How to improve your videos testing Audience Storyblocks Guide

Tip 1: Test your videos to determine what works — then do more of it

Once your video is live, it’s the perfect time to learn more about your audience on your channels. Each video is a new opportunity for testing different things out to see what resonates with your viewers and what doesn’t work for them. 

For paid media, Ryan suggests going live with several different copy variations, landing pages, or even edits to your video across different channels. Sometimes these subtle variations can result in wildly different audience responses. That data can give you key insights into what will perform well for different audiences.

Testing allows you to evaluate how well your video performed in relation to the objectives you set. But it can also help you understand your audience's preferences on a deeper level. That’s especially true when you consider how your audiences respond to variations in your videos across the different channels where you’ve posted them. You won’t find that data in an analytics dashboard, though.

It helps to read the comments section (even when it hurts)

The number of views, time watched, and other quantitative metrics can certainly help you understand overall video performance. However, it’s essential to look at your qualitative data, too. The easiest way to do that is by reading the comments people leave on your videos. Internet video watchers usually don’t hold back their opinions. That’s not a bad thing, though. Even the most brutally honest reviews can offer you a glimpse into what people really think about your content. 

Remember: Whether the feedback is good or bad, your viewers’ comments hold valuable insights that you can apply to future testing to improve your videos. Ignore them at your own risk.

As you create more videos, try to identify any patterns in your comments that indicate which videos are gaining traction (and which aren’t). As you find your most popular videos, start brainstorming about other tests you can try next.

At Storyblocks, we often measure our videos’ performance based on engagement metrics. These include both in-platform and on-site engagement. For in-platform performance, you may want to look at video views and click-through rates. On-site, you can check out metrics like bounce rates and time spent on the site.

 Tip 2: Tweak and refine (testing small to improve your videos)

Every successful video you publish becomes fertile ground for testing and experimentation. After all, if you struck gold once, you may as well give it another go. We generally categorize our tests into 2 distinct buckets: Testing big and testing small. 

Both types of tests have their own strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll get the best results if you use them in tandem. 

To test small, you take one of your best-performing videos and change small things about it one at a time. Here are some of the variables you can adjust while testing to improve your videos:

1. Opening hook

2. Narration

3. Video length

4. Call to action (CTA)

5. Post copy

6. Post headlines

7. B-roll

8. Music

This gives you a chance to play scientist a little, as you’ll essentially be applying a form of the scientific method to your video production process. Testing small allows you to gauge how the audience reacts to subtle differences in your videos. And that can help you isolate the specific elements that will contribute to your ongoing success. Once you’ve identified those variables, it’ll be much easier to iterate on them and optimize your future videos.

Tip 3: Nothing ventured, nothing gained (testing big to improve your videos)

Now, let’s talk about testing big. This is where you’ll pit two completely different video concepts against each other. You'll basically give your audience a bunch of very different video ideas and see what sticks. Testing big involves a bit more creativity than testing small, so you can let your imagination run wild and just try stuff out to see what happens. This method can be especially helpful for keeping up with trends and audience tastes that change quickly. 

The ways users engage and interact with social content are constantly changing. This means today’s viral sensation could be a total bellyflop tomorrow. Sometimes testing out new ideas and video formats is your only hope for hitting that moving target. For example, if you primarily make animated product demo videos, try throwing a live-action, interview-style customer testimonial video into the mix to see how your audiences respond. 

Testing big requires you to think beyond simple A/B tweaks (which is primarily what you’ll do when testing small). It does involve some risk, as there’s always a chance your audience may not like some of the concepts you create for them. But negative feedback can be just as useful as glowing praise. No matter what, you’ll uncover new information to inform your video strategy. And the things you’ll learn from testing big are nearly impossible to discover if you only test small. Sometimes you have to just go big or go home, baby

Tip 4: Develop a testing strategy that works for you

So, now that you understand the fundamentals of big and small testing, how can you begin testing to improve your videos?

Ryan and Beth recommend that you start out by testing big. This is not only a great way to spot winning concepts, but it also gives you a clearer picture of what types of videos will resonate with your audiences. It may seem daunting to test out concepts that are completely unproven, but stepping outside your comfort zone a little is your fastest path to big wins. There’s a chance some of your ideas may not perform well, and that’s ok. If you’re not testing big, your creativity runs the risk of going stale.

Remember, all it takes is one great idea to build long-term success. 

Once you’ve landed on some winning concepts by testing big, testing small allows you to fine-tune your videos and dial in on the finer details to make them even more useful, interesting, or effective.

Beth and Ryan both stress one final important point: Don’t assume big-scale testing requires big budgets. Content creation is easier than it’s ever been. You can start making top-performing videos with nothing more than the phone in your pocket. Storyblocks’ stock video library includes all the assets you need to experiment and create stunning content—ffast.

“Video creation is less about the resources you have and more about the quality and value you provide to your audience.” 

– Beth Cormack, Storyblocks’ social media manager

Never break the bank when testing big. We actually encourage you not to put too much time or money into videos when you’re testing out something completely new. Test the waters with smaller budgets and fewer resources first, then build out your winning concepts once you figure out what types of videos work for your audiences. Spreading your budget across more big tests means more opportunities to uncover and validate your next great idea

Source: blog.storyblocks.com