8 Things You Need Before Your Business' First Video

The Year of Video Marketing” and brands like Poupouri are seeing millions of Youtube hits in a number of days, or even hours. With that kind of brand awareness, it’s easy to imagine the amazing things happening from the sales side. The reality of reaching virality, however, is that it’s an ambitious endeavor for most business, and if you’re just getting started in creating a video for yours, there are more important goals to first examine. In this ever visual, ever more digital space, creating videos that represent your brand can do much more than generate instant sales and leads. Videos can provide a way to explain a product or service. They can also be used to problem-solve customer concerns. Most importantly, videos have the power to showcase your company culture in a very inclusive way so that your audience can see, firsthand, what your brand is all about. If your brand is part of the 76% not using online video, here are some steps to getting started:

1) Define your purpose.

Ask yourself the question, “what is the need for your video?” Are you looking to create a lead-gen machine? Are you wanting to showcase your company culture? Are you needing to establish a virtual form of customer service to provide instant, visual instruction and, as a side perk, cut back on labor costs? The answers to these questions will form a foundation for your first video and future videos to come.

2) Define your audience.

Who is it, exactly, are you trying to reach? If you’ve been in business for a while, you may have already developed buyer personas, or have a clear idea of the characteristics of your typical, ideal customer. identify your customers’ needs, goals, and any pain points they might have. Consider how you could be of value to them by creating a video that addresses some of these areas.

3) Determine your goal.

Now enters the part about “what’s in it for you?” Video creation can take an ample amount of time and energy and you want to make sure that your efforts are measurable and worthwhile. Pinpoint what you are looking to achieve long-term. Are you wanting to gain referral traffic? Leads? Direct Sales? Make sure you are taking the proper marketing approaches to amplify your video efforts.

4) Establish a platform.

While it’s been know that Youtube reigns supreme as a video platform, Facebook is now giving its contender a run for its money. The number of video posts per year has increased 94% in the U.S., according to Facebook, but Youtube is still strides ahead. Every social media platform has a culture, with a different audience. You will have to decide which platform is best suited for your brand.

5) Consider distribution channels.

After you’ve planned on where to publish your video, you’ll need to decide where and how it will be distributed. Are you planning to flesh out your Youtube channel and send all traffic that way? Are you wanting to embed videos into a “How-To” section of your blog, or will your video be going on your company’s front page as a high-quality display of your brand? Note that it might be best to save the latter option for a future, fine-tuned video.

6) Determine your style.

Consider the feel of your video. Would you rather have it action or candid-oriented, showing your employees at work or engaging in a group activity? Perhaps you’d like to use improv to give it a more natural feel. If you’re wanting to create an instructional video, a more formal, scripted approach might fit bet.

7) Use what you have have.

Whether you’re team iPhone or android, smartphones have the sophistication now to capture a quality brand video. The film, Tangerine, from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was shot entirely using an iPhone 5S. When it comes to the editing part of the project, there are some free tools to be used at your convenience. Youtube Editor  allows you to makes edits to your video and also optimize it for search. This can be most helpful when you’re using the Youtube platform already to publish videos.

8) Have fun with it.

You first video will not be perfect, and that’s ok! Be yourself, allow yourself to get creative, be mindful of your target customers, and they will appreciate you for doing so. Creating your first video can prove to be a gateway to new leads, sales and traffic, and can also be key to accessing and engaging with an audience from an entirely new perspective! How do you incorporate video into your marketing strategy and what steps do you take to prepare for video creation? Share and comment below!]]>