Picture this!
You have been consistent with your video every week. You post at the right time. You are engaging and entertaining, but you are still lying awake at night, frustrated that no one is watching.
You were very excited to share it with the world and finally hit that “publish” button, hoping to garner thousands of views. Thirty minutes…6 hours…24 hours pass. At the end of the week, only a handful of viewers have watched the video to the end.
What went wrong?
There are plenty of reasons why people are not watching your videos.
A few of them are out of your control, but most are within your reach. Here are four reasons people are not watching your videos and how to fix them.
1. Your Videos are Too Long
Long-form content, including video, can do very well on YouTube and other sites.
33% of all YouTube views are for videos longer than 20 minutes. However, that doesn’t mean your audience will have the time to watch an hour-long video.
While long-form content converts well, it’s not everyone’s favorite, and in most cases, it will put your audience off.
In today’s age of Gen Z and TikTokers, brevity is key. People prefer content on the move, and nearly two-thirds prefer videos under 60 seconds. So keep it short and entertaining.
Facebook now prefers videos that are 2-5 minutes. So while you have a lot to say, try cutting it short.
How to Fix It
To make sure people click on your videos, don’t make them longer than necessary, even if the platform allows for a longer format.
Check studies of ideal video length for various platforms, and apply the findings to your content and audience.
2. You Address the Wrong Audience
Imagine you’re searching for an answer to the question, “How to grow your following on Facebook.”
You would probably be looking for something like “how to get more consistent on Facebook” or a “step-by-step guide to building a community online” Instead, you stumble upon a detailed explanation of what the Metaverse is and how to invest.
Are you likely to watch that video? Probably not!
Similarly, if you create videos without your ideal client in mind, you’ll only get a handful of views. That’s because the video has a different audience. Only a fraction of your audience interested in Metaverse will watch the video.
How to Fix It
Find out what your audience loves and the topics that interest them most before creating your content. Look at your analytics to see which videos are performing best, then create content around that topic.
3. Your Titles and Descriptions are Misleading
The number one reason people start watching a video is an exciting title.
However, to get more people to watch a video, some marketers often use what’s called “clickbait.” A clickbait is an attention-grabbing title that tricks people into clicking on a video link, only to realize later that the video has nothing to do with the title.
Sure, click-baiting can get you more traffic. But, it can also lead to serious SEO penalties, not to forget the frustration you’ll bring upon your audience.
How to Fix It
Always create engaging titles that will attract your audience and not mislead them.
If people realize you’re always misleading them with “clickbait,” they’ll stop clicking on your video links, and it will be challenging to win them back.
4. People Can’t Find Your Videos
Social media and Google can’t see what’s inside your video content, so it relies on title tags and other metadata to determine the video content and index it appropriately. So, if your video is missing this information, your audience will not find it anywhere online.
And on social media, if you aren’t letting your audience know when you are showing up online. That’s why consistency is so important.
How to Fix It
Always optimize your video content to make it easy for your audience to find it.
To make your videos more searchable, create keyword-rich descriptions with titles to make it easy to be found wherever your audience is searching.
And don’t forget to share in all the places when you have a new video to share.
Wrapping Up
Having few to no video views is not the end of the world.
Sure, it’s bothersome, and your audience won’t grow as quickly, but there are many things you can do to remedy the problem.
The first step to improving your content engagement is to find out why people are not watching your videos. By following these tips, you’ll be able to increase your video views and overall content engagement in no time.