Smartphone Setup Cheat Sheet at bottom of page!

Take the plunge and start creating your digital content

Video content is a powerful and dynamic tool for your brand. A strategic video can serve your business’ branding, advertising and recruiting needs – a dynamite combo for small businesses. And with YouTube and other digital video content topping more hours watched per day than television, the potential exposure for your business is tremendous and still growing. Keep reading to learn how to create a video that grabs your customer’s attention.

1. The Video Setup

The right video setup is crucial because it will give you the best material to work with in the later stages of your video’s production. Be sure your setup includes:

· A quiet room with natural light that hits the subject directly

· A camera or phone that shoots in 1080p or 4k

· An inexpensive tripod for video consistency

Why? When it comes to creating video, people have the tendency to jump into recording without investing time in the right setup. First, choose a space that is quiet and has natural light. Adjust your camera’s subject, so the light hits them straight on and not from the back or sides.

You can purchase a professional camera, but today an iPhone is also able to capture higher quality footage in 1080p or 4k.

Consider investing in a tripod to prevent that inevitable handshake. A few inexpensive tripod recommendations are listed at the bottom of this post. Another helpful tip for production consistency is to mark on the floor where the tripod will stand as a reference for future shots. Finally, make sure to orient your phone or camera horizontally to capture a video that will look great on a big screen.

2. Techniques to STAND OUT

You can create stand out content by trying the following:

· Bring the right energy

· Capture ‘first-hand’ experiences

· Engage your audience and learn their interests

After the strategic and technical video setup, the most important technique for your video is an often-overlooked component – bringing the right energy to your content. Just as you are able to tell if someone is having a bad day or is utterly elated when you see them in person, the same energy is transferred on screen. Speak clearly and with authenticity about your business, and avoid being overly excited or nonchalant.

Keep in mind most people have a hard time watching themselves at first, but it’s something you'll become more comfortable doing with time and practice. Don't be afraid to take the plunge and start creating digital content; you'll improve your presence the more you film.

Intriguingly, with the advent of virtual reality and live streaming experiences, videos that offer a ‘first-hand’ impression are gaining traction. Consider content that shows consumers reacting to your product or highlight your team solving a production problem.

Another technique to capture your audience’s attention is to engage with them. Start by asking them to contribute video ideas, then use those ideas as research to fuel more content that is likely to interest your market. Rather than worrying about reaching thousands of viewers, start by creating content that authentically speaks to your consumers and their enthusiasm will help your content garner more attention.

3. Post-Production Tips

When it comes to work in post-production (or, after the video is recorded), take these steps:

· Maintain the video quality during file transfers

· Check if someone on your team has experience with iMovie

· Create a strategy for publishing your business’ video content

As director Inarritu put it, “Movies become art after editing.” There are many tips and tools that exist for the art of post-production. Yet, the most important element is the quality of the video material itself. Be sure to transfer your footage directly with a USB or cloud storage upload rather than emailing or texting the file, which risks a reduction of the file’s quality.

iMovie, one of many fantastic editing tools for consumers, is a video editing platform that is free to use with Mac hardware. The platform's software offers a manageable learning curve; in fact, there is likely someone on your team who has experience using iMovie in their personal lives. If your team feels out-of-water in the editing process, consider outsourcing to a professional or contact Tabrizi Productions for a video editing consultation.

Once your video footage has been edited, create a strategy for sharing your content on social media. Will you publish the video on Vimeo or YouTube? Choose a day of the week to consistently publish your video content and post social media updates about the video to your customers. Studies have shown that the best day to publish videos on YouTube are Thursday and Friday between 12-3pm and Saturdays from 9-11am.

Final Takeaways

When thoughtfully produced, your business’ video content can speak volumes about your brand. If you capture quality footage and capture your brand’s voice authentically you’ll be sure to stand out in the crowd of video content. For more technical insights when using an iPhone, download my iPhone cheat sheet for free!

Tripod Recommendation

SmartPhone Cheat Sheet

Showcasing your company with video is fast becoming a necessity. It's estimated that, by 2020, 75% of global mobile traffic will be via video.

Jumping on this visual communication shift, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has stated that by 2021, at least 90% of the platform will be video content. So naturally, this drives a crucial question – does your business strategy include video content?

We know video content will be essential to every business within five years. By increasing the use of video beyond just marketing, companies can capitalize on this growing trend.

INVESTING IN VIDEO CONTENT CAN HELP YOU:

Reach more top talent
Save your business time and money
Spread brand awareness
Grow your audience exponentially

Read on to discover five ways your company can integrate video content and boost your business's overall value.

how to integrate video content for your business

1. REACH TOP TALENT

Suppose your business recruitment strategy in the next few years only includes Monster, Indeed, and the like. In that case, chances are you'll be missing out on an opportunity to attract bright talent on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and other platforms that host video content.

Plus, for candidates with winning personalities and skills, a job hunt without deeper insights into the company's culture might be a dead end.

Consider the recent job posting from New Zealand's police force; the video became a trending international discussion. Beyond drawing worldwide attention, the recruitment video highlighted available roles and addressed the questions that every job posting should answer but often fail to mention.

Every recruitment video should answer the big question - "why you should work for us and join our team." Video recruiting is quickly becoming a key approach because of the versatility, personalization, and the ability to address the "Why."

Keep in mind that a recruitment video doesn't have to be flashy. Businesses can also use laid-back, quirky video content to broadcast their job openings to applicants.

Recruiting with video allows your business to:

Widen its candidate search and more effectively reach top talent
Convey the 'why' for candidates who contemplate joining the team
Share insights about your company with a wider audience

If you plan to bring on new candidates this year, then keep in mind that recruiting videos is one of the fastest ways to witness results from video content.

2. MEET THE TEAM. FOR REAL

When it comes to answering the question of 'why us,' the core of that answer should be about your company's culture and mission. The voice of your business should be something captured with video and thereby easily shared worldwide for brand awareness.

One of the first things I did when starting Tabrizi Productions was highlight our brand through video. To put it simply: video content can transcend audiences, from potential recruits, new hires for training, B2B partnerships, and – most of all – your client base.

Whether you're a small to medium-sized business, startup, or nonprofit organization, capturing your business's culture on video is also emotionally powerful. Video has the added advantage of coupling your business's identity with feeling and eye-catching purpose.

Consider Home Depot's recent culture video that highlights some of the team and cleverly interweaves the company's mission. A video about your business' culture can emote in a way that printed words cannot.

Videos highlighting your business' culture can:

Convey your company's mission in a clear and memorable way
Express emotion and solicit a connection from the viewer
Allow you to share your brand across a variety of audiences

Overall, capturing your business's culture on video becomes a window for viewers of all kinds to identify with and relate to your brand.

3. LIMITLESS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Let's be honest; once new candidates start at your company, their onboarding process will demand significant time from current employees.

But the training required for new hires is likely repetitive, and, as companies are finding, this repetition can easily lend itself to onboarding sessions through video content.

Create detailed video content in a clear presentation with screen share and voice recordings, and your business will have reusable recruitment content without sacrificing time from other employees. Best yet, with video training, new employees can pause, replay, and save content for future reference and possibly learn at a deeper, accelerated pace.

But why stop with the onboarding process? With the advent of technologies and educational webinars, even large companies like T-Mobile are awakening to the idea of professional development and career growth through video content programs.

Developing training video content is business savvy because it:

Saves time and resources retraining the same content
Empowers employees to stay on and continue their professional growth
Elevates your business and its network by joining a progressive movement of video education and engagement

There is more than one way to create training video content. But when it comes to saving time and resources, the advantages of professional development through video make it a rising approach within businesses of all sizes.

4. PR THAT SHOWCASES YOUR BRAND AND VISION

Public relations is a marketing necessity for all organizations - a necessity that should include a video content strategy.

Whenever you speak about your business, this is PR. But when it comes to generating strong public relations exposure, most companies lack visibility, budget, or both. So video content is fast becoming the tool for creating authentic, affordable content about your brand. Even better, it's also entertaining and shareable.

Businesses are even looking to low-tech video recording efforts as well. For example, recently, Verizon undertook a video PR campaign where two ordinary friends documented their road trip with the video camera on their smartphone. Although you'll still need to pay attention to lighting, framing, focus, etc., this example demonstrates that showcasing your brand with video does not have to be a costly endeavor, and you do not need to invest in videographer services.

As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words! Likewise, creating video content to showcase authentic messages about your brand can be worth thousands of words and potentially millions of shares.

5. REACH 10X MORE WITH VIDEO AD MARKETING

Using video content for ad campaigns is not a new endeavor. The striking development in this area is how more platforms, like Facebook and Google, will weigh video content over written content in the near future.

In 2017, we witnessed that some of the highest viewed ad campaigns were video segments – with more than 100+ million views in some cases. Marketing data tells us that video content sees ten times the number of shares compared to still images and written content, a figure social media and news platforms seem to support as they continue to bet their algorithms on video content. It seems that the widespread use of video for ad marketing campaigns will continue to rule.

Whether your business is already rocking a video ad strategy or not, consider ways your brand can step up its video marketing profile.

"Look within your team and discern more about your employee's interests and skills..."

How to Create a Video Action Plan

Whether you're looking to amplify your company's existing video content strategy or aiming to create a video strategy from scratch, consider the following steps:

First, sometimes the seeds for a new or updated undertaking can be under your nose! Look within your team and discern more about your employees' interests and skills. Are they passionate about video? Do they understand how to use video editing tools, such as iMovie or Adobe?

If they possess enthusiasm for video, but lack recording and editing skills, consider investing in their professional growth and secure them video training for the team's benefit.

Second, be sure your business has a clear mission or vision for your company culture. This can be determined by your leadership and narrowed down with input from your team.

Next, consider your market and research the best networking platforms associated with your audience. It might be helpful to poll your customers and discover the web platforms they most frequent. For example, are they more likely to visit Facebook on the weekend and Instagram during the week?

After you've learned more about your market, evaluate the types of video content that perform best on the networking platform, you'll be using. Also, consider your company mission and your business culture and brainstorm a dozen different ways to convey those messages through video.

The combination of platform, company mission, and market audience should ultimately define your video content strategy.

Understanding your company's strategy for video will help determine your video equipment needs. Will a smartphone suffice, or would you need to rent or buy a higher-end camera? Do you need a computer for editing?

IMPORTANT: businesses often start with the stage (rather than doing the research in the earlier steps), resulting in unclear messaging or unnecessary equipment purchases.

Once you've published your brand's first videos – celebrate!

Finally, measure the statistics from your videos, including the number of shares and the average time spent watching. As a team, continue to reevaluate and refine ways to showcase your brand. Did shorter videos garner more shares? Were videos that showed people from the team able to reach a wider audience than videos with the product but without people?

For any one or every one of these steps, consider investing in a video consultant or a boutique video production company. It will help your business determine the right video content for your audience and set up your content with the best tools and special effects to create a professional showcase for your brand's message.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With the growing trend for video content throughout social networks and the media, a winning business strategy should include video. Social media platforms are betting on video content more heavily than other communication.

This is because videos can transcend a variety of audiences. It can effectively recruit candidates, train employees, capture your business' culture, enhance your business's public relations, and reach ten times more customers with your ad marketing.

There are steps you can start making now to build your video content strategy, but investing in a video consultant would definitely empower your team with professional video insights to showcase your brand far into the future.

If you're not ready to invest in a video production company yet, we encourage you to check out our free 5 Steps to Stellar Videos with your iPhone downloadable and our #DoItOnCamera Coaching course to get your business set up for success.

However, if you are ready to take the leap and work with a video production company, we're here to help. Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We are locally serving Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and the surroundings of the Silicon Valley area. Sound like a fit? Fill out our no-obligation form to schedule your next video production project.

How to STAND OUT with Your Video Content