74% of marketers reported that video gave a better return on investment than static imagery. Stats like that have everyone jumping on the video wagon including health and wellness marketing.
Any Harmon Brother’s video makes it seem easy to bang out a killer video. I mean, if they can script a video about squatty potties that helped generate $164 million in sales since 2011, surely people will be interested in your health and wellness video content. Right?
Wrong! Your videos get no engagement. This could be for any number of reasons, but these 5 mistakes will definitely hold your health and wellness video (and you) back from getting the results you want.
Let’s dive in.
Mistake #1: You Tried to “Wing” Your Health and Wellness Video
The number one mistake you can make is trying to “wing” your video. Back in the day when Youtube was a platform for fun cat videos, you could get away with this. Now, all those ums and ahs and desperate attempts to string together a message won’t cut it.
There is so much content out there today fighting for your perfect client’s attention.
Asking someone to spend time watching your video is a big ask and people are not generous with their time when it comes to marketing content. Spare everyone (including yourself) with a rock solid plan.
Plan Your Video Like Your Business Depends on It (Because it Does)
Start with your #1 goal for your video. Are you selling? Educating? Entertaining? Whatever, your goal is, write that down because your video needs to focus on that one singular goal. That’s because scripting a selling video and scripting an informative video are different (check out how to write a video script here).
Think of the difference between a service page and a blog post. The goal of a service page is to get a response to sign up, buy, contact or whatever your call to action is. A blog post, on the other hand, wants to provide high quality detailed information.
Videos That Sell
A selling video is like your service page. You need enough detail to highlight what benefit or transformation your ideal client gets from your service or product and it targets those deep rooted reasons why people buy. When people say “oh I need that” and “that could be me getting all those benefits!”, you know you’re watching a video that aims to sell.
Videos That Inform
An informative video is different. The goal of this kind of video is education and it will answer “how”, “what” and “why” questions. Think of tutorial videos. You don’t watch them to be sold on how good a product is, you watch them to learn how to use something. This kind of video requires more detail and explanation of features instead of why a product or service will change your life.
Examples of informative health and wellness video topics:
- What’s a healthy diet?
- What to eat before working out
- How sleep affects productivity
- 3 Skincare routines
Don’t Forget Your Video Marketing Strategy
A video is just one video at the end of a day. You need a strategy to get results.
Video Marketing Strategy Checklist:
- Understand your audience
- Identify which platforms you’re going to distribute your video on
- Figure out which stage of your sales funnel this video relates to (so you can drive people to the right place with the right call to action)
- Plan how to promote the heck out your video to maximize results
- Know how this video fits into your overall marketing strategy (so you can maximize your content’s use)
Planning your video saves you a lot of wasted time and money, and more importantly, shows that you respect your viewer. Your plan is your first step in crafting a compelling, value-driven message that is worthy of their time (and drives the results you want). Speaking of message, that brings me to mistake #2…
Mistake #2: Your Message is Super Confusing
Watching your video is like wandering through a labyrinth at night. With no flashlight. No one has any idea how they got there or where they’re going. If that’s how people feel about your video, they will be looking for the quickest exit (aka the X button).
There are two sure paths to an utterly confusing message.
- Avoid research. Avoid it like the plague.
- Cram 8 videos’ worth of information into a single video. I mean everything. Educate, sell, hype your credentials and showcase your brand values. Add in your comical genius for good measure too.
And if you combine these two points, you have yourself a convoluted message that is sure to flop. This mistake is almost as bad as mistake #1. Your viewer gave you their time and you gave them a headache. Needless to say, they won’t be jumping to work with you.
Now, you might think your message is clear because you wrote it, but you need to think about your target audience. Do they know why your message is for them and what value they can take away from it?
This is where your research kicks in.
Research and Planning Are Two Peas in a Pod in Video Marketing
Do your research if you want your target audience to engage with your video content. Break out the microscope because you really need to understand your audience. Would you walk into a consultation with a client without reviewing their file? I doubt it. You shouldn’t walk into your video without knowing what people need from your content either.
Know their problem, goals, hopes and fears, and level of awareness. And if you’re making a selling video, know their motivation to buy. Sure, they have a problem. But what are those deep reasons why people buy? Dig into psychology. People buy to do things like avoid pain, gain approval, and save time or money.
This will help you craft a message specifically for them (or hire a health and wellness copywriter who specializes in video scripts do it for you). In return for an engaging and persuasive message, your target audience will watch your video and engage with your service or product.
Although a clear and targeted message is the most important factor in a video’s success, there could be other things ruining your video.
Mistake #3: Something Feels “Off” in Your Health and Wellness Video
We can’t put our finger on it, but something is off. The recipe for a high-converting video is:
Well-written verbal message + visuals that enhance your message + clear audio = a video that drives results
Videos are a combination of a verbal and visual message. Both need to reinforce each other otherwise people will (still) be confused.
📌 If you gave the video your full attention, but feel like you missed something, your visual message probably doesn’t match the narration.
Your visual problems might not stop there. Quality is important too.
📌 There could be a problem with lighting, visual clarity or the view of the scene.
People can forgive some poor lighting here and there, but audio is one of the worst offenders.
📌 Your audio is a problem if your narrator sounds like they’re speaking through a phone…on a windy day…from inside of a chopper.
Quality matters. You don’t need production studio quality, but your video shouldn’t be a painful experience. Speaking of painful experiences…
Mistake #4: A Science Degree Is a Prerequisite to Your Video
Technical language helps us talk about health topics with more precision. Since starting my nutritional science degree, I have noticed how technical I’ll get (while feeling like my brain is exploding as I search for the correct terms and processes).
While precision is important, the average person doesn’t care for a precise explanation of the Kreb’s cycle (Never again please). Use language your target audiences uses and avoid getting unnecessarily technical.
Not sure what kind of language your target audience uses? Add that to the research you do before you produce a video.
The last offender blocking your path to a successful video is length.
Mistake #5: Your Video Is WAY Too Long
The ideal video length for selling videos is 60-90 seconds and 8 minutes or less for informative videos. If you can’t fit your message into those timeframes, make two videos.
Hold on now, I know someone will say…people watch hour long webinars. What’s the deal? This is true. People will watch a long video if they feel like they’re getting value from it and webinars are a perfect example of this. That being said, you’re not hosting a webinar.
Time is a big ask from people. If you’re asking them for their time and attention, they need to see the immediate benefit.
Imagine you make a video titled, “5 foods to eat before going to the gym”. You do not need a 15-minute introduction explaining why someone needs to eat before going to the gym. And if your target audience doesn’t understand why they should eat before their workout, you need a dedicated video for that.
Takeaway
The easiest way to ensure you waste time and money in video production is to:
- “Wing” your video
- Craft a confusing message
- Compromise on quality
- Talk like a textbook
- Keep the good stuff for the end of your video so people suffer through a long introduction of information they don’t need.
Or, if you want to produce video content that brings in new leads and grows your business, contact me.
4 Must-Read Resources For Writing Video Scripts (2022)
