A lot of business owners nowadays think there is something technical which can push their business in front of their competition. Making the best move in the chess board is not easy to estimate, there are many losing positions but making sure you make the best move regardless if you win or lose will compound over time. The best move in any business is to keep the attention of people when it matters.
If you are going to spend money for SEO, paid advertising, blog posts, video, social media post, story etc. the only thing that matters is did you get the attention of your target audience. If you do, they will become customers when the time comes for them to buy a product or a service.
In order to get that valuable attention one should ask where is the attention of most people currently?
Currently most internet users spend their time online consuming short duration videos ( story, reels, tiktok, Youtube shorts etc ). Pumping money in online ads and SEO optimization without consulting with an agency what style of short video would work for you and how to create it is stupid. Yet more than 90% of online business owners don’t do that. It is easy to justify this effort because more than 50% of the time the market leader is doing those short videos and people love them. When they want something related to that business the most natural thing for them is to go directly to their brand.
The great filter
In my view those businesses who don’t embrace this new reality will continue to lose market share and many will go out of business in the next 5 years. The timeline really depends on how competitive our market is. The % of clients which most agencies convert to this approach each year rises and when this becomes mainstream if you are among the last 30-40% of the businesses your competitors will have a massive advantage.
The transition to short video content as a way to attract potential customers’ attention is the great filter of online business in the 20’s. If you get this you get it and you will reap the benefits very soon after you adopt this strategy. You should never forget that attention nowadays is more valuable than ever because the size of the economy is bigger and there are more competitors fighting for it than ever. The stakes are High!
The ingredients
Now you may be asking: “Tell me what I should do?”
First, everybody should understand that context matters. Showing the features of your product in 30 seconds is great and probably 30-40% of those videos should be just that.
It is the other part which makes the magic, creating a story, context in which your product or service is part of in a natural and attention grabbing ( no need to lie ) way. Getting people’s attention with Interesting Short Videos is like a brain spell, when you think about it any great entrepreneur like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs etc. use storytelling to convey their narrative and make you want their products. This is the difference between a small business which stagnates and a small business which grows to the next level in terms of profits.
I can advise you how to structure the two types of videos, give you examples ( many ) but only you can find the right rhythm and attract more attention. The hardest thing in business is building a name, but the real value of that is the attention of other people in your business. Connecting two and two, the internet gives a growth hack to those who are ready to utilize it. I personally don’t like the term but it is one for real.
How to start
To diversify or to focus? To start with product features or story videos?
The fastest way unless you have a good experience with video creation is to start with short videos showcasing your best selling products/services. Focus on their strengths, how to use them and tell people who you are and hint at the great price or just share it. To keep the attention use text and / or voice over, maybe some light music background too but be careful with those elements. Examples: when we work together I will share with you the best ones I’ve seen to work with my clients and throughout the industry. Feel free to look for inspiration.
The truth is you need discipline, inspiration goes away fast, discipline will keep you doing what you should do on a daily basis. Things take time, the first few videos will be rough. You should get moving and create a few videos, talk with me about the details, their results so far, your difficulties and in a month you will be at the level of most Youtubers you watch in the short duration video category. You think this takes some special talent? Guess what, most video creators on the Internet are far worse than you in most things which you as a business owner do everyday. You can be even better than the average and I am referring to the small pages with 5-10K subs. You can produce content on the level of channels with 50-100K of subs and get picked by the algorithm. This is the idea behind SEO, to get picked by the algorithm, I do it all the time for my clients, video is no different.
Time to shoot some videos
The most used video sizes are 1920×1080 ( 1080p horizontal), 1080×1920 ( story/reels ). Another size can be 1080×1350 which is used on Instagram feeds.
In the attention economy what you want is to monetize that attention by selling products and services. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, get moving now and shoot some videos.
Attention is the most valuable currency of the 21-st century.
