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Learn how to capture your viewers’ attention in the first 15 seconds of your videos – and how to make them sign up for your software or saas immediately!
Great video – and video tutorials – are all about structure and story. You might be asking:
“Well, why the heck do I need a story or do I have to put so much effort into creating my software video tutorials?”
Always keep in mind: It’s not just about plain, educational tutorials. You can make so much more out of it!
Think back to the three main benefits of video marketing:
Are you ready to boost your software sales and marketing with structured tutorials that will capture your viewers from the very first second?
Grab a coffee and watch the video below or keep reading.
But don’t miss out on the secret sauce!
Let’s dive into the structure of a kick-ass video tutorial. Basically, that’s just four parts:
Let’s go through it step by step and let’s start with by far the most important part of your video tutorial: the hook.
The first 10-15 seconds of your video are crucial.
Just think of your own behavior: When you’re watching other videos or tutorials on YouTube, how many seconds will it take you to decide whether you’re gonna continue watching the video, or whether you’re gonna move on to the next?
I’m guessing, but you probably make that decision within the first five, six, seven seconds.
So you have a maximum of 15 seconds to really capture the interest of your viewer and to make them keep watching!
How do you do that? Well, there is a precise formula.
Bonus: Save time, get the fill-in-the-blanks video script, and start creating video tutorials that sell. Click here to get instant access to the FREE script & training!
Let’s go through it step by step.
Start With A Big Problem Or Challenge
“Hooking people” means first and foremost starting with a big problem or challenge your clients are facing.
You introduce that by sentences like
Have you ever struggled with acquiring new customers?
Have you ever struggled with overwhelming project loads?
By using “have you ever struggled with…”, you start creating a first connection to your viewers because you’re showing them that you know about their challenges!
That’s where your buyer persona or customer avatar comes in handy.
So if you haven’t done it already, go create your main buyer persona(s) and get down to their biggest problems and challenges.
That’s how you appeal to your future clients!
After introducing the problem, you go on to the motivational part, using phrases like
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could get an overview of your resources at a glance?
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if 10-15 new leads were coming in every day?
Show them the possible outcome, and you’ll give them a clear motivation to keep watching your video tutorial.
Then, give a short preview of what you’re gonna in the video, like
In this video, I’m gonna show you exactly how to get there.
Of course, you’re not gonna reveal the tricks you’ll be teaching later.
That’s how you spark their interest even more.
And that’s it! In short:
You start with the problem/challenge, motivate by showing the possible outcome, and then give a very short preview.
Sounds theoretical? No worries.
Let’s have a look at how all of this comes together. Here’s an example script of one of the videos I created.
If you pay close attention, you see that I don’t introduce myself. I don’t waste any time during that hook for introducing myself or the business.
Everything is cut out to be able to put the essence into the very first 15 seconds:
Video tutorials are the best way of showcasing your software or saas solution, or almost any product.
But do your video tutorials live up to their full potential? And by that I mean:
This part is a clever combination of stating the problems and hinting at the possible outcome.
By saying “Are people really watching your videos?” you hint at the problem – and frustration – of people who create videos and tutorials that nobody’s watching.
“Are they freeing your sales and support team?” points at the possible outcome. Your viewers will start thinking “Oh my god, my video tutorials might even be doing that!”
Next, sum it up:
If done right, video tutorials can do all of that for you.
Now go even further in showing the possible outcome:
Think of your video tutorials as your 24/7 sales and support reps, always working for you.
And then, there’s even some objection crushing here:
The good news is, you don’t need to be a video or marketing professional.
You don’t even need expensive gear.
In these very short two sentences, you can even tackle the most common objections.
Finishing things up:
Follow the 3-step formula I’m sharing with you in this video and your tutorials will not only get the views and attention they deserve, they will attract a flood of new leads and sign-ups.
So, I say what I’m gonna teach (the 3-step formula) and even repeat the possible outcome.
This might be a bit more than 15 seconds, but there are so many benefits that will make the viewer’s life easier that this will definitely spark the interest.
Don’t forget to click here to download the example video script, which will get you started. Just fill in the blanks!
During the hook or the first 15 seconds, you don’t waste any time on introduction, company info, etc.
That’s what the intro is for.
Make a clear, concise break after the hook by showing or revealing your business logo.
And please, don’t do that with 10, 15 seconds of crazy animations.
Just take your logo and have a subtle, professional animated reveal of your logo (by fading in or flying in and out of your screen). This should take between 3 and 5 seconds.
Then you introduce yourself in two sentences, like:
Hi, I’m Dominik from Video Marketing Academy.
We love to help software as a service companies grow their business.
That’s it, nothing more.
You mention your name and your company name, and you give the shortest mission statement ever.
In the above intro, “we love” is used to introduce the mission or vision of the business.
And incorporating “software and software as a service companies” clearly states the target group, so your viewers know you’ll be an export in their field.
Try to answer the “W” questions as short and precise as possible:
You can squeeze all of that into two short sentences. Just give it a try!
If people want to know more, they can always go to your website.
Keep it really short, another 15 seconds.
And then, we already come to the main part of your tutorial video.
Now, it’s all about educating your future customer.
Teaching him (and more importantly: showing him) how he can achieve the desired outcomes you’ve promised during the hook. Explaining to him how he can get where he wants – of course using your software or services.
You do that by what I call motivational circles:
Don’t keep teaching and teaching for five, ten, or even fifteen minutes.
People will tune out if you just keep hitting the hard facts.
What you do instead is apply the motivational circle over and over.
The circle has four steps that you’re gonna repeat throughout the main part:
And then start all over again.
Start with a sentence like:
Have you ever struggled with getting enough qualified leads for your sales pipeline?
We know it can be a struggle.
There’s lots of sign-ups coming in, but is this really your target group?
Are people really interested? Can you get them on the phone?
So you keep “rambling on” about the problem or challenge to paint a vivid picture.
Then, make a short step into the future, saying something along the lines of:
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if each and every day 10-15 qualified leads were coming in?
Warm leads who you can call right away?
Warm leads who will want to schedule a demo call with you?
That’s the desired outcome.
Now, transition to the how-to part, to the actual teaching/educating:
Let me show you exactly how you get there. Using our CRM tool, you can…
Show some screencasts and explain step by step how your tool exactly solves that very problem or challenge.
After teaching, you tackle the most common objections:
I can see you’re wondering: Does that really work?
Can I really implement such a software tool in such a short time?
The answer is: yes. You…
You immediately give answers to the most common objections.
Then, you start the next motivational circle, coming back to another problem/challenge:
Apart from getting these daily leads, how about the workload of your sales team?
Can you tackle that?
Again, showing the desired outcome:
Wouldn’t it be great, if you could take a workload off of the shoulders of your team?
Then, educating:
Let’s see how you can achieve that!
Now you know the formula of the motivational circle:
Elaborate on the problem, give a short preview of the possible outcome to motivate, show exactly how to get there, using screencasts and explanations, and finally tackle objections.
Incorporating benefits and showing desired outcomes throughout your tutorials is the secret to capturing the interest of your viewers.
Here’s another example:
Now your potential customers can immediately see what’s in it for them.
And those who are feeling that pain right now, they are gonna watch your tutorial.
Some of them will sign up for a trial.
And some of these will become happy, new customers.
It’s all about motivating, showing multiple possible outcomes of using your software.
That’s what will keep people watching your video tutorials until the very end.
That means more time with your future customers, creating not only an emotional connection but starting to build up a relationship!
And I’m not joking here, you can build relationships just with online video.
After the main part comes the outro, the short and final part when creating video tutorials.
You give a short summary of what you’ve been teaching, what you’ve been educating people during your tutorial, saying:
Now let me sum up!
You’ve seen how you can tackle [challenge] and really get [big benefit].
Again, paint a vivid picture of the benefits because now, you’re about to ask your viewers for something in return.
The famous call-to-action.
Focus on one call-to-action. If you give people several things to choose from, they will get confused and do none of it.
Choose one action you want your viewers to take, whether it be sign up for your trial, download an additional white paper, etc.
Don’t be afraid to tell people exactly what to do.
So after you’ve painted that vivid picture of the desired outcome, you go an like:
Just imagine how great it would be if your sales reps had much more time to schedule calls and were getting those warm leads.
This is what I want you to achieve.
Sign up for your trial, and try it by yourself.
You will be amazed how easy it is.
Again, tackle objections if possible.
Finish with a short, final screen with the written call-to-action repeating what you’ve just said.
That’s it!
That’s the easy four-part structure of an ideal software video tutorial that will immediately capture and keep the interest of your viewers.
Bonus: Save time, get the fill-in-the-blanks video script, and start creating video tutorials that sell. Click here to get instant access to the FREE script & training!
Starting with the hook (first 15 seconds), you’ll spark the interest of your viewers, addressing a big pain and challenge and showing the possible, desired outcome.
Short intro, revealing your logo, introducing yourself.
The main, educational part with the motivational circle throughout.
Finally, the outro giving a short summary, again motivate with a possible outcome and asking for the call-to-action.
That’s how you create video tutorials that people will actually watch and like, and that will create those warm leads and sign-ups for you!
Are you happy with the results of your video tutorials? Tell me in the comments!
