At the end of a video, how can you drive people to take action? After all, for videos you post on YouTube, you are hoping to get people to go visit your product and use the dang thing.
Unfortunately, most videos end with... nothing. No call to action, no next step. This isn't so terrible for instructional videos – but for content marketing, it leaves a bit to be desired since it provides no avenue for potential attribution.
So here's an idea: end on a cheat sheet (aka lead magnet).
One thing I'm trying with my course is to end some clips on something actionable, like downloading or accessing a template or cheat sheet.
Here's one I made for one of the clips on auditing React apps using the React Dev Tools:
Instead of doing a plain old "conclusion," I wrap all the steps and tips I just demoed into a neat one-pager that I export as a PDF/JPG and tell learners to access the course's exercise files.
I've never seen this tactic used for developer video marketing, but I think it could be effective for several reasons:
- It triggers that FOMO sense in people, "Ooo I gotta get that cheat sheet."
- It provides an alternative format for the video – a downloadable PDF or guide developers can refer to easily instead of scrubbing through video
- It's easy to produce – all the content was in the video already
- A cheat sheet is usually in a format (and has a usage context) where a downloadable PDF/printout actually makes sense vs. a plain article/blog post
- You can reuse it as content for a landing page, social posts, paid ads/etc.
- It's educational and useful – developers love cheat sheets
For a content marketing video, I wouldn't necessarily put everything into the video like I do in my course (otherwise, people will just screenshot it). Instead, I'd point them to a "link in the description" or have a QR code and drive them to an ungated tracking link.
Even though developers don't like clicking tracking links, it's easier to click the link than to try and search for it (but I guess that's a win too).
Have a lovely day,
Kamran
