Videos are all in rage these days. Consider these statistics from YouTube:
- Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month.
- Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month.
- 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute.
With stats like that, why wouldn’t your small business be interested in adding videos to your
marketing campaign? Videos can help
generate more leads, increase web traffic, engage more customers, build better
brand awareness, and so much more.
If you haven’t jumped on the video marketing bandwagon, it
is probably because you fear venturing into the unknown. Knowing were to begin and then actually
putting thought into action is a bit intimidating.
If you are a video marketing newbie, here are some tips and
suggestions to get you started.
Find the Perfect
On-Air Personality
Who is best suited to be on camera? It might not be the seemingly obvious
choice. For example, your sales reps are
no doubt good at what they do. They
could probably sell ice to an Eskimo. It
might seem their talents would lend themselves nicely to video marketing. Other people might think the owner should be
the face of the company for video marketing.However, just because they seem like the obvious winners, these people
shouldn’t be your automatic go-to on-air personalities for your videos.
Video marketing requires a vibrant, dynamic,
personality. Viewers want to see someone
engaging and relatable. Those
characteristics might not necessarily describe your sales force or company
owner (that doesn’t mean they are bad people, by the way!). Look for other company cheerleaders. How about the office assistant who always
greets customers with a smile? Or the
nigh manager who’s enthusiasm is contagious?
Put Thought Into
Action
Don’t stress about every little detail. If you do, you’ll just keep postponing your
start date. Don’t worry about the camera
you’ll use, or the perfect backdrop, or editing mistakes (those mistakes make
you look human, by the way). Just get
your message out there for the public to see.
Be a Person, Not Just
a Sales Pitch
Viewers will appreciate your genuine, authentic, honest
communication. Don’t try to impress your audience. Be yourself and they’ll like what they
see. Your passion and sincerity will
equal authority in your viewer’s minds.
Share Your Videos in
Various Venues
Offer guest posts to other industry blogs and include your
videos in the post. This strategy will
do two things. First, you’ll establish a
valuable relationship with other industry leaders. Second, you’ll significantly increase your
audience. Your stellar videos will
entice new readers to your blog and increase product awareness.
Initiate a Video Contest
Ask your blog readers, loyal customers, and aspiring
videographers to participate in a video content. Ask them to shoot a commercial, product
pitch, tutorial or any other type of video. When all videos have been submitted, share them on your blog or
website. Ask participants to round up
voters via their social media accounts. This will drive tons of people to your site – and we all know the
benefits of increased traffic!
Have you been contemplating the use of videos in your marketing
campaign? What’s holding you back? Have you already tried you hand as
videographer? Do you have any other tips
for those just getting started? We’d
love to hear from you!