Okay so you’ve produced a shiny new video for your business. You’ve taken the time to get it right – it’s got a good structure and script, it looks great, sounds great and works.
And if that’s all you’ve been thinking about, then around about now, you’ll realise that if you build it, they don’t come. The fact is you need to take your video to the people.
It’s a funny thing after you’ve been in business for a while. You learn lots, but then you have lots more to forget as well.
Often I see people become excited about the prospect of making a video for their business. However, sometimes the first I hear of it is when they eagerly tell me about the camera they have bought. Personally I take a long time before investing in a new video camera. I can only scratch my head when I see someone who has handed over thousands of dollars without knowing what they have bought.
Do you ever attend a meeting without doing a quick online search on who you are meeting? What their company is about, who the person is like, what opportunities may exist between you both?
There are plenty of different video styles out there to promote a brand: Testimonial, scripted with voice over, event highlights, dramatised production, recordings of live events, piece to camera…
It frustrates me when I see someone’s video and I think, “I wished you’d asked me for some tips before you did that.”
To be clear, I’m not in the market to take on business of people who are prepared to do it themselves. But at the same time I don’t want them to make a mess of it either.
I am inspired by a colleague of mine from Kwik Kopy Auburn, Kate McConville. Kate and I have formed a strategic alliance that has the potential to initially create less work for her. Yet she knows this will keep her ahead of the game.
1. Research – know your subject.
Know the person you are interviewing, what’s their background. Why are they a suitable person to be interviewed. What’s their area of expertise?
If it is just vox pops then ask those questions while the camera is rolling – Why are you here, what did you enjoy about …, what do you think about …
Yep that’s all you have to make an impact with video online. And that’s on a good day.
If you don’t engage your audience quickly they will click away faster than a hyperactive castanet player at the world championships.
Often when developing a video for a corporate client I hit the point in the discussion when I have to tell them how I feel.
Some are eager to hear, some are a little apprehensive.
So I move in tenderly and share my inner feelings – “It’s about the love”.
