Simple Video Marketing Tips

We are huge fans of video as you probably know if you have been reading our blog or subscribed to our newsletters and today we want to share with your our simple video marketing tips to help you in your business and to explain why you should be using video marketing.

In fact we were using video in our traditional business as early as 2005 and actually had a video on the front page of our management consultancy website (that all seems a very long time ago now)

We were also using video in our newsletters to potential clients wanting to book a skiing holiday at our chalet in the French Alps

And if you’re not using video in your marketing you could be missing out on sales.  When it comes to getting visitors to your website and marketing collateral to take action NOTHING beats video.

According to Forrester Research, 96% of consumers click links after watching a video and 90% make decisions after watching videos.  And almost half (46%) take action after watching a video.  There’s little wonder therefore that you need to know some simple video marketing tips to help you in your endeavours and we’ll show you that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a film studio … in fact you can have a mobile film studio that fits in a handbag (it’s true and Susan has proved it) so there really is no excuse,  especially  if you have a smart phone  🙂

And if you are in business you absolutely should have one and you definitely won’t leave home without it!

We shot a video using the kit we recommend in a very noisy location (Westiminster opposite the Houses of Parliament) and it really made a difference to the sound quality. Not perfect but better than trying to record a video without it!

You can watch watch it on our Facebook 

Our Simple Video Marketing Tips

KISS (Keep It Simple)

Keep your equipment simple and if you travel a lot it needs to be as light as possible.  We record our videos on the move on our iPhone with a small tripod and a microphone.  Just 3 pieces of equipment that are our essentials.

Audio is more important that video!

Honestly we know we are talking about simple video marketing tips here but be aware that people will say to the end of your video is the audio is good but they will not continue to watch if the sound is inaudible or there is a ton of wind noise (we know because we’ve had it happen to us and some of our most creative videos were ruined by wind noise).  It’s why we recommend a microphone (more on that later)

Lighting

It’s no surprise that lighting plays an important part in creating a great video and just like the audio is one simple video marketing tip you have to get right!.  We shoot a lot of lifestyle videos outside so you need to make sure that you are either all in light or all in shadow or you will look very peculiar.  Again we have learned this the hard way.  It’s so appealing when you arrive at some nice location to run out onto the balcony and shoot a video only to find that you can’t be seen and are a black blob against the fantastic landscape or vice versa.  Just be aware before shooting your video.

Choose Your Moment

If you have a specific project in mind – especially a lifestyle video for example then early in the morning is perfect as the light is usually just right and if you are in a busy resort or location then it’s usually much quieter.

When we were in the Dominican Republic just recently we applied this simple video marketing tip getting up at 6 AM and shooting our beach videos on pristine white sands and views (including an amazing sunrise) to die for.

In fact our videographer who we have been working with the past few days says that he prefers cloudy days than bright sunlight and videos are much more balanced and the lighting less harsh.

Be Entertaining

Your content should NEVER be boring!  The content should be engaging and interesting and before you shoot your video think about these simple video marketing tips for content

• Is this interesting?
• Is this something you know about and people want to hear about?
• Is it funny?
• Is it entertaining?
• Will this help someone solve a problem or challenge or frustration?
• Will this inspire someone to take action?
• Does it demonstrate something they need to know how to do (educational)?
• If you were watching the video would you be interested?

Have a Call To Action

This is the essential and frequently missed simple video marketing tip.  Make sure to include it at the end of the video …. whether it is to opt in to your newsletter, watch another video, call you, email you etc

We’ll be honest and admit our early videos failed to include the CTA (call to action) but that’s something we have put down to experience and people did like them …. especially our video postcards we used to send with a message from wherever we were in the world.

Video Equipment

We have a variety of video equipment for different purposes but if you are on a budget then we recommend that you use your smart phone (we use iPhones) and you get yourself a SmartLav kit (microphone) plus a small tripod.  We use this for most of our lifestyle and impromptu videos and it works well.

For more expensive kit do your research, read reviews and find what works in your budget and for what kind of videos you want to be shooting.

We’ll be talking about this kit on Periscope live today.  Make sure to follow us on Twitter @chris_susan and download the Periscope App on your phone to watch.

Like we said at the beginning we have been huge fans of video since 2005 when we began sending video emails to our business clients …. sadly it never caught on but we definitely caught the bug and we’ve never looked back.

You can see our videos on YouTube and on our Facebook Profile and we do hope that with our simple video marketing tips we have inspired you to go out and start shooting video for your branding and your business

Who Are We