Dang Toasted Coconut Chips from rishio on Vimeo.

1. Keep it short. 2-3 minutes at most. Most online viewers have very short attention spans.

2. Hook them. Have an attention-grabbing intro so they don’t lose interest.

3. Have a strategic intent. What’s the purpose? Be firm about the message but be flexible about delivery. Decide if you want to show the production process, describe how to eat it or prepare it, tell your brand’s story, or how people react when they try it. Plan around your audience—know the demographic you’re going for, their habits, and tailor your message to them.

4. Grab tons of footage. Throw out ideas and film as much as possible. Film yourselves at events, demos, joking around the office. The more footage the better – the magic is in the editing. When working with a creative type, set deadlines and shooting schedules to help structure the process.  

5. Lighting and audio are key. Get a separate microphone and set up lighting for every shot. Sync up audio in the editing process.

6. Make it last! Avoid time-sensitive messaging like product launches and focus instead on something that you can keep for years to come.

7. Get carried away. Feeling inspired? Run with it. Have a plan but feel free to run with crazy ideas that might pop into your head.

8. Launch with gusto. Spread amongst social media, send directly to key contacts, promote your video and let the world know it exists! Try to get some notable people to share your video and make it easy for them to embed on their own sites by sending them the code to do so.

9. Interact with viewers. Respond to comments and invite feedback.

10. Track success. Keep an eye on video views and increases in website traffic and online sales. Tracking in-store sales is tricky but it’s good to see what cities your web traffic is coming from and see how sales grow in those areas.