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Coming into focus.How to create consistently compelling digital video.

London, England – 03.03.15

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Why content matters.

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Measuring and adjusting.

Strategies for sharing.

Secrets of compelling content.

Producing digital video is an increasingly popular strategy for publishers, broadcasters and media companies as they seek to increase their online presence and capture market share in a crowded and competitive marketplace. The challenge is creating a consistent volume of well-crafted content that audiences find exciting and engaging.

Technologically, video production has never been easier. In some cases, all that is necessary to capture high-definition video is a smartphone. Nevertheless, digital video remains a deceptively difficult market to enter. Audiences can watch digital video anywhere through a wide and growing array of mobile devices. And these audiences have higher expectations for the look and feel of content, the ease of online delivery and the stories being told.

Publishers that master all three aspects of the experience — quality, delivery and storytelling — will be well-positioned to create content that is attractive to desirable audiences and advertisers. This white paper provides an inside look at how to produce compelling video, share it strategically and improve the entire process over time.

An eye-opening opportunity.

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In the quest for clicks and views, publishers of all types and sizes are entering the online video space or expanding current programs. This makes for an intensely competitive environment. It also creates opportunities for publishers to stand out when the quality of their online video offerings exceeds consumer expectations.

These expectations, however, are rising quickly. As we will see, they cover all facets of the digital video experience—from production to online delivery to the subject matter.

“When it comes to production value, consumers are very sophisticated,” said a video product manager for a large media company. “Whether they are watching on a website, a mobile device or an over-the-top (OTT) platform, they expect the same level of quality they get with traditional TV.”

While consumers are willing to make exceptions for breaking news, they tend to draw a clear connection between the quality of digital video and their impression of the publisher’s brand. High production values demonstrate a strong commitment to the video product and, by extension, to the audience and its diverse needs. Common mistakes, such as bad lighting, inconsistent audio, shaky camera work and jarring edits, deliver the opposite message.

Quality includes content and delivery.This situation is inherently unfair. Audiences do not shift their expectations according to the size of the publisher’s production staff or budget. By the same token, compelling video is not dismissed or ignored just because it comes from a smaller site or a newer publisher. In many ways, everyone has an equal shot at capturing the audience’s attention.

To do that, digital video must look good and be delivered in a seamless fashion, according to a digital analytics expert for a global news provider.

“The quality of the stream is vital,” she said. “Consumers have much less patience than they used to. You can have the best video content in the world, but if the player is buggy and buffering time goes up, you will see audiences drop off. Content and delivery are equally important.”

One trend working in publishers’ favor is that high-quality production values do not always require bigger budgets.

“As video technology improves, the cost of production goes down,” the video product manager said. “You don’t necessarily need a full TV studio to produce high-quality video. Experts in the fundamentals, like lighting, camera work and editing, are more important than any one piece of equipment.”

Why content matters.

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However it gets made, high-quality video content is valuable to publishers in many ways. First and foremost, it drives user engagement. Appetite for digital video is virtually insatiable, so publishers that can deliver it consistently stand a better of chance of increasing the size of their audience and the amount of time they spend on the site. Quality video also helps publishers command higher prices from advertisers and monetize digital video inventory more effectively.

“All advertisers want their message appearing next to a product that is worthy of their marketing spend,” said the head of digital video for an international business news publisher. “Whether it’s a high bit rate or on-screen talent or a gripping story, all of those factors make advertisers more comfortable. Brands in particular are sensitive to this halo effect. Context affects the perception of their brand, so they will pay a premium for digital video that looks extremely professional.”

While digital video is often made to stand alone, it also plays a vital role in the site experience. It can combine with other content, such as news, photos and data, to tell a more comprehensive story. Think of a short interview with Elon Musk embedded within a story about Tesla Motors or a brief technology explainer running alongside a feature about the Apple Watch.

Digital video serves many purposes. Live streams can replace conventional TV for some audience segments, running in the background while users read articles or do work. Video on demand (VOD) modules can tell self-contained stories that may or may not be integrated with other content. Other clips may be developed exclusively for social media channels or syndication partners.

“Digital video can bring reporting to life or get the audience up close with a newsmaker,” the head of digital video said. “It can be a complete story or a sound bite. The more ways you can integrate video with other content, the more opportunities there are for advertisers to find the audience they want.”

These opportunities can be quite lucrative for publishers that can make digital video that garners enough views. For that to happen, publishers need to be aware of all the elements that make video content attractive to online viewers.

Turn quality into profit.

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Before the first second of video footage is shot, publishers need to have a firm grasp of their strategic objectives. If the top priority is traffic, publishers will want to emphasize shorter segments that enable easy sharing. If the primary goal is engaging an existing audience, publishers may want to produce longer segments that cater to more specialized interests. If monetization is the defining factor, digital video content should be built around advertiser-friendly categories as well as designed to accommodate a variety of pre-roll, on-screen and other kinds of ads.

With a clearly articulated strategy, publishers can move forward with production. It should be clear that high-quality video is table stakes. What can be more elusive for publishers, especially those new to digital video, is how to turn every good-looking video into one that the audience really wants to watch. For the head of digital video, it all begins with a story.

“Digital video has to provide visual value, but more important is a personal or emotional hook that gives viewers a point of entry,” he said. “If you can get that hook right, the video becomes instantly more valuable no matter how you intend to deliver it.”

A video producer and writer for a popular TV news channel affirms this view, noting that narrative drive should always be top of mind. “The big idea, or the story, is absolutely the number-one priority,” she said. “Without that, the video will fall flat. It won’t matter how good it looks.”

Secrets of compelling content.

Character-driven digital video is the easiest way to ensure narrative structure. Instead of trying to encapsulate everything about a topic in a linear fashion — which would not only be incredibly complex but likely too long for most digital video applications — it is better to use one person’s interesting experience to touch on the important themes or ideas.

It is easy to forget that viewing digital video is essentially a passive experience. Thus, viewers often set expectations for quality based on how long they expect to engage with the piece. If the viewer is just dipping in and out, sound bites are fine. If it is a more involved production, viewers will have higher expectations — this is especially true for storytelling.

“The experience has to be worth the viewer giving up control and allowing the video to take over,” the head of digital video said. “The risk of bad storytelling is very simple. You get ignored. It’s not enough to get a high click-through rate. You have to look at the completion rate. Did the story draw them in? If it did, the completion rate will be high. That is the goal.”

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Those entering the digital video space need to be aware of a number of common errors to avoid in telling a compelling story and keeping viewers engaged.

No talking heads. The newscaster approach gets boring very quickly. A single person talking is “deadly for the viewer,” according to the video producer. At the very least, publishers should mix in b-roll footage, title cards, voiceover narration and graphics to keep the story moving.

Short but not shallow. Shorter clips — in the one-minute to 90-second range — are ideal for digital delivery. But they still need to provide valuable information. The temptation is to keep everything at a high level, especially with the constant pressure to replenish content daily. Going for depth on fewer topics, however, is more effective. This can’t happen, the video producer noted, unless everyone on staff is contributing story ideas.

Be mindful of time. Time-sensitive video is very different than evergreen features that will stay on the site. Publishers can’t use the same approach for both. The key is finding a balance between more thoughtful, creative stories and quick-turn pieces that gain viewership through speed to market.

Know the audience. Digital video is such a wide- open market that it can be difficult to narrow the focus. Publishers will typically find more success by pursuing a smaller segment of the audience with well-defined interests, behaviors and demographic traits. Understanding these aspects of the audience will inform the types of stories that get told.

Plan the delivery. As we have seen, there are many ways to experience digital video. Where the content ends up affects story structure. Shorter videos work better on social media. Longer narrative videos work better for VOD. Video with a longer article can rely more on quotes or sound bites.

Common narrative mistakes. Compelling video checklist.

What makes one video more watchable than the next? It all comes down to three critical areas.

Technical quality

Sets

Talent

Camera work

Lighting

Sound

Editing

Graphics/effects

Seamless delivery

Transcoding

Video player module

Streaming

Narrative structure

Emotional hook

Beginning-middle-end

Characters

Thematic elements

Detail/depth

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If a solid story is in place, publishers can think about bringing it to life through visuals. The most important are the original footage of the event or personality. The quality of these shots will determine how much “extra” visuals are necessary. According to the video producer, a little goes a long way.

“It is easy to overdo it with visual effects and motion graphics, as well as sound effects and music,” she said. “If there is too much going on, the overall impact is negative. There will be times when the original footage isn’t everything you hoped for. That’s when you look at adding visual effects.”

Another way to augment existing footage is with licensed content from a professional provider. Access to high-quality licensed video content can help publishers fill the gaps in a story and enhance visual variety. This tactic is especially important for smaller publishers or those entering the digital video space for the first time.

“Starting out, digital video producers should not feel they have to shoot everything,” the video producer said. “It’s not possible. Even the largest digital video providers can’t shoot everything. There are many options for stock footage and a great deal of it can be very well done.”

Another reality to keep in mind is that video production is difficult — even for those who have been doing it for years. Organizing a team, finding talent, mastering technology, developing stories and managing production are all daily challenges. Publishers that try to produce original digital video and determine that it is too difficult or costly or time-consuming, however, can still enter this market space by licensing high-quality content from a trusted partner.

Think visually. 7 ways to use licensed video content.

1 Break up a talking head segment or interview.

2 Show locations that would be too expensive to shoot.

3 Add depth on a topic, market or industry.

5 Provide background for voiceover narration.

6 Smooth out transitions between topics.

7 Hide edits of unwanted shots.

4 Fill visual gaps in a story.

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The Bloomberg Content Service, for example, offers an extensive portfolio of video products to help publishers address challenges. Offerings include unique and timely HD video footage and exclusive short clips, including interviews and sound bites about advertiser- and audience-friendly topics such as technology, automobiles and luxury. Publishers looking to bolster coverage of financial topics can turn to Bloomberg for digital video packages about global business, investing, personal finance and politics and policy. Publishers can also use regional video feeds from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Staff appropriately.For publishers that are committed to developing digital video content in-house, one essential question is: How big a staff is required? There is no one right answer. Obviously, a relationship exists between staff size and the volume of high-quality content that can be produced in a given time period. But resourcing can be an issue even in large organizations.

“The fewer people you have, the fewer eyes and ears and hands available to make what you want to make,” the video producer said. “But it is important to manage everyone’s workload. It is very easy to get burned out when people are working on multiple projects simultaneously.” Bringing in freelance videographers, editors and production houses as needed is a common strategy for many production departments. Another tactic is hiring “jack of all trades” professionals who have experience in more than one area— directing, producing and editing, for example.

Online video creation platforms, such as Wochit are available—they simplify the process of selecting licensed content, creating a storyboard and editing the footage with voiceover into a seamless clip. These cloud-based, collaborative services offer a way for new entrants to begin producing video content and testing an audience’s appetite without acquiring a lot of production equipment.

News coverage stands apart.Publishers focusing on news have additional issues to consider for digital video. Audience expectations for the quality of the images may be lower than with other types of content, but expectations for speed to market are much higher.

Publishers need no special equipment to capture news footage on the go. With a laptop and basic editing software, content creators can create videos from a truck, a coffeeshop or a hotel room. However, a growing number of sites and apps are available for live streaming, Snappy TV among them. Live streams are delivered via HTTPS and are automatically converted into 5- and 10-second chunks that can be quickly repurposed for VOD or social sharing.

“If it aired live 20 minutes ago, you can make it available through VOD almost immediately,” the video product manager said. “Tools like this cut down on video transcoding time. There is no need to recreate files, reedit video or reupload anything. They save a lot of steps.”

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After video content is created, publishers need to share it with as many potential viewers as possible. Developing a content-sharing strategy, just like a content-creation strategy, works well when publishers think of digital video as its own entity — instead of a version of video originally created for another platform.

“Content created for the digital world tends to succeed,” the digital analytics expert said. “Ideally, it is a minute-and-a-half to two-minute clip that can be consumed on a phone or tablet, wherever the viewer happens to be. Digital-first content is also easier to integrate into the publisher’s site. You don’t want it to be intrusive to the site experience, but more like an added bonus.”

Digital-first content is conducive to sharing across multiple platforms, including the publisher’s own site, partner sites, third-party sites like YouTube and a variety of social media channels.

“The key point is that the Internet works,” the head of digital video said. “Not all of your potential audience is going to hit your site directly. Strategic sharing helps you gather as many views as possible through as many paths as possible. You’re going to the audience instead of expecting them to come to you.”

Publishers may want to consider sharing a subset of video offerings on YouTube to connect with different audiences. Publishers can also develop a content-sharing partnership in which a smaller organization complements its original video content with clips from larger providers. All of these options combine as part of a larger user-acquisition strategy.

Create content bundles.Content bundles offer another way to share digital video more widely. By combining video content with other content from the site, such as news stories, photos, graphics, reports, analysis and data, publishers can create a package that can be syndicated through other publishers looking to complement their own offerings.

Optimize for search.Search engine optimization (SEO) is the final step publishers need to complete to make sure digital video finds its way to those most likely to engage with it. SEO involves tailoring digital video content so that it gets listed earlier and more frequently in search engine results.

Some basic SEO steps include embedding links to the original site in the video’s description box, adding select targeted keywords to the description and taking full advantage of closed captioning. The more ways search engine bots have to gauge the relevancy of the video, the better results publishers will see. (For more information about SEO tactics, see our white paper, “Grow Your Audience: How to attract, build and retain digital traffic.”)

Strategies for sharing.

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Once publishers build out a strategy for creating and sharing digital video content, it is critical to measure the success of the program and make changes accordingly. Key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to digital video include the number of unique viewers and the number of video streams.

“The unique viewer is like the unique site visitor,” the digital analytics expert explained. “It tells you how many people are watching at least one video, regardless of device. The streams metric is akin to page views for a regular website. This number captures how many people are watching a segment of a stream.”

Blending these two measures into a single KPI, or streams per unique viewer, is the best measure of engagement. According to the digital analytics expert, compelling video has a very high rate of streams per unique viewer.

“It is important to look at average minutes watched and minutes per video, too,” she said. “Of course, you have to interpret the numbers according to the delivery method. For a live stream that viewers leave on in the background, the minutes per viewer is more significant than streams per unique. For VOD, it’s the opposite.”

For digital video clips that are less than one minute long, it is a good sign to see streams per unique trending upward. This indicates that the publisher is successfully attracting new viewers and enticing them to watch the next clip.

“Another metric we look at very carefully is percentage of overall site uniques watching video,” the digital analytics expert said. “In other words, out of all the people visiting your site, how many are clicking on videos? This is an indicator of how effectively you are promoting video on your own properties.”

Measuring and adjusting.

Content drives engagement.While many publishers excel at producing large volumes of digital video content, others need help filling gaps in coverage or adding depth and variety to certain topics. The Bloomberg Content Service provides high-quality digital video content that publishers can rely on to attract target audiences, deepen engagement and grow online traffic.

Premium video packages in technology, automotive, luxury and more

Topical and regional video content updated throughout the day

Broadcast-quality production values, complete with in-depth charts and graphs

Footage including skylines, time-lapse clips, event shots, product shots and more

Video delivery via Media Source, a new web destination for Bloomberg’s award-winning visual content

Live TV programming that gives viewers access to the top CEOs, investors, analysts and businesspeople making news

Additional offerings in news, photos and market data

Sound bites and complete interviews

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To track KPIs over time, publishers must use an analytics program, such as those from Ooyala, Adobe or Comscore. These programs offer varying levels of complexity. The more involved analytics may be more cumbersome for the average user, but will provide more granular detail about what the digital video audience is actually doing — such as how they are interacting with an autoplay feature, for example — and why.

“We are very interested in how the audience finds our video content,” the digital analytics expert said. “We can tell whether it is an off-site referral, a link from our home page or a search result. We can see what country the viewer resides in, what time they watched and how long they waited for the player to load.”

This kind of data will be important for any publisher that wants to develop a clear picture of audience behavior. It is possible to discern exactly what viewers do, such as when they clicked pause or how long they left the tab open on a browser. Analytics also can be integrated with website and mobile analytics to create a more engaging cross-platform experience for all content, including video.

“Any time you change your digital video strategy, the results are measurable,” the digital analytics expert said. “It’s critical to measure from day one so you know where you started and can track how different initiatives, whether product-related or technical or editorial, are impacting viewership and engagement.”

Measurement and analysis of this kind will help publishers understand which new ideas are producing results that align with their overall digital video strategy. Such metrics and information also enable publishers to detect problems that may be compromising viewership, such as a site map change that affects how search engines crawl through available video offerings.

In general, publishers can expect incremental changes, such as refining an autoplay algorithm, to produce similarly incremental results. Bigger moves, such as partnering with a major news portal for video sharing, will deliver a bigger splash. Both kinds of changes, however, are important.

“Publishers should be constantly testing and tweaking,” the digital analytics expert said. “You need to try out new ideas and see what users like, then use those results to optimize the site and make product decisions. The good news is publishers absolutely have an opportunity to stand out from the competition if they can improve the quality of their digital video experiences.”

Solutions for media

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Get started today.With the right provider, licensing video content can help publishers make a larger and more sustained impact with digital video. The Bloomberg Content Service licenses high-quality video and other content covering topics that are attractive to audiences and advertisers. To learn more, visit bloomberg.com/content-service.

About the Bloomberg Content Service.Bloomberg Content Service is a leading provider of global business and finance video, news, photos and data for more than 1,000 media outlets in 60+ countries.