3 fundamentals to creating and distributing awesome video content

It’s a known fact that most people prefer video content over reading. Potential customers are more likely to watch a short video about your business than to read slabs of text on your website. Getting more customers and visitors is all about engagement, right??Video content?has great traffic and sharing potential, it increases your business’ visibility and gets you more customers.

Did you also know that on social media, video content gets, on average, 12 times more engagement than image and text posts? This makes video an essential part of any marketing strategy for a business that relies on online bookings.

So, what to consider when creating and distributing awesome video content?

1 – Have a strategy that will engage your?Lookers

Before you go out and grab your phone or camera, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

• How is my business different from others?
• What is the purpose of the video?
• What is the core message you are trying to convey?
• Who is my primary target audience? How old are they? What are their interests? Are they family groups etc?
• Where in the buying cycle are they, dreaming, researching or ready to book?
• How do you put your customers at the centre of your story?
• How do I plan to distribute this video? On my website, through social media, if so, what channels?
• How long should the video be?
• What single action would I like them to take? Make a booking?

You will need to answer all of the above to make your video engaging and deliver the results you want to achieve from making it.

Be prepared with your script and storyboard.

Not all of us are professional talkers or actors, so it is essential to develop a script, so you don’t get flustered on the day of shooting. The most confident of us get the jitters once a camera is pointed at us, so always have a script to refer to.

Telling your story in a way that engages with your customer is essential.?

Don’t put yourself as the hero of the story. Letting your customers know what you do for?them?is the key to generating more interest and engagement from your target audience. It is sometimes difficult to see what these benefits are from inside a business, so an outside perspective can really help.

Shooting videos can be very time-consuming, so be prepared. Developing a basic storyboard or shot list will save you heaps of time on the day. Work out your locations, props you may need, services you’d like to promote, and the people you would like to include to be able to tell the story of your brand.

2 – Producing a video that will generate?Bookers

Now you have a solid plan, it’s time to bring your story to life!

When’s the best time to shoot?

To make sure that your video is engaging, you need to capture footage when your business is at its best.

We see so many videos of businesses and destinations with no visitors or customers in the shots, making it look like a ghost town or empty waiting room. Why!?

Instead, try capturing your customers having a good time or getting great results, and the viewer will picture themselves having the same experience.

Consider the time of day to shoot, as lighting is essential to professional-looking videos. Your business may look great at sunrise or sunset, especially if you are considering some drone footage. A lot of businesses can look amazing lit up at night, or you may want to capture some outdoor features in the middle of the day.

What shots do you need?

A great storytelling video starts with a great story, and who better to tell it than you, the business owner. If you are a small to medium-sized business and you have a customer-facing role, then it can be great if you tell the story to your customers.

Filming yourself talking to the camera will give your customers an instant connection to you when they arrive at your business. Use a small amount of your talking footage and mix it with a great B-Roll of your services, products, location, staff and customers to support your story.

Create interesting footage by using different technologies. The use of GoPros, steady cams and drones can show your business to customers from different and inspiring angles.

Editing for different platforms

When editing your video, try to make it interesting by keeping the watcher engaged. You will need to consider the following:

• Don’t just have someone talking to the camera the entire time. Viewers will get bored.
• Vary the speed of your footage. Slow-motion can look really professional
• Using the right transitions can generate additional energy (don’t get cheesy though!)
• Choose appropriate colour or filters to give the right mood
• What dimensions and what length of video will be needed for different platforms, website, social post or story etc.

Choosing the right soundtrack

Getting the right music to support your story can be tricky. Choose something that represents the vibe of your business and your customers. Look for royalty-free music, as choosing your favourite song from your Spotify playlist can get you in a whole world of trouble.

Use sounds from your surroundings. For example, if you are in the country, include some background audio of birds singing to set the scene.

3 –?Accelerate?the amount of views you receive

You’ve produced these amazing pieces of content, now you need to get it out in the world. A video distribution strategy is essential because even if you have crafted the best video, you still need to get it in front of the right viewers.

Here are some of the best video distribution channels for your content.

Your Website

Adding your videos to your?website?is super easy and can cost you absolutely nothing. You have probably already taken time optimising your site for search engines and have an audience of interested customers looking at your site. In fact, having video content on your site will make users stay longer and will?increase your SEO rankings. Engaging with your audience will get them that much closer to clicking that BOOK NOW button. Consider the following:

• Place videos on your homepage or top banner, product or service pages, FAQs section, or recruitment page
• Use the right sizing
• Keep the video short
• Use an engaging thumbnail
• Include a Call To Action in every video

Social Media Channels

Publish your video on the platforms and channels where your customers are. YouTube and Facebook are the most common video platforms right now. Other popular platforms are TicTok, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.?Social media?is primarily viewed on mobile devices so there are lots of things to take into consideration.

• The dimensions of your footage. Different social media channels require the footage to be in their preferred aspect ratios, such as landscape, square, or vertical footage for stories and reels.
• A high percentage of users browse social without sound on their devices, so if your video has dialogue, ensure that there are subtitles or captions.
• Pay attention to your visual branding – make your brand easily identifiable.
• Add supporting copy to your videos with strong CTAs and links when possible.
• Upload your video to each platform, don’t link Facebook to your YouTube video, for example, as it won’t play without leaving the app the user is in
• Post short teaser videos that link to the main video on your website
• Place your most important information at the beginning of your video

Email Lists

Email marketing?can be the most effective way to distribute your video content. After all, you already have an engaged audience interested in your business. Here are some interesting figures about email video distribution:

• Emails with the word ‘video’ in the subject are opened 7% more than emails without
• Emails that contain videos increase the click-through rate by up to 96%
• Incorporating videos into emails can decrease subscriber opt-outs by 75%
• Embed a looping GIF thumbnail in your email will capture attention and increase click-through rate

Getting your video content out into the world can take a lot of work. By taking advantage of email lists, your website, and social media channels, you can get customers viewing your content, plus you are creating backlinks to your website, where you can take bookings.

Conclusion

Before picking up your camera, ensure you have a good strategy in place. Work out?who?your audience is,?what?you want to share with them,?where?you’ll be distributing it, and?how?viewers will convert into paying customers.