When creating video content, don’t just use it for the same kind of content you normally make. Do something different! Video is a great tool for doing something a bit creative, something different that will make your business stand out. Whether sharing stories from your team or showing some of your work, there’s so much you can do instead of simply promoting your product or service.
There’s a constant stream of businesses using social media for one purpose: to sell as much as possible. What’s the problem with that? Don’t all businesses want to sell as much as possible?
Whilst this may be largely true, it’s about how businesses go about doing this. Video content gives you the opportunity to stand apart from the transactional, sales-type content that your competitors will be churning out. Instead of showing how great your product is, show how great your business is! Talk about your background, your team, the business’ journey, your values – these will all separate you from the usual stream of content. Video is amazing for capturing the attention, but once you’ve captured it you need to hold it. By making something a bit out of the ordinary you’re far more likely to keep people engaged.
Read our blogs on tips for social media marketing and best practices to nail your social media pages!
Video isn’t just for social media! This is a big mistake that businesses make when creating and distributing the videos they create. When you create a piece of content that takes as much time, effort and money as video does, you want to get the maximum return on your investment.
Think of your videos as digital assets that can be used and repurposed across various platforms and distribution channels. Create content that you can use on your social media by all means, but that shouldn’t be the sole purpose. Video is great for websites, blogs, newsletters, and any other way you can think of for interacting with clients. Use it to engage, educate and build relationships between your business and customer base.
As far as the customer journey is concerned, this is another area where video content if often under-utilised.
Businesses will create a flashy video to promote a product no problem. But this is too short sighted and only focuses on capturing the attention of potential customers - the very beginning of the customer journey. To really harness video and get the most out of this medium, it should be used across the customer journey. From initial engagement right through to after-sales, video content has a huge role to play.
Of course video is great for capturing attention, but it can do so much more than that. It can play a massive role in a customer’s decision to buy if they have had all their questions and concerns addressed with helpful, informative videos from your team. Then in after-sales video content can be used to maintain that relationship that your previous videos would have done so well at building! By affording extra care to this stage of the customer journey you’ll do wonders for your retention, referrals and reputation.
Read more about guiding the customer journey!
It’s all very well being told to make videos, but what should you be making them about?
There’s lots that video is good at, but most of all it’s great for building trust with clients. This is done through educational, honest, authentic content that adds value to their lives in one way or another.
This could be in the form of a meet the team videos, product tutorials, how to find us timelapses, customer testimonials, or showcases of your recent work. These will all build up that all important relationship with your clients and create a great impression of your business before you’ve even met!
Have a look at our article on video ideas to increase conversion rates for more helpful information.
Video offers so much value, but with the cost of making them you want to be sure you’re getting it right. Use this information to not only create great videos for your business, but also to implement them across your marketing channels. Send a “Just saying hello” video when someone signs up to your mailing list, create a time-lapse of a recent project, or have videos for your FAQ section on your website to give it that much more of a personal feel. You’ll see the benefits with great relationships with customers and increased conversion rates in no time!
Video content is a great marketing tool for businesses today. In Edinburgh and across the UK we have seen businesses grabbing the attention of audiences on social media, forging connections with clients before they have ever met, and showing people what makes their business different.
Video allows your business a lot of freedom and provides amazing potential to let you stand out.
More and more businesses use social media today for marketing purposes. It has a potentially infinite market that you can reach for free. With this, though, comes competition. It’s so hard to make people stop and look at your business’ content. Not only do you have other businesses to compete with, but everything else on social media as well!
With innovative video content, though, you have the opportunity to make people stop and take notice. Film something that you haven’t seen from other businesses and your competitors. Highlight something unique to your business that will make people stop and pay attention. You’d be surprised how much people appreciate a post from a business that isn’t all about selling their product! Instead, focus on selling your business.
Read our blog for more top tips on social media marketing.
Video offers loads of benefits to your website as well. When people are searching for a product or service and land on your website, there’s lots of potential for using video.
Answering FAQs, introducing the team, showcasing your products and services are just some of the things you can use video for.
Read more about utilising content on your website.
Communicating with your clients via email provides more chance to use video. Attaching a helpful video when communicating can make the process smoother and clearer, and can create a positive impression of your business as helpful and willing to go the extra mile.
This is a common thought when making video content: Can’t I make content far easier and cheaper without video?
The answer: Yes, of course you can. There is a “but”, though. It will not be anywhere near as engaging, effective or valuable to your business. Studies suggest that human attention is best captured by video, then by imagery, then text. So, in a world where businesses are constantly vying for attention, video is hugely useful for capturing it.
There are also some things that you simply cannot do without video. By speaking to camera, introducing yourself and sharing personal stories via video you can start building a relationship with clients before they’ve ever met your team. A trusting relationship is key to securing sales, so the time and effort you put into video will bare fruit in the long-run.
Video is also hugely useful for educating audiences. By producing helpful videos on how to use your product, what to expect with your business, or showcases of your previous work, you’ll further build that trusting relationship.
These factors all contribute towards more sales and success for your business. Check out some of our video ideas for increasing conversion rates.
Whilst video content might be more expensive and take more effort than other kinds of content, it offers so much more. The value it can provide your business in terms of engaging potential clients, building relationships and increasing conversion rates is immeasurable. So if you’re thinking about where to invest with your marketing campaigns, video is the way to go.
Video production is the process of planning, shooting and editing a video. As video plays a forever-growing role in marketing campaigns, video production is becoming an increasingly important thing for businesses in Edinburgh and the UK as a whole to be aware of.
As a result of video’s growing popularity, more business owners are wondering what video production is and what’s involved in taking something from an initial idea to a polished, brilliant piece of video content. The answer to the question is varied and depends massively on the type of equipment you’re using, what type of video you’re shooting and where this video will be used. A video meant to be used on your website might be very different to a funny clip you post on your TikTok channel, for instance.
With most videos, though, there are some general rules and guidelines that are followed in the production process. If you’re curious as to what these are then read on!
The first stage of video production is maybe not the most glamorous, but it’s vital for making sure everything that follows goes smoothly!
Pre-production involves gathering and finalising your ideas for the video (what will it be about? What are your goals? What do you want to get out of it?); the location; a script (if needed); required equipment (how many cameras? Additional lighting? Microphones? Teleprompter?); and who will be required to be present.
Top Tip: A good place to start with this can be thinking about your end goals. Once you know what you want from your video you can start to piece together everything else and it should flow easily from it.
Next, production!
This is where you get to the filming location and the magic happens. If you’ve done your pre-production stage well then you should know exactly what you’re doing at this stage and it will just be a case of following your plan.
It involves setting up your equipment, making sure your camera angles are correct, setting up microphones (you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget to turn these on!) and, finally, shooting!
Top Tip: As with anything, it’s possible that not everything will go completely to plan, so you’ve got to be ready to improvise! Maybe you’ll think of something you hadn’t considered before and want to shoot an impromptu, unscripted video. Sometimes these can end up better than the stuff you’d prepared for, so don’t think that just because you hadn’t planned for it, it won’t be great!
The third stage is where you really start to see the fruits of your labour. Your hard work in the pre-production and production stages will come to light in post-production.
This stage involves taking your footage and importing it to whatever editing software you use, then getting to work editing it! This doesn’t necessarily mean making it the smoothest, most clinical video ever - it can work well for businesses to keep some of their own character in it.
You’ll also want to get your branding across in your videos. So making sure you have assets like your logo, fonts and any specific music you’d like to use handy is important for making a video instantly recognisable as yours.
Top tip: When editing your video look out for funny bits to include in a blooper reel! These are amazing for using on social media and show a more natural and authentic side of your business that people love to see just as much as your professional side.
Lastly you’ll want to do all the finishing touches. This means tailoring the video to whatever platform you want to use it for and uploading it. For instance, if you want to use it on your YouTube channel you’ll want to have a great looking thumbnail to accompany it, or if you’re using it for Instagram you’ll probably want it to be in a 1:1 aspect ratio.
These last bits may seem a bit trivial, but they’re as important as anything else. You wouldn’t want to spend time perfecting your video in the post-production phase only to make it unusable - or sub-par - for the platforms you want it to be seen the most!
Top Tip: Remember in the pre-production phase where I said to begin by thinking about your goals? If you did that then your video should already be perfect for whichever platform, or platforms, you planned it to be on! Again, this is why planning is so important for making sure the rest of the process is smooth and takes up the least amount of time.
There you have it, the stages of video production. If you’re a business owner and thinking about implementing video into your marketing strategies then this explanation should come in handy. Follow our advice - we’re pros, after all - and you’ll soon have some great video content that add tonnes of value to your business and client base!
For many businesses in Edinburgh and around the country, video content is seen as a bit of a luxury. For a long time video wasn't at the main consideration for marketing campaigns. As a result, it was often down the list of priorities for marketing. Businesses would choose to invest in other things like paid advertisements or a billboard.
Part of the issue is video is time consuming and it can be hard to track return on investment. The value of video is certainly there, but it is harder to measure. Having said this, there has been a shift in priorities recently. More and more businesses are seeing the appeal of video content. Its increasing popularity across social media, and the increasing use of social media by businesses, means video content often goes hand in hand with modern marketing strategies.
Here are some of the main reasons why your business should be investing in video in 2023!
In 2022, 82% of all global internet traffic was video. This number has been an upwards trend for the last few years and shows no sign of slowing down. This means you’ll be getting more bang for your buck with the videos you create. More people will see them, so their potential for attracting new clients is huge!
This can be seen with the rise of reels across social media channels like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. It's a trend that doesn't show any sign of slowing down, so businesses shouldn't wait to jump on the bandwagon before they are left behind!
It can be used across various marketing platforms. From email marketing to pages on your website, you can use video to interact with clients in so many different ways. This also takes away from what can be a daunting price tag. If you are able to repurpose the same video you used on your website for a short snippet on social media, you are getting more for your money.
Its versatility and effectiveness in different spaces make it a great investment!
The more you show clients about your business the more they trust you. Video demonstrates your expertise, your personality, and allows more of a personal connection than can be achieved with images or text. All of this goes towards securing more customers and increasing conversion rates!
Need some inspiration? Read our blog on video ideas to increase your conversion rate!
Why is content creation important? Because content creation is quickly becoming the new advertising!
While most of us have become disillusioned with the endless ads that seem to pop everywhere in our daily lives, we’re also pretty – well – nosey! We want to know what’s going on in other people’s lives, in businesses, in our home city of Edinburgh, and the wider world around us.
We’re hungry for information, for knowledge, for the latest goings-on in our city. And while we most certainly won’t sit and watch ads for hours during the day, we will sit and consume content that we feel adds value to our lives.
So, what does this mean for your business?
Business is all about the future, it’s about growing and evolving, and listening to what consumers are saying. And what are they saying right now? They want businesses to give them value, to provide information, inspiration, motivation.
They want to learn things and understand things and be inspired by things. They’re interested in how your business works, the behind-the-scenes, the team. They’re interested in why you love what you do. They’re interested in your industry knowledge and the unique golden nuggets of advice and information you can provide them.
But what if you own a cleaning business, or a flooring company? We work with both of these industries, and have produced countless awesome pieces of content for each one.
Regardless of how “boring” you may think your content could be surrounding your industry, you’d be surprised at how interested your customers may be in the information you have to share. Even if you don’t understand it, this is the world we live in. And in business, you adapt or you die.
So, what kind of content should you be producing then? You may not think it, but you can produce thousands and thousands of pieces of content, regardless of your business or industry.
The best place to start is the heart of your business – you! You and your team are what make your business unique, and no other business on the planet has you in it … unless of course, you have more than one business! Even so, sharing stories from inside your business – how it started, what your team love about it, and why you love what you do – is a great place to start.
Next, think about some of the questions you get asked by your customers, or perhaps even questions you think they might be asking. For example, a cleaning company might get asked, “how do you ensure your cleaners are meeting standards?”. Or a flooring company might get asked, “what kind of carpet should I buy if I have kids?”.
You can make literally dozens of short videos answering these questions, which can be integrated into your sales process, paired with a written article for a blog post, put on your website’s FAQ page, and posted on socials.
There are so many endless possibilities for content creation, and so many reasons why you should be investing in it. So, what are you waiting for?
If you have any questions for us, or you’d like to enquire about how we can help with your content creation, send us an email at [email protected] today.
