Category: Video marketing

Smartphone filming – ten top video marketing tips

Video marketing
~ nicolepinpointmarketing ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to this guest blog by Marissa Holden of Holden Pro Media.

You want to be visible in 2020? Then you need video as part of your marketing mix.

And as it’s January, how about finally accepting now’s the time to conquer those fears and use it to be seen? The good news is that in this age of smartphones with fantastic quality cameras, getting good quality content out there without breaking the business budget is perfectly achievable. All you need to do is buy some bits of basic kit and follow a few simple tips. After all, a badly produced video will turn off those potential clients in nanoseconds if you get it wrong.

LOCATION – Your first question is  “Where should I shoot the video?’ In deciding, think about whether there’s any background noise that will be heard, whether the light is good, and what you’re going to stand in front of. It’s really important that the background doesn’t distract from what you’re saying, so tidy it up and take away anything random.

TRIPOD – Wobbly footage just looks bad. Even if you’re out and about doing a Facebook Live, use a selfie stick or tripod. You can buy relatively cheap ones on Amazon – just make sure it fits your particular mobile version, and make sure it’s high enough, for your needs.

FRAMING – Do you want to be in the middle or the side of the screen? If you’re going to put titles on one side, move to the side so there’s room to put them there in the edit.  The camera lens should be around your eye level so you don’t look either up into it or down into it, as you’re more likely to get a double chin!

LIGHTING – Use what you have –  natural light – or the lights in your house. Choose one of your lightest rooms to film, and if you’re using the natural light make sure it’s falling on your face on both sides, so there aren’t any dark shadows. Avoid filming into a window, as you’ll be back lit. If you don’t have a particularly light room to use, experiment with the lights and lamps you have to help make you stand out. Be aware that lights have colour temperatures, so you could end up looking like an orange contestant from Love Island!

AUDIO – Good sounding audio will set you apart from videos that use the inbuilt phone microphone. The latter will pick up your voice, but it will also pick up anything else going on in the room, which again could distract from the fabulous things you’re saying. So I’d advise buying an external microphone for your phone.

CLOTHES – Wear clothes that you suit, and that you’d normally wear for work. You want them to concentrate on your content, not anything you’re wearing, so this isn’t the time for your favourite slogan T-shirt. Oh, and wear make-up. HD and UHD cameras show up any wrinkles and shadows!

CONTENT – Make sure the content is relevant to your target audience, has a strong opening and tease what they’ll find out at the end so they keep watching. You want to keep them watching until the end.

ENTHUSIASM – The camera dulls you. Seriously. So, give an extra 10%. You, but 10 % more you.

PRACTISE – If you don’t like your first, second, third or fourth take, don’t worry – it’s a recording, so just do it again. Practising will make you more confident in what you’re saying, and your delivery will improve. I promise. That’s an overview of some of the things you need to think about. I cover all of this, and more during regular workshops.  And if you need something more bespoke for your business, get in touch.

Find out more about Holden Pro Media here.

Why hire a professional when I can film my website video and social media content myself?

~ nicolepinpointmarketing ~ Leave a comment

GUEST BLOG BY DEBBIE GOBBETT

In the past, hiring a professional video production team to create your website and social media video content has been something you’d have to seriously work into your marketing budget and usually at a very high cost. Filming, editing and video production required specialised equipment and expertise.  Now, with iPhones and GoPros providing pretty great image quality, and with the advances in technology we see happening at a rapid rate, this has made professional videography more affordable than ever. Whilst the saying “you get what you pay for” still applies, businesses today can get a higher quality product for their money.  Online video is gaining momentum every year, and it has entered marketing’s mainstream – it is almost imperative to have video included in your marketing mix – so why have a professional come and film your business story rather than do-it-yourself? 

You are an expert in your field of business – are you an expert in story-telling?

Do you have the time?

There are three basic factors that drive productions costs.  These factors eventually get reflected in dozens of small budget decisions that impact the quality of the final video shown on your website or seen on your social media platforms…

  • Time. The more time that is spent in pre-production, working out your story, planning, scripting, location scouting, shooting, special effects and editing the better the final product will be.  More time, from more people, equals more money.
  • Talent. The greater the talent of the people working on the project, the better it will be.  Your staff team may be extremely talented at selling your business service or product, but this does not necessarily mean they are video content creators!  In online video production, as with most things in life, talented and experienced people tend to cost more.
  • Tools. You can produce a video with your mobile phone.  Or you can use a high-end camera with a professional lighting kit, professional sound equipment and sophisticated post-production graphics and animation.  Sophisticated tools and the top-level professionals who know how to use them add to the cost of your video production.

What is the message you actually want to convey?

If you are wanting to tell your audience of your latest special offers and deals or about an event that’s happening next week, perhaps a FaceBook Live video will do, in which case, haul out the iPhone and get your message out there!

If you are wanting to produce a series of training videos for your sales team, perhaps a more professional approach is needed, even if it is only being watched on your intranet – keeping your brand professional.

If you are wanting to showcase your business, tell your brand story and highlight the benefits of what you do, then more time and pre-production thought is needed to produce a result that you will be happy with and that reflects your brand. The WHY is easy – you want your business to grow, you want your brand to be seen, you want to increase sales. When planning your web video also take into consideration WHAT you want the world to see, HOW your brand is received, and WHERE it’s going to be seen. Depending on the answers to those, you can decide on your budget…

What will it cost you?

Find out the costs and the detail here

Using video as part of your marketing strategy

Marketing packages and planning by Pinpoint Marketing
~ nicolepinpointmarketing ~ Leave a comment

61% of businesses currently use video as part of their marketing strategy.

So why is it so popular?

What is it about video that really benefits businesses?

Here are 6 compelling reasons why you should consider incorporating it in to your marketing plan:

  • Video is a great way to tell people about you and your product

There are various ways you can use video to promote your product: customer testimonials, demonstrations, illustrate how a product is made and ‘how to’ demonstrations.  All of these will have a positive impact on sales of your business,  and the statistics are compelling:   Wyzowl, a video marketing content firm, discovered that 79% of consumers surveyed said they would rather watch a video than read text in order to learn more about a product.

https://youtu.be/T07M1EWbBbc

The statistics on conversion rates are enormous – 84% were convinced to buy a product after watching a video.  We also know that video adds 2 minutes to visitors’ stays on retail sites, which is much more likely to result in a sale. And also the products that have videos are 95% more likely to be bought.

If we think about video, it all stands to reason: vision is our most dominant sense.

We know that people remember: 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they hear and see and 70-90% of what they see, hear and experience.

So we can see how video engages lazy buyers – it is easy to consume and ingest.  Today many people’s lives are too busy to stop and read long product descriptions or manuals; this is the main pull of video marketing.

  • Links with Social Media

Social Media is a great friend of video.  Facebook currently streams more than 4 billion videos a day. All social networks now encourage video content with their new features; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and, of course, YouTube which is the largest search engine in the world!   Incorporating video in to your marketing strategy ensures you are part of the growing video revolution.

  • ROI is great

83% of businesses said video provides a good return on investment. It can be a cheap or a costly affair – you can spend pretty much what you want, but the key issues is as long as the message is clear, it will be worth it.  And importantly, that the production quality is a good representation of your brand and business quality.

  • Builds trust

Another popular use of video is to give behind the scenes tours of your company and a visual introduction to your employees.  This makes customers feel welcome and closer to your business: they bring businesses to life. When you have engagement with customers on this level it builds trust – and this is the foundation of conversions and sales.

  • Appeals to mobile users

The use of mobile phones is increasing on a mammoth level year on year. 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile – if you use video your market is set to increase even more.

  • Rank higher on search engines

Moovly delivers impressive statistics on this: you are 53 times more likely to show up first on a Google search if you have video embedded on your website. Video increases the likelihood of a front-page Google search result by 96% with proper page optimization (interesting titles and descriptions, links etc)

So the evidence certainly speaks for itself. Some proven marketing strategies retain their strength but there is no doubt  that video marketing is on the rise and needs to be a strategic part of any business marketing plan!