I have seen hundreds of online videos. Last year my blog consisted of mostly critiques of online videos businesses were using for marketing or recruiting. There are three things that will pretty much destroy a video for businesses.

1. Bad sound

This could be solved easily enough with a lapel microphone. It is called a “close mic,” as opposed to the built in microphone on the video recorder (while standing ten or fifteen feet away the person being filmed). Built-in microphones pick up everything and are worse with distance. If the video has good sound, that alone sometimes can carry a video…but if the video looks great and there is crappy sound, people don’t want to watch it.

2. Unstable and unclear video

This could be solved easily enough with a tripod, using a manual white balance, and making sure the video recorder is in focus. I can’t stand camera shake. It is a major distraction and shortens how long someone is willing to watch the video (which is already very short – less than 3 minutes on average). Then if the subject is out of focus or (because of white balance done improperly) the person looks like they are ill because they are tinged blue, green, etc. All these scream amateur who doesn’t know what they are doing…which is not the image you want for a business video.

3. Too Long

I already hinted at this in #2, but you don’t have long in online videos before the viewers become bored and move on. I still see too many videos 6, 8, or 10 or more minutes long. This is a killer in business videos. The message must be focused, as well as quick and to the point. When you want to talk about more than one thing, it may be better to make another video. Three 3-minute videos are more likely to be seen than one 9-minute video. Keep in mind that as soon as the viewer becomes bored, they are gone. Also, they are watching for their benefit…not your benefit. They are looking for some information and/or to be entertained. The content must benefit the viewers right away or they will go elsewhere shortly.

I would say these are also my three biggest pet peeves. If you have a short video with stable & clear video and good sound (that gives content to the viewer), it is really hard to mess it up. People will watch it. It doesn’t have to be flashy. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune and look like Hollywood produced it. Just don’t commit these three mistakes.