Video Marketing: Recipe For Success

Video Marketing is dominating! We recently learned that YouTube is the second most searched search engine with over 1 billion users. With the average user viewing over 40 minutes of content a day, YouTube is a useful (and free) resource for you to enhance your social media campaigns.

Before we share some tips on making great video content, let’s talk about why you should be creating content. Besides the incredible YouTube usage stats, Cisco projects that global internet traffic from videos will make up 80% of all internet traffic by 2019. (Source) Amazing, right? In addition, Animoto surveyed 1,000 small business owners and found 76.5% of marketers and small business owners who have used video marketing say it had a direct impact on their business. (Source) Another survey found that simply using the word “video” in an email’s subject line boosts open rates by 19% and click through rates by 65%.

The numbers don’t lie. Video marketing content should be a top priority for all businesses because its importance and impact is only going to become greater as we grow further into a technology-focused society.

Creating great video content sounds harder than it truly is. There’s a learning curve, no doubt, but with a little time and patience, you’ll be creating good, shareable content in no time. What’s the recipe for success?

First, gather your supplies. You’ll need a decent camera. We shoot with DSLR cameras, though you could easily start off with your cell phone’s camera until you find your footing. A tripod is a must. Shaky camera work makes even the best video look unprofessional. Finally, make sure you have the proper software to edit your video. Professional software can be pricey, but both Apple and Windows have their own basic editing software that you can download or if you’re looking for something with a little more bang for your buck, look into the Adobe Cloud Library, which gives you Adobe Premiere Pro, as well as a variety of other programs.

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to create, prep and shoot your project. Much like an onion, there are many layers to a video production. Here are some things to think about.

1. Think About Content: Why are you producing these videos? What do you want to get out of them? What do you want your customers to get out of them? What impressions do you want your customers to leave with about you and your product? These are all important questions to ask yourself. For every video you create, you should have an overall goal. For example, if you’re a brand new company that sells handcrafted furniture and you want to get the message out about your products quality, why not craft your video around the fine craftsmanship that you put into every piece? That way, it will help you reach your goal of educating customers on your product and will help send people to your website. Don’t shoot a video just for the sake of shooting a video. Have a goal in mind and script your video in a way to touch on that goal, so it helps both you and your customers.
2. Plan Your Location and Frame Your Shots Carefully: How you frame your shot is very important. Following the rule of thirds, place your main subject just off center within your shot. Once that is set, look at the background of your shot. Try to shoot in a location that has some pizzazz. A plain white wall does nothing but make a video look stale and unfriendly, but a white wall with a bookshelf or painting hanging looks natural. Be careful, however, of having a background that is too busy. You don’t want to distract too much from your main subject. Your location should be a reflection of you and your company, so don’t take it lightly.
3. Editing For Success: Once you have your footage shot, you move into the editing phase of video production. When editing be sure to put your best foot forward. This is your chance to tell your story your way! Here’s a few tips: Cover your jump cuts (two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly) with b-roll, like a picture of your logo, your product or a title screen with important text. Add titles to enhance your verbal message and help with branding. Finally, consider closed captioning for those readers who can’t hear or can’t use their audio on their computer or device. Never trust YouTube’s automatic captions. (If you don’t believe me, listen to a video with Closed Captioning turned on. They’re incredibly off sometimes and could be detrimental to your business.)
4. Read All About It: Once you’ve posted your video on YouTube, blast it to your social media accounts. Let your customers on other platforms know that you’ve posted great new content and invite them to watch and share it with their friends.

Hopefully, these four tips (broad as they may be) give you an idea of the different things you must consider when producing video. If you’re looking into embracing video marketing more in 2018 and are still unsure of how to go about it, we’re here to guide you in the right direction. With a private studio with professional equipment located conveniently in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs, our experts would love to help you create good, shareable video content for your businesses online presence.