3 things to make your content pop

This post is sponsored by Moving Bits.

You’ve uploaded (onto social media) a video that you’ve spent months conceiving and producing, and you just know it is going to go viral, or at the very least, get good traction within the first 24 hours.

You come back the next day, and the results aren’t spectacular. In fact, they’re downright miserable. You’re crestfallen, where did you go wrong, and how do you make this better the next time around?

Well, don’t feel too bad. We’re here to help.

At Moving Bits, we’ve been playing this game for more than two decades now (creating videos that bring results), so allow us to share three techniques that have helped us and could help you raise your batting average in this game of eyeballs.

TECHNIQUE No.1: The sound of silence

Often people forget that video isn’t just a visual medium. It is also an aural medium. I would go as far as to say that sound is 70% of the video experience. I would watch a video with mediocre video quality, but not one with a mediocre soundtrack. That’s how important I believe sound is to a video.

Take this teaser commercial for Pan Pacific London. It is very light on music, non-existent as far the voiceover goes, but heavy on the sound design.

Listen to how the sound design creates a mood, a feeling that could not be conveyed just visually alone. Note how the sound design supports the creative idea encapsulated by the tag line: Find Your Balance. The entire piece, from visual to aural, sings as one, which is what makes this video so powerful.

TECHNIQUE No.2: We built this city

Sometimes, you just know that no matter what you do, shooting the real thing, ain’t going to cut it. That’s when you bite the bullet and spend the money on a fully designed and built set.

Take this piece of communications we worked on for the Singapore National Library and Archives.

Both the client and we realised that shooting the real thing wouldn’t present a fantastic visual, and so we decided to build a set on a sound stage, brought in all the correct technical equipment (it has to look right; otherwise, the entire effect is lost) and proceeded to craft this commercial:

https://vimeo.com/261677118

Note the use of photorealistic 3D animation to help the story come alive. The more tricks you have in your back pocket to impress the viewer, the better off you are at making the sale.

TECHNIQUE No.3: Do the twist

With this piece, our client wanted to show the audience its world-class entertainment and holiday resort. Our job was to do it in a way that would make people want to watch it through to the end.

To ensure the audience staying on until the end, we designed a whole section that leads you down a different path. Blindsiding the viewer to what was coming. So when we finally revealed the product in its full glory, you had a collective “ahh” moment:

https://www.facebook.com/ResortsWorldGenting/videos/1063976433942974

This piece of creative marketing netted us three million-plus viewers in two weeks, surpassing its direct (Malaysian) competition at that particular time.

CONCLUSION

We hope these ideas will help kick-start ideas for your next video. And we hope it helps you knock it out of the park.

At Moving Bits, we believe that every video produced by us for our clients must elicit action from their viewers, and that action should be measurable and always translate to sales. We use these results as our primary yardstick of success. Yes, the videos have to be creative, artful, and beautiful, but never forgetting its role as a marketing tool that drives sales, the lifeblood of all businesses.

The writer is Jay Soo, CEO/Director, Moving Bits.