Content That Breaks the Noise in 2020

Quick! Scroll through any of your social media feeds. What’s the first thing that grabs your attention? It was a video, wasn’t it?

We have seen the rise in video content over the past few years. YouTube and Instagram influencers, along with brand ambassadors and savvy companies, have focused a lot of effort on video content because it is a much more intimate way to communicate complex emotional messages that come off as authentic and creative.

In 2020, the goal of any influencer or marketer out there is to hold the attention of a viewer for as long as possible. Even YouTube recognizes the value of captured attention as their algorithms reward videos with longer percentages of watch time.

So now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, how do we create video content that captures viewers’ attention? Here are four ways (plus a very important bonus note at the end) that can help you break through all the social noise in 2020.

INSTAGRAM STORIES

Short, fast, authentic video content will always grab attention. Stories offer a quick and easy way to bring your viewers into the culture and personality of your brand. The platform is all about little bursts of creativity that don’t need to necessarily have longevity. Because of this, it’s a perfect way to try new approaches to engage with your audience at lightning speed. And the great part is that any content that didn’t work, doesn’t have a sense of permanency.

Look at ways you can capture small, single-focused messages about a part of your brand. Find those fun or interesting bits to your brand and be creative at how you show the world. And if you don’t like it, there’s always the next one!

One rule to follow when considering stories is the orientation of your content. Stories are typically shot vertically, so to get the best possible resolution and quality. Always consider the platform’s preference before shooting.

360 VIDEOS

With the rise of Oculus’s VR platforms and YouTube and Facebook’s built-in support for 360 videos, there has never been a better time to explore how your brand’s message works in the consumer immersive 360 environments. The virtual reality and augmented reality experience are truly about bringing the human perspective into a space, so they build an experiential connection to it.

The consumer wants to feel connected to brands, they want to have shared experiences and feel as if they are a part of the moment. It’s why many of us watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve from our living rooms. We want to be a part of the collective experience.

360 videos are the start to a larger category of mediums that are going to be much more immersive in the next several years. Find a way for your brand to take advantage of 360 video and give your customers an experience they won’t forget.

FRAME BREAKERS

Paradigm shifts are huge attention grabbers. When something doesn’t follow the rules of what we know, we immediately focus our attention to it. Like a pink zebra on the grassy Savana plains, we can’t help but stop and look. This is where frame breakers come in.

Savvy marketers have studied the format and found creative ways to twist what we know and build in content that breaks out of the understood frames. A celebrity that does this well is Will Smith. Several of his most intriguing posts play with the paradigm of what we know are the limitations of the Instagram platform.

Whether it’s video content that reaches outside of the frame or disrupting a common User Interface (UI) element, content like this stops us in our tracks because it’s something that doesn’t fit into the rules, we thought we knew.

LIVE VIDEO

Consumers love authenticity. Period. They want your brand to speak to them in a way that they feel a genuine connection to your message and your company mantra. And that means not coming off as fake and scripted.

Consumers are perceptive enough to see right through that in 2020. Authenticity is now best delivered in live video. It’s raw, unscripted, and the brand ambassadors broadcasting can interact with fans of the brand.

Being able to put faces to the company helps build that authentic trust and nurtures the emotional connection of being a part of a moment. Live video should feel like the brand ambassador is having an intimate conversation with an exclusive group of fans even if the live stream is being watched by tens of thousands.

LAST WORD OF ADVICE

Content is king. Creative is queen. It’s not only what you deliver (content) but also how you deliver it (creative). Even when you have solid product messaging and a good storyline, how you deliver your content can make the difference between standing out among the message flood or getting lost in it. With the power couple of King Content and Queen Creative, you double your chances of developing content that will stand out like a brilliant crown jewel.