marketing videos - Common mistakes to avoid

You might struggle to believe we’re saying this (ha!), but creating marketing videos is a highly effective way to engage your target audience and achieve your marketing goals. However, there are some common mistakes that we’ve seen a lot of businesses make when creating their own marketing videos that can blunt their effectiveness somewhat. In this edition of the STM Blog, we’ll explore some of the most common mistakes to avoid when creating marketing videos.

Not Defining Your Audience

One of the biggest mistakes that businesses tend to make when creating marketing videos is not defining their audience. Without a clear understanding of who you’re trying to reach with your videos, it’s difficult to create content that resonates with them. 

Let’s use the most extreme example to demonstrate the point. If your target audience is sales managers in the manufacturing industry, it probably isn’t best practise to use a load of bright colours, childish music and silly fonts. 

You need to know your audience’s interests, preferences, pain points, and demographics to create video content that speaks to them. Take the time prior to the video to research your audience and develop buyer personas to guide your video content strategy.

Not Setting Clear Goals

Make sure you set clear goals for your marketing videos. What are you trying to achieve with your video content? Are you trying to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive conversions? Without clear goals, it’s difficult to measure the effectiveness of your videos and make adjustments to your strategy. Set specific, measurable, and achievable goals for your video content and track your progress using analytics tools.

Not Telling a Compelling Story

One of the keys to creating effective marketing videos is telling a compelling story. Your video content should tell a story that engages your audience and makes them care about your brand or product. 

Businesses often focus on the features and benefits of their product or service, rather than telling a story that connects with their audience on an emotional level. Use storytelling techniques to create video content that is memorable and engaging.

Neglecting Production Quality

While the quality of your video content doesn’t have to be Hollywood-level, in fact we actively encourage you to make your own video content in certain scenarios, it’s important to pay attention to production quality.

Poor lighting, shaky camera work, and bad audio can distract from the main message of the video and potentially make videos look unprofessional. Take the time to make sure you’ve looked after the basics and, if necessary, work with professionals to ensure that your videos look and sound their best.

Making Videos Too Long

Don’t drone on and on! 

Because of the amount of content flying around in peoples’ worlds, attention spans are short and viewers are unlikely to stick around for long videos. Aim to keep your videos succinct and to the point. Don’t say anything that doesn’t need to be said. 

If you have a lot of information or features you want to share, consider breaking it up into a series of shorter videos.

Missing Calls to Action

Finally, one of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is ignoring calls to action in their marketing videos.

Your video content should include a clear call to action that tells viewers what you want them to do next, whether that’s visiting your website, subscribing to your newsletter, or making a purchase. 

Make your call to action prominent and easy to follow, and track the effectiveness of your calls to action using analytics tools.

In conclusion, creating effective marketing videos requires careful planning, attention to detail, and a deep understanding of your audience. By avoiding these common mistakes and focusing on creating high-quality, engaging video content, you can achieve your marketing goals and connect with your audience in a powerful way. So take the time to develop a video content strategy that aligns with your goals and speaks to your audience, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats and techniques to find what works best for your brand.


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