Trust is essential for connection. Getting to know the people behind the brand is a great first step to establishing a relationship. Considering how passionate your team is, videos like those would get great results at relatively low cost. https://vimeo.com/99794385
Atkinson Vinden – Right People, Right Advice
Here’s an example of how you can share the fundamental principle of what your business brings to the table without going into ‘sales mode’. Content like this is much more likely to be shared on social media. For Aligned For Life we could look at the bigger ideas behind Pilates: an injury/pain/medication free life. Body awareness. https://vimeo.com/99220941
ELS – student testimonials
An example of testimonials from students. http://vimeo.com/56619774
Client testimonials
A few testimonials would really bring your brand to life because it shows your prospects how people experience it. http://vimeo.com/42601926
Blogs
For Gary we’re developing a comms plan and strategy around sharing tools and ideas around leadership. It’s simple, but effective content. This is what your news/blog could look like. http://vimeo.com/25115395
Blog with multiple speakers
Here’s a way in which PRIA successfully got stake holders involved in their rebrand; ask the members about what they care about. Aligned For Life could apply this to blogs/updates where you mix facilitators and students. This way your content could create a sense of inclusion both for the people involved and prospective students. https://vimeo.com/114209651
Hi Guido, Here are some examples of videos relevant to your project.
Staff profile example
We chose a non scripted, more conversational approach which got some great feedback. They also turned out to be great for recruitment as candidates get a feel for who they could work with.
Sheena
https://vimeo.com/99794385
Guy
https://vimeo.com/102597994
1 minute tips
This is part of a batch of about 30 videos we did in a day during an event. We got very good traction in Twitter/FB with this. https://vimeo.com/84089887
Client testimonials
Here’s a way to approach your staff profiles too if you’d like to go for a polished approach. http://vimeo.com/42601926
Dejan 30 sec
You can say a lot in 30 seconds! http://vimeo.com/55741516
General Showreel
A quick overview of what we do and how we approach our work. http://vimeo.com/25540698
Good news,: your video is live! The ‘bad’ news is, your business video is not going to perform miracles by itself: you’ll need to put in a bit of work to get in front of the right people now!
What’s a result?
Getting a result is not about the amount of views you get: it’s about getting the right views. Your video needs to be seen by the right people, resulting in actions like contacting you, booking you on a speaking gig or asking for a quote.
Three steps towards results
To make sure you get results, we need to make sure your video: 1. On the right platform. 2. Easy to find by search engines like Google. 3. Easy to use, share and embed. Here are some good starting points:
Video platforms
Vimeo
At Hunting With Pixels, we love Vimeo because it’s free and high quality. Vimeo is a video platform that makes your video look much cleaner and crisper than Youtube and you don’t get annoying banner ads or related videos. https://vimeo.com/huntingpixels There’s a very reasonably priced Vimeo Pro option too.
Youtube
Although it’s a video site, Youtube is now the second biggest search engine and the place where your audience will look for content so you have to be there. Make sure you don’t just upload your video though; put a enticing title, a well written description and relevant tags on your video so your video actually turns up on search results.
Clickable links to your website from Youtube
Make sure you put the full url of your website in the first two lines of your description, so something like: ‘https://www.huntingwithpixels.com.’. Add the ‘http://’ bit will make the link clickable. It needs to be in the first two lines because that’s the only bit of text you will see without having to click the ‘more’ button, which almost noone does.
One load – video seeding
There are dozens of other platforms out there, but Youtube is the one with the biggest reach by far. If you want to be on a number of video platforms at the same time, you may want to look at video seeding software like One Load: http://www.oneload.com/ One Load will automatically upload your video to dozens of platforms in one go. Personally, I’m not sure if that scattergun approach is going to get you a lot of relevant leads but it can’t hurt either. http://www.oneload.com/
Places to send your content so it can be found by prospects
Assuming you’re in the B2B space, here are some good places for your content the be.
Seems like a no brainer, but I see a lot of our clients send links to Youtube to their database. Don’t. Use this opportunity by getting the video to create traffic to your site: that’s where your contact button is! Write and article around your video and post on your site. The article can provide additional information and useful links; video and written content really complement each other well.
Sourcebottle
SourceBottle is an online service that connects journalists, writers and bloggers with ‘sources’. Make sure you become a source by post the similar article to the one you make for your site on Sourcebottle: don’t simply copy the article and paste it on Source Bottle. Google has software that checks for duplicate content online, and once that’s been flagged your article will not turn up in search results so take the time to reword. http://www.sourcebottle.com/
Slideshare
Slideshare is like the Youtube of slide decks. Create an interesting looking slide deck with a good title, then embed your video in it. You’ll be surprised how much traction this can potential get. It’s also a good place to find slides and ideas for future presentations. http://www.slideshare.net/
Social media
Here are some thoughts on what platforms are useful for you.
LinkedIn
Great tool for B2B engagement (engagement, not hard selling) and reaching specific groups of professionals. Great for the services industry. A good place to start B2B collaborations. LinkedIn now has a blog tool that allows you to write articles and embed Youtube videos easily; this is where you need to be for B2B.
Facebook
Facebook works well for B2C engagement and any events you may be running. We’re not convinced about B2B engagement.
Twitter
If you have a decent amount of followers, send a tweet linking to the article on your website. Twitter is generally useful for collaboration, engagement with other professionals and regular updates to your clients. Twitter needs a lot of quick responses to work for you, so only worth doing if you have the time or if you just love the quick fire responses. I’m not a huge fan myself.
Other platforms
And then there’s a gazillion other video/social media platforms. All very clever and interesting, but not likely to get you results unless you put a lot of effort in. I’d recommend sitting on the fence for now.
Wait, there’s still the world outside social media
Newsletters
Never call your newsletter ‘newsletter’. Do that and you can pretty much guarantee noone will click. If you’re going to use your database to update your clients on a regular basis, offer something that’s one page, well designed and relevant. Add a video to that and on average your click through doubles.
Events
Video is being used on displays a lot. My view is that for it to have any effect it better be good, and it needs a tangible; something to do right there and then. If you use video as a nicer version of a bill board, you’ll get the same results as bill boards; not a lot of traction unless you’re everywhere.
Get personal!
Ultimately, what your video needs to do is engage people. Getting people engaged is not a process that you can automate or templatise; the more targeted and personal you are, the better your response rate. So instead of sending the same thing to your entire database, think about how you can add a personal message like: Hey Robert, how’s life at the Hunting With Pixels HQ? Just did a talk on the Curse Of Knowledge at Ignite Sydney, knowing you’re a bit of a psychology buff I thought it might interest you:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E64gxVhDUQI I don’t know about you, but I’d click on that. Good luck!
When we think about video, we often imagine a film shoot. A sea of lights, cameras and gorgeous looking hipster crew with low hanging jeans (and more crack than Harlem if you’re unlucky).
Important!
What struck me when I worked in TV production myself is how incredibly importantvideo production seemed. Creating content seemed to revolve around stressed out production managers, pushy interviewers, micro managing marketing directors and a very uptight ‘brand’ person with lots of print outs and a short term memory issue.
Are we missing something here?
The single most overlooked aspect of video production is: the people. In all distraction and excitement around content, we can easily overlook the feelings of the people who are featured. As a result we often don’t manage to capture authenticity.
Why shoots are stressful for interviewees
Our approach has created the idea that being filmed as something daunting, something we need to just get over with. We fill the room with hot lights, people our interviewees don’t know and we add a limited timeframe. Then we fire a list of questions at them that pushes them towards the brand message. How are our interviewees supposed to make anything conversational and authentic like that?
‘Professional’
So we suck it up and go on auto pilot. We do the 20 takes until we say exactly what it says on the print out. We get a professional presenter to represent that business that we pour all of our time and energy into. Does that make sense? We choose the great looking extravert male marketing director to represent the brand, because he’s ‘good on camera’. And yes, men are more likely to put their hand up for being interviewed.
What is ‘good on camera’?
If we keep approaching content like this, ‘good on camera’ means being able to withstand the stress that video creates. This requires a thick skin, which rules out the 50% of humanity that’s on the introvert spectrum. If we rule out that many people by our process, our content ends looking staged and forced.
Authenticity: why it matters
Authenticity is essential for building connection and trust, especially in PR. In the run up to the PRIA conference we interviewed a number of PR Practitioners around their views on authenticity: https://vimeo.com/114209651
So why do we struggle to be authentic?
There are three factors that stand in the way of us being authentic: Organisational: we may work in organisation that don’t foster authenticity. The larger an organisation is, the harder authenticity becomes. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible though. Content: the objective of a lot of content is to look polished. This is mainly to make sure we as agencies feel good about ourselves and the marketing director feels good about her decision to hire you. Our audience isn’t that interested in how nice things look: that’s a baseline expectation. They’re looking for relevant information and connection. Culture: we all fear being judged. Some organisations have a culture in which employees don’t feel empowered to add a personal touch; micromanaged and undertrained.
We’re not equally affected
This fear of being judged is especially evident when we interview middle aged women in leadership roles. These women have a good reason to worry: Women are being judged more harshly. Just check out the comments females get on Youtube. As agencies, we have can and should make a real difference by making the process of creating content easier for them.
Here’s what you can do
Here are five ways to create more authentic content: 1. Diversity – Include a diverse range of people in your message, especially the ones that don’t considering themselves ‘good on camera’. Offer coaching. Give introverts the time they need to prepare. Make sure it’s a fun experience. Our experience is that you’ll find that the reluctant ones create the best content: they hold themselves to higher standards. 2. Content – Let go of control. Create a framework of ‘must haves’ but allow for stories and serendipity. You’ll be surprised with what your team and colleagues have to offer. 3. Make it easy – Find people that you really enjoy working with, so pick your production partners based on shared values and culture instead of a hot looking showreel (which are all smoke and mirrors anyway). 4. Work with the environment – Look for a place that’s shifts the mindset so you get better stories. Get away from boardroom. 5. Avoid time pressure – Invest in people instead of technology: better to have an authentic story in HD than a stressed out interviewee in 4k.
Here’s an example
Lawyers and authenticity may seem like an oxymoron, but it isn’t if you let them tell their stories: https://vimeo.com/99220941
Tell us your story
What’s your experience with being filmed or having a client filmed? What do you think we can all do to make things better? We’d love to hear your stories!
What we can do
Blogs about authenticity and content Freebie for SYD and MELB –
Terrible video but she’s got the right look. We’d need to test if she’s any good at autocue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfwxD0Bl2d8
Andy Wells – shortlisted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsASeNLotCc
Gregory C – shortlisted
http://vimeo.com/74746176
Alan Claridge – no beard version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQmYUrfhuRM
Fiona Heart
Not the best looking showreel, but has a corporate/training background so would have some affinity with business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnB0gF393s
Rachel W
Confident presenter, not sure if this is the right look for Formfile? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDFxmdjrCvY
Cindy Oemcke
Good presenter, but not sure if she’s ‘business’ enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC4Qodip82s
Peter Cassidy
Good presenter, but maybe a bit on the old side? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihNxcdgffQ
