators. His videos are professionally edited and always follow the same structure: After a short teaser that anticipates a particularly exciting part of the video, he briefly introduces himself and his qualifications, states the subject of the video, plays the material about the respective story (it mostly comes from another YouTuber’s video) and occasionally pauses to comment.

At the end, he points out similar videos that the viewer might like. The structure works. His very special, very technical videos, often only understandable for professionals, are viewed by over 700,000 subscribers. Only a few general tips can be given here, because script, editing and precise storytelling are highly specialized topics. If you want to focus on this factor, you will probably not get around professional support from an agency.

Also Read: Be Visible Online – what Does That Mean?