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Addicting content is media that keeps them engaged, wanting more, and coming back. To do that, it has to be fun, it has to be easy, and it has to look like the thing everyone is doing. 

It’s created by design, like a good thriller or a piece of chocolate, and there are principles you can use to make your video content more addictive.

Addictive content is always a synthesis of something common and something new; it fulfills both a need and a desire. Often times, it starts with “the hook.”

The Hook

Ya gotta have a hook. A hook isn’t a single thing. Your tag line is a hook. Too many companies (especially new businesses, non-profits, and service organizations) don’t have a tag line. It’s not necessary for the day to day operation of your company, but it’s essential for marketing your company. Think of a tag line as your elevator speech reduced to seven words or less.

The five words that describe your company can be a hook. You can create a powerful marketing video showing those five words in action; or five videos, one for each word.

Your hook can also be a part of a story. In movies, the hook is when the problem presents itself to the protagonist. Structurally, 99% of Hollywood movies will devote the first 3-5 minutes to showing you life before the problem. You get to know the characters by seeing them under normal circumstances. Then the problem, the conflict appears. Their status changes. And we’re hooked into the story. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’re probably solving a problem or filling a desire. There’s a normal life, a problem, and a solution. Showing the problem in a surprising, relevant way can hook your audience. A strong emotional response can hook your audience; so can a secret. But don’t assume that just telling your audience what the problem is will hook them. It has to change the way they think about something.

Consider this scenario: you run an environmental nonprofit and you want people to donate. Everyone washes their car. You can link car-washing to water run-off that ends up in their watershed– because that’s exactly where it goes. The watershed starts at your driveway. Nature is not a beach you visit twice a year, it’s where you park your car. Picture an image of a suburban driveway filled with birds, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, and the sound of an elephant in the distance, and you’ve instantly captured people’s attention.

Think Chunks

Episodic content is one of the best marketing strategies for building relationships with your customers. Episodic content is powerful because, unlike a standalone piece, it allows you to explore a theme and sink your teeth into a variety of topics. Episodic content also helps us keep your video short.

Think in chunks. Don’t tell them everything. Leave them hanging a bit, waiting for the next installment. You should think of your next piece before you finish the first one, and plant seeds. A simple way to do this, is to pose a question at the end. A more powerful way is to pose a problem.

Even if your content isn’t episodic in story or theme, your customers have to know that more is coming. Otherwise, why come back?

Find your Hero

Being the “hero” doesn’t mean being perfect. Every video needs a hero… that person we identify with and who helps solve the problem. But that hero doesn’t need to be perfect. They don’t have to appear confident, or cool, or even an expert in their field. What they need to be is authentic, and that includes quirks and flaws.

There are a lot of heroes connected to your business: your customers, your employees, yourself. The challenging is in shaping their stories. That’s something we do a lot of at Hurricane Images— help clients identify, mold, and hone their stories to better promote their business.

Information overload is something we hear a lot about these days. People are inundated with information… on their phones, computers, radio, and TV. The problem is that people don’t consume much more information today than they did ten years ago. Being bombarded is what makes people feel overwhelmed, as well as the constant sense that we’re “missing out” if we’re not wired in. These days it’s easy to lower the bar on our expectations of what customer engagement. Don’t. Don’t settle for customers. Have fans. Check out our post on how to convert Clicks into Buys for more great ideas.

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