Ready, and… ACTION! 6 Tips for Creating Video Marketing Content

by | Nov 7, 2013 | Content Marketing

You finally decided to incorporate videos into your marketing plan. Good for you! But then it hits you — you’re no Steven Spielberg and you don’t exactly have a Hollywood budget.

No problem.

Use these 6 tips to help your business create truly compelling and effective video content to market your business:

1. Be realistic. We all have seen the commercials where products are morphing, explosions are going off everywhere, and the actresses are a perfect blend of Halle Berry and Cindy Crawford. Unfortunately, not all businesses have access to these video marketing assets.

To avoid creating over-the-top expectations for your project, first have a meeting with your team to discuss budget, scope, resources, and — most importantly — your team’s skill level, so there are no surprises mid-filming.

2. Have a plan. If you don’t have a detailed plan, it’s likely that your video production project will fall to the wayside as other work projects compete for your team’s attention.  To help keep everyone on the same page from start to finish, make sure to address the following questions while creating your video production plan:

  • Who is our target audience?
  • What problems are we trying to solve for our customers?
  • What emotions are we trying to portray?
  • What is our timeline?
  • Who will handle each role in pre-, post-, and during production?
  • What are our goals and expectations for this video?
  • Are we creating a series of videos?
  • How much will this cost? / What is our budget?
  • What can we accomplish in-house?
  • What equipment will we need?
  • What channels will we use for promoting our video?
  • Where will we post videos?
  • Do we have back-up ideas and plans?
  • Will we need contracts?
  • Are we aware of any trademark infringements?

3. Utilize all of your resources. One advantage to living in a digital world is that we have countless resources at our fingertips. Search video production tutorials and editing techniques online. Here are a few fantastic resources I found for multiple skill levels:

Intermediate-Level Video Production

iMovie Tutorial: Beginners and Basics
Windows Live Movie Maker Video Editing Tutorial

Advanced/Professional-Level Video Production

EOS HD Video Production Tutorials
Premiere Pro CC Essential Training

Social Video Production

How to Record Video with Instagram Using the iPhone App
VINE – How To Use – Tips & Tricks

4. Utilize your creative assets.  Videos are most effective when there is strong creativity behind them. Form a Creative Team for all of your video projects. This group can be responsible for brainstorming unique concepts, visual effects, and original content.

A good way to keep your team inspired is to create an “Inspirational Archive.” Have your team conduct research on other companies and their video marketing. The team can write down and take photos of features and angles that stood out to them. Create an inspiration board to hang in the office, and create a folder on your company drive to share inspiration with the rest of your team.

5. Execute, execute, execute! Doing videos correctly can take a lot of time and effort. If you plan to incorporate videos into your company’s marketing strategy, make sure you have the time to fully execute and deliver a KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF marketing campaign so it reflects well on your company.

6. Show some personality. Don’t be afraid to show some character and humor in your videos. Think of your favorite Super Bowl commercials — they either contain humor, personality, relatable concepts, strong emotion, or all of the above. You want to show your potential clients that you can relate with them and their customers on many different levels.

For some inspiration, here are some big-name companies that do videos right:

So you may not be ready to accept your first Academy Award for Best Picture. But your company really can create strong video content to attract new customers and keep your current customers intrigued and impressed by your team.

Our own Director of Digital Content Marketing Zina Harrington interviewed Katy Enrique, the Communications Manager at Six Flags Great America, this summer. Check out a few more viral YouTube examples in her article Social Media: A Virtual Roller Coaster Ride for Marketers.

…aaaaaannnd CUT!

Now it’s your turn. Let us know — How can we help YOU with your content marketing? Let’s connect on LinkedIn or Facebook.

heather

Using Video on Your Site… It’s Powerful!

by | Apr 2, 2013 | Content Marketing, Social Media

Using Video on Your Site… It’s Easy & Powerful!
If it’s true that “A picture is worth a thousand words,” then a video clip might be worth a MILLION.

In today’s marketing world, hosting a relevant video clip on your website — or even just embedding a meaningful video clip from YouTube — is a smart way to convey your company’s know-how and credibility.

In the past, a construction company might talk about all the great buildings they’ve built and post a few photos on their website. But today, such companies can feature engaging video tours of their projects from start to finish, and include client interviews discussing the company’s process, professional expertise, and relationship with the client, as well as any unique challenges that their company was able to surmount for the client.

Think of all the clever ways you could use video
to tell a story on YOUR company website!

Google structures its search engine rankings to REWARD companies who provide useful information (like videos) on their websites. Google isn’t interested in getting people to come to your website en masse; they’re interested in creating online relationships.

Here’s how it works:

If you take the time to create a helpful video for your viewers and ask them to comment on it, your visitors believe your website provides them with valuable content AND a meaningful interaction. Google rewards your company for creating this online relationship by increasing your search engine ranking. By coming up higher in Google’s rankings, your company’s website is deemed to be more important and more relevant among other websites in your industry.

What’s more — video keeps people at your website longer, which also improves your search engine ranking, since it tells Google that visitors aren’t just coming to your site, staying a few seconds, and then bailing out. They’re finding something to keep them engaged on your site that adds to their online experience with you. Plus, when visitors stay at your site longer, you increase the odds they’ll discover something to purchase. ANOTHER BONUS!

“But, making a video is a lot of hard work.”

Not so anymore! It used to be that trying to shoot and edit a video was a Herculean effort, requiring special talent, tools, and deep pockets. But today, not so much. With items such as iPads, Smartphones, and digital video cameras, it’s never been faster or easier to simply “point and shoot” to make a short video clip for your website. And web tools like YouTube and WordPress make it easy to upload your clip to the internet to share with customers (or potential customers).

Editing software is easy to use and affordable nowadays, too, although there is a learning curve. Have you ever seen those home improvement shows that demonstrate how to rebuild your entire kitchen in a 30-minute segment? They make it seem so effortless. Obviously, a project like that seems quick and easy if done by professionals, but for a novice, it takes much more time and effort. So it is with video editing. Using Video on Your Site… It’s Easy & Powerful!

If your project will take more video editing than you have time for right now, consider simply linking to a relevant existing video on YouTube or Vimeo. Both sites are essentially social networks, and the majority of videos offer the ability to embed and share. It’s a great way to get your feet wet and make a video connection on your website for your customers.

CAUTION: While linking to or creating a well-done video can add a ton of value to your website marketing, linking to or creating a poorly made or cheesy video can be harmful to your brand and to the customer experience. Don’t add video to your site merely for the sake of having video. Ensure it serves a purpose in your larger marketing plan.

Has video ever influenced your decision to buy online? Let’s talk in the Comments below.

Steve

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