What’s important in your Youtube videos? The first 15 seconds. According to Youtube’s Creator Playbook, you have 10-15 seconds to hook your viewer into watching the rest of your video. It’s extremely easy to click away from a video – just click and you’re gone. Especially if you’re watching in Youtube, since they have that Related Videos sidebar with other interesting-looking videos … click!
So those first few seconds need to be the best part of your video to keep people watching!
What do many of us do with those first 15 seconds?
- a slow fade-in
- cheesy music
- attempt a flashy branded intro, titles, etc
- or if it’s a screencast, we start right in with our computer screen – exciting stuff, huh?
Instead, here’s what Youtube says we should do:
- Get to the point immediately – put your most compelling content first!
- Quick teaser or summary of what’s going to be in the video, done by the person in the video. You can also welcome/greet the audience or ask a question/spark the viewer’s curiosity. Think inverted pyramid writing style, but for video.
- branding, packaging, intros, … not as important, especially up-front. Let the content come first.
- Intros should be minimal and short – 5 seconds is an optimal length
The goal? Make sure your viewers know what they’re watching. If they don’t know in 10-15 seconds … click – they’re gone.
Pic of hourglass from Bigstock
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