How To Know If Your Video Is Successful? | Part 2 of 2
Part 2 of our series on "How to Know If Your Video Is Successful" will give you a few specific ideas of what type of videos may work best for your business.
In case you missed Part 1, be sure to read through it and see why we ask the question:
“If I could have one result from this video, what would it be?
When asking how many views they need to know if their video is successful, they are making two HUGE assumptions.
1) VIEWS EQUAL SUCCESS.
This assumption is especially common in today’s culture which measures success by popularity rather than results.
A video seems to be successful simply by virtue of being seen. We employ this metric in almost no other area of our lives.
A mattress is not a good mattress because someone lays on it for 5 minutes in a showroom. A car is not a good car because it is taken for a test drive. A tool is not a good tool when it is purchased.
They are all good, when they accomplish the task they were designed to accomplish. The same is true of media.
2) OTHER PEOPLE SET YOUR GOALS.
Don’t ask other people what the goal for your project is. You set that.
You can take advice and if every single person in the industry is telling you that views are important, you should definitely take that under advisement, but you are the decision maker.
Do YOU think you need views to make the change you want to see happen? Every day, thousands of videos are made which almost no one sees.
Church worship videos, instructional training videos, personal messages, and video conferences.
No one cares if they are seen widely or not.
What is important is the content in the video and whether it accomplishes the task of facilitating a spiritual experience, communicating a new work policy or procedure, making someone feel loved, or helping an organization solve a problem.
Just a few examples of things you won’t ever do if you measure success by view count:
Thank you videos for donors, volunteers, or contributors.
Unless you have millions of contributors you won’t have a large view count. You know this. Perhaps that's why you have stayed away from the world of video.
Regardless, if those 250 people feel thanked and appreciated, the video is a success.
Any video which is calling people to action.
Success should be measured not by how many people view something but by how many people act and how invested they are in those actions.
Portfolio Videos
These videos, called portfolio videos or 'reel videos are designed to demonstrate your ability to do a job. Success with this video style is measured by whether the content gets you work.
If 450 people like it on Facebook but they are all your friends and none of them are potential employers, it’s a fail. If one person sees it and hires you for a huge contract, it’s a win.
When all is said and done, don’t let other people tell you what the goal of your content is.
You know what you want your content to accomplish and if it does that specific thing well, you should chalk that video up as successful, even if it never goes viral.