You finish a video you liked. The person closes like this: «follow me, comment, share, visit my page and message me if you have questions». Five things in three seconds.
Which one do you do? Most likely none. You move on to the next video and forget who it was.
One action, tied to the video
The people who teach how to write videos point to two very common mistakes: ending without asking for anything, or asking for something unrelated to the story, like a «subscribe» stuck on at the end.
The fix fits in one sentence: at the end, one single action, tied to the problem the video just touched. For example, after a video about plants that dry out:
«If yours dry out too, comment GARDEN and I'll send you the list of what I do every morning.»
The action depends on what you want
Before you write the ending, decide what you want from that video. Each goal asks for its own action:
- To be known: «follow me, tomorrow I'll tell you part two».
- To get messages: «comment the word GARDEN and I'll send you the list».
- To get an appointment or a quote request: «message me and I'll tell you if your yard works».
- To sell: «message me COURSE and I'll send you the link with the price».
One video, one goal, one action. If you want two things, make two videos.
Said the way a friend would say it
The action sounds better when it is suggested. «If it helps, message me» sounds different from «buy now!». The people who teach selling with video say it again and again: someone who gives orders sounds like an ad, and ads get skipped.
Some of them prefer to leave the strong ask for the text that goes with the video, and close the video with something soft. Both fit together: a friendly sentence at the end, and the details in the text.
If you make videos for a business
The action is the business's action: book a table, ask for a quote, drop by the store this week. You choose it with the owner before writing the script.
That way, when the owner asks what the videos got him, you both know what to count: how many bookings, how many quote requests, how many visits.