Digital Video Done Right: Making It Easy And Inexpensive

Creating good video content is essential today for effective digital marketing. Video advertisements have been around a long time on TV, but today video is a lot more than just a 30 second spot. Video can build your brand, educate consumers, spread your message virally and help convert website visitors into buyers.
In surveys, consumers have indicated a large preference for watching content about a product rather than reading it. Although live events like Facebook Live and Periscope seem to be all the rage now, recorded video is still extremely popular, and perhaps even more useful to both businesses and consumers.
The good thing about video content is that it is actually a lot easier to make than people think. And, if you aren’t a natural movie star, there are a lot of types of video that don’t require a ‘talking head’. Even if you are a small company, it really isn’t hard to produce basic videos. Your budget doesn’t even have to be above $100, as there are many freelancing sites (such as Fiverr.com) where you can easily get a basic video produced.
 

Have Content and Don’t Make It An Ad

One mistake companies make is not having any video content at all. Even if you are a small company, having a few short videos is expected by consumers and highly beneficial. They don’t have to be fancy or even animated. If you are on a low budget, using a freelancing site like I mentioned above is a great way to build your channel easily and cheaply. Be careful to avoid making any video boring, cheesy or too advertisement-like.
That leads into the second mistake that so many companies make, which is making videos that feel like advertisements. A video that feels too much like an ad is an immediate turnoff to consumers. If they are looking for information on your product, they don’t want to feel like they are just watching another advertisement, you have to offer something of value. If you offer something of value to the consumer, they will be engaged with your video and more likely to purchase your product.
 

Promote your product

Of course having videos that promote your product are great and necessary, it is just important to not make them feel like outright advertising. Having an “explainer” video where you detail the benefits and features of your product is a great start. Simplify your product and explain the benefits in a concise way. Another powerful use of video is to establish your brand as an authority on a topic. The other great thing about this type of video is that it will often match up with organic searches by users, which is great for SEO.

SEMRush (a marketing tracking platform we use at Ten Golden Rules, which I have talked about here) provides a great example of how to set up a business YouTube channel. First, they prominently feature an introductory explainer video on their channel. They also have many videos about how to use their product, and additional videos that explain complicated topics that their users would be interested in – this helps establish them as an authority on those subjects.

Focus On What You Have

One of the other mistakes is that companies assume that all video content has to be highly polished and expensively produced video. That is not the case at all, as if you are a small brand, consumers aren’t expecting expensive production. It does help to put some polish on your videos, and of course make sure they are professional. One easy way to do this is with interviews, or snippets of interviews combined into a video. You can interview people in your company and either publish them alone if they are interesting, or combine them into a cool video. Content like this is quite easy to produce, and can yield great results if you do it properly. The pitfall of interviews is they can be boring, so it would help to include something humorous or otherwise exciting. Additionally, many companies these days are focused on internal culture. Making a serious video about the culture of your company will give people a more personal look into what you do.
Video is all about connecting with your audience while still selling your product, so the more creative and interesting you can be while still getting people to buy your stuff, the better it will work.