Powerful Marketing Videos On A Budget 2017 will be the year of video marketing. Is your business ready?
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Vital Stats
- Player: Victoria Grech
- Company: Video Marketer
- What they do: Victoria Grech left her corporate career to launch a videography business. She pioneered DSLR videos, and has since moved into training business owners how to shoot, edit and distribute powerful marketing videos on a budget using your smartphone
- Visit: www.video-marketer.com
On an average day, we are bombarded by 50 000 adverts. Billboards, TV ads, radio ads, print ads, Facebook, Instagram, SMSes, telemarketers — everyone is screaming for attention. As an entrepreneurial business that doesn't have the marketing budget of large corporates, you need to break through those barriers, get noticed and build trust.
According to video marketing expert Victoria Grech, an affordable and highly effective way to do that is through video marketing. You can film and edit what you need on a smartphone, and as an entrepreneur you have an edge that many large organisations don't have: Yourself.
"Video is such a great way for CEOs and business owners to be the face of the business, which is what customers are looking for.
"They want authenticity. They want to make a meaningful connection with you and your brand. They want to know your story. Are you communicating or connecting? As the head of an entrepreneurial business, this is an excellent opportunity."
These Are 3 Videos You Need To Create
According to Victoria, it takes three videos to lead up to a sale.
- Your first video gives your target market value before asking for the deal. This is purely for them. It should be informative or entertaining — ideally both. There shouldn't be anything in it for you.
- The second video is a content video designed to build rapport and trust. This still shouldn't focus on the sale, but you can inject more of yourself and your story into this video. The third video is about the sale.
- "In the first two videos, you're working with the pains of the client in mind. You know what product you're ultimately looking to sell, and you will eventually offer your solution, but first you need to offer value without looking for a sale. If the sale never happens, the customer should still have derived value from your first video. The aim of those videos is to build so much trust and rapport that the customer looks forward to the third video, and wants to do business with you."
7 Rules For Better Videos
Here are Victoria's seven rules for producing an attention-grabbing smartphone video that anyone can use to build their business and make sales.
1. Relax
"You're judged within the first five seconds of a video," Victoria warns. "Your body language says a lot. Are you authentic, real and relaxed? Or are you stiff and reading a script? Making mistakes is okay. Real has flaws. Rather be real than too stiff and practiced."
Victoria offers a few points of advice on body language as well. Don't point; no one likes being lectured to. Instead, have an open hand, palm facing upward. Now you're inviting your viewer in; you're saying "come and join me'.
2. Understand your objective
The most important first step to any marketing activity is knowing what you
want to achieve.
"A video puts a face to your brand. In your first video, you need to give enough real, upfront value for the viewer to be happy to give you an opt-in email address. That means keeping the three golden rules in mind: "Who am I? What do I do? Why should you care?' Remember, money is in the relationship you build with your list, not the size of your list, so focus on that first, instead of punting products or services."
3. Create content that people care about
No one is going to share a video that is an audio-visual product brochure. "When creating content, always think about the viewer first and foremost, and consider WIIFM: What's in it for me? If what the customer cares about isn't at the centre of your narrative, you won't get any traction from your video."
4. Keep it short
Videos should be one to two minutes maximum. Yes, you'll probably want to add more content, tell more of a story, showcase your products. Resist the urge. What's the point of a five-minute video if no-one gets past 90 seconds anyway? However, Facebook Live videos are now rewarding you for engagement for longer videos. This means engagement is key though — a longer video that isn't watched won't be rewarded with access to more views.
5. Avoid scripts
This relates to the first point. As the CEO and other real people in your organisation talking about the company, you have an unparalleled opportunity to share your passion and authenticity with your target market.
"If you're reading from a practiced script it's very hard to sound passionate and authentic," says Victoria.
"Have a cue and a few words, and then draw on the passion you feel for your business to speak directly to your audience on the other side of the camera."
6. Look as professional as possible
You want to be authentic as an individual, and real people don't sound rehearsed and scripted, but the product quality of the video should still be high. Thanks to the quality of smartphone cameras and related editing apps, this is possible if you keep a few core tips in mind.
"First," says Victoria, "keep the camera still. Use a tripod to lock off the shot so that your subject matter is moving and not the camera.
Next, turn the phone onto airplane mode. There's nothing worse than losing a great take because a message beeped or the phone rang.
Third, make sure you have enough available storage space on the phone. Next, pay attention to your lighting. If you're filming someone else, the light should be behind you. If you're on the camera, the light should be facing you.
Finally, make sure your audio is good. I believe good audio accounts for 80% of the success of a video. If there are visual problems, a viewer will still listen to the audio, but not vice-versa. Avoid echoes, invest in a mic (Sennhizer makes an iPhone mic — Sennheiser clipmic digital — that works well with FILMIC Pro, a video app), and film in rooms that soak up sound where possible (carpets, curtains and so on, don't echo)."
7. Shoot to edit
Have the edit in mind before you start shooting, so that you know the shots you need. "Think carefully about which shots will tell your story," Victoria advises.
"Then cut between talking heads and product scenes. Film product and action shots and use your brand person — either yourself or a manager or client — for voiceovers. Never just have a talking head. But, don't leave a face out entirely either. The best video conversations are with a real person. You need balance."
