The end is nigh: How to conclude a video successfully

Have you ever read a book only to get to the end and throw it against the wall in a rage of fury and disappointment? Left the cinema halfway during a movie, the A-list actors and killer soundtrack falling apart into a pit of despair and dissatisfaction that totally wasn’t worth the $20 ticket?

The conclusion of an online video is as important as its first few seconds. Congratulations on your customers making it through your video! Now you need to make it worth their while by getting them to take some form of action, and avoiding their turning it off before the most important part.

The earlier stages of your promotional video production sparked potential customers’ interests, educated them and has probably left them deciding what to do, so now they need a final push from you in the right direction.

People are more likely to purchase a product after viewing an explainer video. Your customers are viewing your video with the glimmer of hope that you can help them with their problem. This means that the ending needs to provide a strong motivation which will convince them that this product is what they need to save their day.

To do this sounds challenging, but the best way is to keep it simple. Repeating the most important key points of the product or service refreshes the customer’s memory and outlines the benefits – usually ones they need to hear (see number 2).

When ending your video, remember to leave all questions clearly answered and that the information you’ve given offers closure.

2.a) Call them to action, but don’t be pushy

These days, clever advertising relies more heavily on portraying a story or message that sells itself and providing a resolution to the customer’s issue. To keep with the simplicity, here’s a breakdown of how you want customers to react:

Customer: My dishes come out dirty from the dishwater!

Your video: “With X dishwashing liquid, your dishes are streak-free every

time you wash!”

Customer: What a relief, my prayers are answered! Just what I was

looking for!

2.b) Avoid the dreaded ‘F’ word

A quick point to remember when calling customers to action online is to make it as easy as possible. At the very end of your video, if you ask for details, don’t say “form” – the word makes people shudder and will very likely chase them away. They want to give as little as they can in the fastest amount of time, not fill out a tax return paper.

Don’t say “Fill out the form below” because it promises long, boring, open-ended questions and ain’t nobody got time for that. Instead, be friendly and positive – say: “Enter your email into the green box and let’s get started!” Placing the emphasis on a colour steers your persona away from the big, scary, faceless company and closer to a humanised business that want to help its customers. And likes colours.

Remember how I said to not be pushy? Here you can let loose – this is your opportunity to offer as much information on how to reach you as possible. Include your business name, number, Facebook and Twitter details, along with any other info you may have. This will help the customer learn more about you, recommend you to others, like and share your posts and other content, and potentially become a customer.

4. Make it memorable

It’s a known fact that people retain the beginning and end of information that’s fed to them, so make the ending of your video really creative and impressive.

The end of a video should help potential clients make up their mind and purchase your product or service. In a highly unusual example, Google’s ending to their Google Glass video is particularly memorable. It uses a very different take on this strategy, applied in a joint campaign for violence against women. Watch below and be warned of some violence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN4sMISyYgk

What do you think about the end to Google’s video? How does it make you feel and react?

By Joanna Michalowski