When it comes to reaching a huge number of people to let them know about your business and products, you really can’t beat video advertising. From a video posted to YouTube to short clips you add to your social media pages and/or website, online videos can help businesses of all sizes reach a larger audience. Video advertising is also quite effective; according to a study by Cisco, customers who see a video on a product are up to 85 percent more likely to buy it, which equates to a huge return on investment.

 
Like any marketing strategy you employ to help grow your business, you have to create and use your online video in the most effective way possible. The following tips can help you to do just that:
 

Plan it out on paper first

 
\While you might be tempted to grab a camera and start filming, Business News Daily notes it’s best to do some detailed planning ahead of time. Write out your ideas for the video on paper and include notes and bullet points about what you want to say. Spending a bit of time preparing the video and its content on paper will save you time in the long run and help to keep you and the video focused on who you want to reach.

Keep it short and sweet

 
Although you might be tempted to tell your viewers anything and everything about your business in your online video, resist the urge to turn what should be a short ad into your own version of “Citizen Kane.” As Inc. notes, try to keep your video in the 90 second to 2 minute range and, if you are focusing on just one point or product, you can even shoot for a minute or less. Your ultimate goal is for viewers to watch the entire video. Even if you have a lot to talk about, keep it as short and sweet as possible. Remember, you can always create additional videos down the road to cover additional points and products.

Tell a story

No matter what you are trying to achieve with your online video advertising — whether it’s to talk about a new product or service or just get the word out about your company and what you do — you need to tell some type of story. This will help to engage viewers and keep them watching until the very end. For an excellent example of this, check out the LifeLock videos on YouTube; each one tells a short yet compelling tale that still relates to the company, but in a very interesting and entertaining way.

Watch the lingo

If you use a lot of abbreviations and other business-related lingo in your day-to-day business, try to keep that to a minimum in your online video. The jargon that is second nature to you may be like Greek to your viewers, and the last thing you want is for potential customers to hit the “stop” button on your video because they couldn’t understand what you were talking about. Keep the language clear and avoid acronyms or words that most potential customers are unfamiliar with. To double check that your language is clear, run your script past a pre-teen or teenager first — if he or she doesn’t get what you are saying, chances are most of your customers won’t either.