5 Video Marketing Tips
(Episode 1 of 2 with Adrian Sandmeier)
Adrian Sandmeier is the founder of youstream, an award-winning video marketing company with clients across Europe. Over the past decade, he has helped hundreds of marketers realize their creative visions through video creation. Adrian is also the author of Video Marketing for Marketers. In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss a few video marketing tricks.
Key Takeaways
We will cover the following key takeaways:
- Video allows us to transport emotions online.
- By finding a great team to work with, we will likely find much more success in our video marketing strategies.
- The success of our video relies heavily on the pre-production work.
- With video marketing, it is essential to be authentic and honest.
- You don’t need expensive equipment to make a great video. We can even create one with our phones.
- You don’t need to be perfect.
The Power of Video Marketing
Video marketing gives us a new perspective we don’t normally come across with text or images. Video allows us to transport emotions online because we can see the person, watch their facial expressions, note their hand gestures, hear their tone, etc.
Adrian explained, “We actually can transport emotions in the form of a moving face or a smile. We can detect if the smile is fake or not. We can also detect how much excitement or how much truth lies behind it. This is something that is very, very difficult to transmit with a text or just a picture.”
If we want to be more engaging, if we want to be remembered, if we want people to feel something and have a greater likelihood of taking action, videos are probably the most effective way to do that. It helps connect us with our customers on a much greater level than a blog post could because it connects us through emotion.
5 Video Marketing Tips
As the founder of a successful video marketing company, Adiran had the opportunity to work with dozens of clients on their video strategies. He said that every final video feels like a home run because while it takes a lot of work, once finished, it can really help a business grow. With his years of experience, he has learned many important aspects of video marketing. Today, we’re going to look at four of his tips.
1. Find a Great Team
In 2017, one of Adrian’s friends decided to enter a video competition and asked his company to take part. He recruited the help from his family members, including his son, and made a story come to life through video. Once all the pieces were brought together, they ended up winning the competition. Adrian said, “It was rewarding not just because we won, but also because we made it together.”
Creating a great video typically requires us to bring multiple pieces together to create something amazing. Often, people think of a videographer as someone that is just behind the camera filming; however, great videographers require a great team. They may have a writer, an editor, a prop director, etc.
When we create a video, we should remember that there are multiple parts to the production process that require talent. “[When] you start something from scratch, soon you’ll find out that it’s very difficult to do it on your own. You’re very limited because there are so many different aspects,” Adrian said. By finding a great team to work with, we will likely find much more success in our video marketing strategies.
As an entrepreneur, we can also apply this principle to many aspects of our businesses. Just as a video marketer brings all the pieces together to create something amazing, an entrepreneur has to bring in all the pieces to create their business.
2.Have an Overarching Strategy
In order to create a great video, we should have an overarching strategy behind it. What is the purpose of the video? Where are we going to publish it? What is our script? Where are we going to film? When? If we don’t know what direction we are heading, it’s very hard to create a successful final product.
“A lot lies in the preparation [and] pre-production,” Adrian said. “I think we, as marketers, still underestimate this part of video marketing.” He continued, ““It’s a bit more work, but this work is mostly invested in the beginning — in planning, on the script, in the strategy. Maybe it means [investing] 25% more time in the beginning.”
Before we pick up the camera to start filming we should have a plan. The success of our video relies heavily on the pre-production work.
3. Be Authentic
With video marketing, it is essential to be authentic and honest. As we mentioned above, it is much easier to detect emotion and intent in a video than in text. If we care about our customers, they will be able to tell; if we only care about making a sale, they will also be able to tell.
“Within milliseconds, we can decode the emotion of a person on the other side [of the screen],” Adrian said. “We can decide if we actually believe the story that the salesman tells us and all these we can transmit through video. Therefore, it’s so important to be authentic, to know yourself, [and] to know your audience.”
4. Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Smartphone
One of the biggest tectonic shifts Adrian has seen is the invention of the smartphone. Smartphones are not only a new way to reach our customers; they are also a powerful tool. The cameras on smartphones have such high quality that you can produce amazing videos, the same as you would with a professional camera.
“Nowadays [smartphones] are so powerful. You can even almost produce Hollywood movies with the latest iPhone or the latest smartphone,” Adrian said. “We shouldn’t underestimate the power of a smartphone. It’s always in our pockets. It’s very light. It’s very powerful.”
We don’t need expensive equipment to create an amazing video. On our smartphones, we can download video editing software, attach microphones, add lights, etc. We shouldn’t let the expense of video equipment stop us from creating a video marketing strategy. We can create amazing videos right from our phones.
5. You Don’t Need to Be Perfect
Another tectonic shift we are seeing today is credibility marketing. The vast majority of our ideal customers don’t trust anything we say about ourselves; they perceive us as biased. So, businesses have to find much more credible ways to communicate with their audiences. One of those ways is through video. We can produce real and raw videos to show our customers we are authentic (as we discussed above).
Sometimes if we try to produce a video that looks too perfect, with perfect actors and perfect lighting, it’s perceived as corporate and it loses credibility. However, if we post a quick video on social media that isn’t scripted and isn’t recorded in a studio, it may feel more real. There is power in imperfection.
One form of video content that this “imperfection” is great in is video testimonials. We don’t want these testimonials to feel fake. They are best done when our customers speak from their heart.
In saying this, it’s also important to note that there are certain types of video that we do want to look professional and “perfect” in. For example, a brand video that is permanently staying on our website should be high quality. We want this video to have great storytelling, colours, angles, emotions, etc. High quality, professional videos work really well, but so do imperfect videos in the right instances.
Connect with Adrian
Thank you so much Adrian for sharing your stories and insights with us today. To learn more about or connect with Adrian:
Next Steps
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