Having a cohesive online presence is so important for brands: social, mobile, content, search engine marketing– the list goes on. However, video marketing is going to become the next major area that businesses can’t afford to ignore. YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines (no shock given it’s owned by Google) with over 1 billion users, and billions of views are racked up on the site every day. Videos are shared on social networks and advertising spend on video marketing is also growing faster than social ad spending.
Many business owners tend to put off video due to not wanting to invest the resources in quality shoots and editing. Being uncomfortable on camera, or lacking the budget for actors as a result of not wanting to appear on video, is another reason why video is often sidestepped to site owners’ detriments. While production values are important, they are not the be-all end-all when it comes to connecting with your audience and providing value to them. A video that has a very DIY feel to it can still serve as an important component of brand-building and positioning if the subject matter is about a common problem that your target audience wants to solve. It can be something as simple as getting a jar open using common household items, or as complex as making closing on a new house go faster. What are people looking for answers for? What do they literally want to know? Make a video about it! Look at what your following says on social media and check out Answer the Public for ideas for video topics.
By evoking a real human touch with your videos, all you need is a simple webcam or even the camera in your smartphone. What matters most is that you are building a relationship with your audience by connecting with them. If you’re uncomfortable on camera, you can focus more on the product or concept in the video rather than your literal self being the focal point of the video. Costumes and mascots are also a fun way to cover up what can feel like an unseemly camera presence, and even serve to build your brand. There are also simple editing tools that are drag-and-drop based right on your phone, the App Store, and even in YouTube’s backend which novice video makers aren’t aware of at first.
Video isn’t as highly technical or cost-prohibitive as it seems at first. Marketing through videos is the future and you’ll want to provide content value first, production values second.
