What if I told you there are only three types of videos?
Would you believe me?
Think of any video right now. Literally any video. TikTok, YouTube, Instagram reel, any video at all. An easy pick is to think of the last video you remember watching.
Which one of these three things would you say is the primary purpose of that video?
- To entertain
- To educate
- To drive action
Here are some examples
- Gaming let’s play: to entertain
- Gaming how to beat a level: to educate
- Shifting your business perspectives: to drive action
- Business mistakes to avoid: to educate
- Book and merch launch: to drive action
- Top 10 facts about space: to educate
- Top 10 craziest sports moments: to entertain
- My bedroom makeover: to entertain
- Tips to makeover your bedroom: to educate
A video might be both educational and entertaining, and even try to make the viewer act, but there is one purpose at the core. One purpose that stands above the rest.
The critical thing to understand
It’s that the viewer also has a primary purpose, and it’s created before they click on the video. They also want to be entertained, educated, or driven to act.
There are two huge mistakes creators make that lead to the downfall of their videos.
Mistake #1: Mismatch of expectations
When a viewer clicks on “top 10 craziest sports moments”, the viewer has an expectation of being entertained. They want to see some cool things and be wowed.
If the video starts going into detail about how that shot was possible and starts talking about the physics of it, the viewer’s expectation is not met. They wanted to be entertained, not educated. They will abandon the video.
The title and thumbnail need to set up viewer expectations and the video needs to deliver on it. A different title that creates the right expectation might be, “How impossible sports moments happened”
Mistake #2: Not understanding that their video has a primary purpose
A lot of creators don’t know what their video’s primary purpose is (they might not know this is even a thing!), or they try to put too much into one video.
This creates a vague mushy squishy video where both the creator and the viewer don’t really know what they’re getting.
Think about a bedroom makeover video where the creator shows off their new space, but also keeps going into detail about each thing they did and how they did it. If half of the viewers wanted to be entertained, their expectations will not be met.
The next steps on how to make your next video even better
Do this before pressing record.
Think about what purpose you want your video to have and how to structure the video to deliver it. Is the purpose of this video to entertain, educate, or drive action?
Then think about how to create a thumbnail and title that will create the right viewer expectation.
Then, press record.
