People say “you should never judge a book by its cover” — and yet publishers spend considerable effort designing them. Why? Because first impressions matter. And when it comes to launching your startup’s online presence, the same rules apply. In today’s competitive environment, if you don’t stand out, then you’ll fade away.
Fortunately, there’s a proven method to help differentiate your business and strengthen your brand — video marketing. This dynamic, engaging medium can help tell your story better than anything else. But you need to know what you’re doing in order to do it right; here are some tips to show you how.
Know Your Audience
You could be making the best videos on the internet, but it won’t matter if you’re targeting the wrong people. Your content needs to align with your audience. If you haven’t already, you’ll need to establish a buyer persona; it should include things like target industries, the size of the companies you want as customers, and the demographics of the staff at those companies who make the purchasing decisions. With your buyer persona in hand, you can create content that’s relevant to your audience. The video you’ll create for a 40 year old attorney at a law firm will be different from the one you create for 20-something influencers working in beauty and wellness.
Master the Basics
Making quality video content is not difficult, but you need to make sure you excel at the basics. As the video experts at Vidyard explain, you’ll want to ensure that you have the following:
- A well lit area. Poor lighting will result in an unwatchable video. Fortunately, digital cameras allow you to play back shots in real time — so run a quick test to see how it looks.
- A quality microphone. A good mic goes a long way towards creating excellent content. If you can, try to splurge for a microphone that’s more robust than your cell phone headset; you can find good ones for under $100.
- A well-balanced setting. If your setting is too boring, no one will watch your video. If it’s too busy, it will distract from your message. Finding a setting that’s interesting but not distracting will be key — and remember to ensure that it’s relevant to your audience!
Video Concepts
Now that you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll need to figure out what sort of content you want to produce. Here are some of the must-have video formats you’ll want to feature on your digital platforms
FAQs and How-to Videos
Technical support teams are expensive, and frequently a major point of friction on the customer journey. By creating a robust library of videos answering FAQ’s, you can provide customers with immediate, 24/7 answers, reduce loads on your support team, all while further emphasizing your brand identity.
Webinars, Podcasts, and Thought Leadership Videos
As a startup, establishing credibility within your niche is key. The best way to do this is through showcasing your innovative thoughts, ideas, and practices to as wide an audience as possible. While these videos take a bit more effort to produce than some forms, they often have the most lasting value. And over time, you’ll build a collection of these videos that will become a resource for others, drawing significant traffic to your website.
About Us and Company Culture Videos
Who are you? What does your company do? Why should I care about your product? These are the questions people will be asking when they hear about your company, and you have, at most, a minute to answer them. Creating videos that explain your company, your product, and the people who make it all possible is the best way to make the best first impression possible.
Product Demonstrations
In-person product demonstrations have fallen by the wayside during the pandemic. As well, personal demonstrations involve significant staff time and energy. So rather than demonstrate your product to one company at a time, create a video — or better yet, series of videos — that highlight all the attributes of your product that make it special. Make sure to focus on key differentiating features, and the value-adds for your buyer persona.
Final Thoughts
Every year, video becomes increasingly easy to produce. And as the expectations for your online media presence continuously grow, it’s imperative that you do everything you can to ensure that your website and social channels are filled with engaging content. Use the tips above to make sure you stand out from the competition!
Want to hear more from Vidyard’s experts on video marketing? Check out our exclusive Annual Conference On-Demand session: Creating Favorite Content: Stealable Ideas For Better Video Marketing
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash