There can be countless reasons why your web video failed to get results. From hiring your neighbor’s cousin’s friend (who just happens to dabble in video production when he feels like it) to putting absolutely no pre-production thought into the intended purpose of the video, web videos fail for countless reasons.

Here’s a look at three potential reasons why your video failed: poor technical quality, careless content, and no call to action.   

Paper, Scissors, Rock: Quality Beats Everything.

The quality of a video’s production and user-friendliness has the power to either inspire the viewer to watch the entire video, or motivate the potential new customer to “click off” and instead find more enjoyment in helping Mario maneuver his race car. Before any video’s message can be received, the overall technical quality of the video is what will shine through first. This encompasses many elements, including: the quality of the 2D and 3D motion graphics, the talent, the sound, and the video editing.  Technical reasons why your video failed may include the fact that it takes “forever” to load, is too long, has hard-to-hear audio, and/or is not high-definition with many stunning effects. Instead, maybe it was “created” in a parking lot with the host sporting the same clothes he wore to clean his car and the “videographer” moving so much it makes the viewer reach for a Dramamine after he stops the video. Just like with everything in life, the more attention to detail, pre-planning, and focused thought purposefully put into something, the better the result. Web videos are no different.

I Never Got Your Message.

No matter how technically-savvy, creatively-shot, or animation-laden a video, if the written or spoken content is weak, confusing, too brief, or full of too-much information, the intended message will get lost.  A video produced with all the latest bells and whistles doesn’t make a difference if the viewer doesn’t understand your intended message. Content-related reasons why your video failed could be because the viewer doesn't know if he's supposed to purchase a gasoline-free lawnmower, hire an eco-friendly landscaping service, or let the grass grow. It's the overall message that matters most.

Call Me, Maybe.

Just like your website needs landing pages where visitors are called to contact the business, website videos also need their own  “call to action” component.  While the viewer may find the video funny, inspiring, or viral-worthy, without a clear call to action, it’s simply being entertaining. Offers of 20% off, free appetizers at the 5-star restaurant with mention of the video code, or a buy one/get two free reward is often enough to turn a casual viewer into a new client of action. If you don't have this call-to-action ingredient in your video, you can add it to your reasons why your video failed. 

Truly engaging, effective, and memorable web videos are tough to make; that's why there are professional video production companies. While every online business can benefit from embracing this unique, tangible, and informative marketing tool, not every business owner with a website can (or wants to)  take the time to become technically savvy and try to conceptualize, write, and produce a remarkable web video.

Professional video production agencies specialize in bringing brainstormed ideas to fruition. They are creative, tech-savvy experts highly-skilled at producing engaging, award-worthy web videos that not only highlight a company’s particular products and services, but also clearly convey the character underpinnings of the company’s owners or leaders. Though each web video is as unique as the website itself, noteworthy videos that successfully launch and accomplish what they’re designed to accomplish all include the same essential ingredients.