Video Content for Social Media - DIY But Do It Well

Video
Use video in your content marketing
It is well known in marketing circles that video is king, or at least a very powerful medium for delivering a message. Video presentations can attract and maintain the fullest attention of a target audience. They also allow producers to communicate information in a dense and effective format, generally unattainable using text descriptions or still images.
No matter your business size, use video in social media activities.
Not using social media very much, or at all? Get some perspective from a previous blog post, "Making the Social Media Investment Work".

Producing video content on your own, in-house, DIY, or whatever else you might call it takes a little investment in time and equipment. You need to have the right equipment to produce good quality video files, and there will be some time devoted to learning basic production techniques. The levels of equipment and time required are not intimidating. You learn to walk first, then run.

If producing video content yourself is not an attractive option, there are production houses to which you can outsource all or part of your production. At the CMS4i shop, we do some video production work, and plan on increasing our capabilities and the extent of video content in our client work. Take note of that. We are not just telling you to use video. We are using video, and plan to do more of it.

Producing a video may sound easy, and it will be after you slog through the first few projects and claw your way up the learning curve a little. This is not a "how to" article, as there are libraries of them on the web you can read. I do, however, want to share some standards with you that should guide your work.

  • Script your video prior to pressing the record button. Make the video in your head first, then pick up a recorder. Script out specific points to make, images to show. Consider what subjects and delivery methods will be interesting enough to keep the viewer engaged?
  • Be mindful of your timeline. Viewers will have likely discovered your content coincidentally through other online activities. They were doing something else when they found your video. Pace is important, so keep things moving. Avoid lengthening scenes in an effort to let your message "sink in". If a viewer likes your presentation, they will view it more than once to build understanding or be entertained all over again. They are more likely to view a two minute show than a ten minute show. You may want to break larger subjects into several shorter presentations and link them together.
  • Use sound....always. Even animations should have a soundtrack. If the video delivers your message without any commentary, include a music track. Keep in mind that any commentary does not need to be produced in real time with the video portion. You can easily add commentary, called a voice-over, at a later time. 
  • Produce high quality audio. Purchase a good microphone, maybe a few of them. There is some other gear you may need, but it won't break the bank. If the equipment selection process is a barrier for you, find someone in your company that is into audio production to help. Most musicians have the knowledge needed to get things set up, or can connect you with one of their tech savvy comrades. You do not need the best gear, just the right gear. 
  • Produce good quality video. Read this as "Don't use your phone". Purchase a small dedicated video recorder and a tripod to hold it steady. If you use a mobile recorder, either hand held or strapped to a body part, drone aircraft, or other moving thing, be mindful of shaky images.
Your video content is easily published on YouTube or any of several other web locations. Working with these sites is generally a simple matter. There are aspects to video publishing that you will need to learn, but we will save those for another article.

Here is the important takeaway from this article....
The quality of published video content reflects directly on your brand image.
A visitor views an interesting, engaging, useful, or entertaining video from your company and they will be inclined to view another. Poor quality will generate poor, or possibly negative, results. Whether you believe that, or not, do not risk the potential negative impact of a poor quality presentation. Invest the time and money to produce good videos.

My intent here is to get you started, moving in the direction of providing video content for your customers. There is plenty more to discuss, and I encourage you to contact me directly with any suggestions or requests you have for future articles on this subject.

Follow, comment, contact me with your questions. I can be contacted directly at CMS4i by putting @TomO in the message section. At CMS4i, we are here to help you make things work, so contact us anytime.