The truth is, video marketing NEEDS to be part of every business’s marketing strategy. It converts better than text or pictures. It educates your target audience and gives them a sense of who you or your brand is so they can decide whether they want to work with you. “Video killed the radio star,” and the yellow pages, newspaper classified ads, Craigslist, text-only blogs, etc.
Now is the time to get in the game. And this is the article to help you get started!
Film an About Us Video
Before you speak a word, take a deep breath, quiet your thoughts and focus. Think about the good things your business has provided for you, your family, and your community. Now press record. It’s just that simple to begin a video marketing strategy.
As entrepreneurs we often don’t realize how our own stories collide and intersect with another person. These types of stories are so valuable because they say, “Hey, I can relate to you.”
Speaking about the person of you, allows your customers to see for themselves that you have a family, you play baseball, you love the area you live in, and why. These types of videos gain trust, relatability, and they also can be fun.
About You/Us videos don’t have to be fancy.
They can be something as simple as you talking about why you do what you do in your business, as you take your dog for a walk. The local park or your own neighborhood make for a great background and perfect lighting if it’s on a sunny day. Want to make it a little more personal or interesting, why not bring the dog into the video with you?
Here’s another idea, have your staff give you a quick hello and then proceed to discuss how your company started and why. Talk about why it was so cool to bring this type of business to the community.
As you do these videos more and more, you will develop a rhythm and trust me, the creativity will begin to flow.
There are a few businesses out there that might feel stuck and maybe just a bit intimidated about the whole process of beginning a video marketing strategy or even producing video content.
This is the reason you need to set marketing goals for yourself and your company.
These goals mean you have the pulse on your area of expertise and you, as the reactor, can help guide them in the right direction. People always love video content with a real talking, breathing face of success! That face of success is you!!
If you are looking to pull rank on your competition, then you need to give your viewers something that no one else is doing…think outside the box. Give them content with a purpose. Let them see your confidence, your sense of humor, and who or what your brand is.
The potential to build a rapport with your clients/customers is too rich to not begin creating a marketing campaign.
You might think your story is unimportant, but it is important. If you don’t tell it your way then who will? All stories don’t have to begin with Once Upon a Time but, if you want it to, it can….it’s your story!
Answer all the FAQs
Have you ever wondered who is pursuing you? Who is looking at your company website and just looking for a reason to NOT pick you?
People will look for something that jumps out at them before they will move to the next page on your website, and make no mistake, our consumers are not inexperienced.
They know when something doesn’t feel quite right. Their gut tells them so.
Clients want to get to know a company before they step out and give you their name, their address, and other information.
What if I told you, there was a way for your clients to get to know you and your company, and that you have already done the leg work for it? Here’s the good news…that Q & A page on your website is the content for your next series of videos.
Using your Q & A page is the perfect meet and greet for your clients. Not only do they get to see you talking about your company, products, and answering questions in detail, but they can also meet your staff while they answer a few of those “I’ve always wanted to know questions.”
When you create a short video about you and your company, your words have automatically come to life, instead of just lying there on the page. You have reframed them into the form of video content, and guess what… they are being noticed.
Clients either want to move towards a solution or away from a problem. Your Q & A video content gives you the time to expand upon an answer.
As you begin to create your video marketing goals use yourself as an example. In other words, if you think it’s boring….it’s boring. Our brains crave new, fascinating things. It excites our brains like a strong shot of espresso.
Give your consumers a treat for their brains. Give them something to be curious about! Give them color, movement and a video email with you holding up a sign saying “Smile, I’ll Make Ya Famous”.
Change your delivery and people will watch and listen. Engagement drives results!
Remember, the consumer is pursuing you but at the same time, you are pursuing them.
Ask yourself this question, would you rather have a video explaining an answer to a question or would you rather have directions to turn to page 123, section 1a, chapter 24 of a manual to figure out something?
Yeah, we all know you said “Video!”
Step Into the Expert Role
Expert is a powerful word, isn’t it?
People will also use the word “virtuoso” to describe a person who has extensive knowledge and expertise in their field. The difference between those two words is, one is an authority and the other is an ace. To me, both mean the same except one sound’s fancy and the other sounds like they might have a great story to tell.
In business, you want to hear the story from the experts. You want to listen to the authority who has been in business for many years, because they are the ones who have already found the secret to success. They are the ones who have found out the little nuances that worked and didn’t work.
The story “from the expert” needs to come from you…the expert!!
When consumers or clients are searching the internet for an answer to their question, they will find you and your expert videos. They will realize that you have the secret to success and that you have already experienced the same issues.
You say, “I don’t really have the time to create a series of expert videos.” I say, “sure you do, you don’t have to do it all at once, do them in degrees.”
Start off with a very important video, a trigger point. This video is about a pain point in your business that either frustrated you, caused you a lot of stress or almost made you say I am done, I quit.
Talk about it, give the specifics, and then give them the solution, that “ah ha” moment that made you move past that trigger point.
The expert videos are the videos that engage the mind and feed the intellect. They also show that you kept your focus on what was important, not what was imminent.
Take a few moments and make a list of what you would like to talk about. Lists are valuable, they keep you focused and they also make a great video content series for your YouTube Channels, social media sites, email newsletters, and your company blog.
Creating a video marketing plan is a blueprint for success for you.
It’s you focusing on your clients, your brand, your company, and everyone’s multi-layered success. I can tell you that once upon a time, there was only one way to advertise and that was the newspaper. I will also tell you in this moving-forward, forever-adjusting world, having a video marketing strategy for your target audience is what is going to keep your company alive. Video marketing will give you the momentum you need to keep moving forward 24/7.
Theodore Roosevelt once said,
“Develop action. Do things; be sane; don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be someone; become action.”
Some pretty, wise words!