Guest Blog from Chris Towndrow, London Corporate Media
You have a great business. You have a strong brand. You have a professional website. You do a lot of marketing. You even do social media.
So what’s next? Where’s the marketing edge? What’s your approach to gaining competitive advantage?
It isn’t video. But why?
Video is too scary. Too expensive. Just too complicated. A luxury. An unnecessary expense. Isn’t it?
So why use video?
Video is no longer the new kid on the block. The statistics on online video are simply mind boggling. That can mean only one thing: it’s a necessity. It is increasingly how consumers like to consume information online.
Video is just one vital element of your overall marketing strategy that includes your web presence, email marketing, social media and perhaps offline methods, like networking too. Marketing is always an investment, it shouldn’t be viewed as an expense. It is designed to generate ROI, just like any video you use should.
Video connects you to your customers in a more powerful way. Perhaps that is the scary bit – the ‘you’ part. But people buy people. You are the most passionate ambassador for your business.
So you have nerves about going in front of camera. You aren’t alone!
How to overcome that fear? My top tips…
1. Don’t try and learn the script verbatim – it only makes your work harder. What’s needed is the sense of what you need to say and the inherent knowledge and passion.
2. Make sure that you really connect with your video producer and know that they will help you with the script process and coach you during the filming.
3. Don’t try and rush things – plan to allow enough shooting time.
4. Don’t worry about what you look like. The video is about the message and the desired outcome, not eye candy!
But video is just too complicated!
Video doesn’t have to be complex. It has to be well planned and well thought through. It needs to have a purpose. It has to be the right message delivered in the right way. It has to dovetail with your overall brand and your business personality. And be at a level that is appropriate with your profession, your products/or service and your business profile. But that is about an integrated message and approach, not necessarily complex camera setups, special effects and endless retakes.
But video is just too expensive!
And video doesn’t have to be expensive. It stands to reason that if your corporate video isn’t complex, it needn’t be expensive. Not all the summer cinema hits are Titanic in scale and means. Of course, you can pay what you like. But you also get what you pay for. But you want ROI, and that is about doing things properly. It’s about a holistic approach and working with a video producer that has both your business and creative goals in mind.
I can help you produce a ‘talking head’ style video from as a little as £325. Typically that’s less than a one-off, to be thrown away advert in a glossy magazine or local newspaper.
So what’s stopping you?
Corporate videos are not a universally adopted method to winning new business. Perhaps because of the fears of being on camera and the overall reservations.
Why not feel the fear and do it anyway? Because if your competitors don’t grasp the nettle and you do – hey presto – competitive advantage.