An easy way to win in business and sports is to do a little more than everyone else. Making video a part of your marketing strategy is an example of one of those things that can take your business to the next level.
Why is video such a huge opportunity? Most people don’t come alive in front of a camera. For many, it might as well be public speaking… but this speech lives on reruns for you and your peers to relive often. When most people don’t want to do something, there’s an opportunity.
Getting started with video is easy… but here’s the right way to do it:
Get Comfortable Feeling Uncomfortable with Your First Videos
Let’s assume you already have an idea of what you want to cover in your videos. If you’re marketing to someone, you need to be adding value (edify, educate, entertain). The first few videos you make are going to be awkward.
Like most things in life, the more you do it the better you’ll get.
The trick to growing your business and hitting your financial targets is often found in the art of consistency.
Growing your video marketing channel requires that you move past the uncomfortable and just publish content.
Buy a Microphone
I refused to buy a microphone when I first started making video content. It wasn’t smart, it was cheap. Not spending the $50-$80 for a microphone meant that the first videos I made were crappier than they should have been. The first videos were already awkward, but now I was making it difficult for people to watch AND hear me.
Help yourself by helping your audience hear you clearly. Buy a freaking microphone.
Where to get started? RODE makes affordable lavalier (lapel) microphones and Audio-Technica make great shotgun microphones. My favorite microphone is mostly used for podcasting: Blue Yeti.
Video Lighting Is Key
My Studio Art degree has turned me into a lighting fanatic. From photography to museum studies, I learned how lighting could make or break an installation or photo. This is true for your leap into video.
Proper lighting can make a mediocre camera look like a breakthrough in cinematography. The good news is that most starter lighting kits are fairly inexpensive. You can find a 2 and 3 light set for under $100, which is great for starters.
Transcribe Your Videos
When you transcribe your marketing videos, you accomplish two things:
- You make your video content accessible.
- Transcriptions make your videos more dynamic across marketing channels with written content.
Creating accessible content is important for a variety of reasons. One of my favorites is that it allows you to create written content (blogs, pillar pages, etc) as well. This kills two birds with one stone. When you transcribe your video content (I prefer using Rev), you can also turn it into blog content. This adds another level of accessibility, but also provides you with fresh written content to index in search engines.
Share Your Video Content
The great thing about video is that it can be posted on many different channels. While some pieces of content work better on YouTube, others might soar on Instagram. It’s essential to test, and it adds flexibility for creators to spread their message and test for the most stickiness.
Here’s where I’m publishing my video content:
- YouTube
- LinkedIn (lots of money to be made on this channel)
- Website (embedding from YouTube – alternatives include JW Player, Vimeo, and Wistia)
