Video Marketing Queen

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What Every Wanna-Be Video Marketer Needs to Know
By Barbara Griffin

If you are reading this article, you probably already appreciate the need of using videos to advertise your product or service.

Creating a video is not exactly a cinch, as there’s a fair bit to it, but it’s certainly possible for just about everyone with some basic computer skills and equipment and a keen interest.

However, like any other skill, you first need to know the basics, what you need to do, and how to do it – and then build your skill from there.

The Basics:

• Have a good topic.

Before you even start thinking about visuals, you need to be clear on your topic.

I.e. – What you will be advertising, what you want the video to convey – basically, the information you will be relaying to your audience.

The way you present your video will affect its ratings. Therefore, to improve your presentation, it may help you to write a script, and gather all your materials and information, charts, images at the planning stage, and possibly write a script, or at least some bullet points.

Get all these things ready before you step in front of the camera.

• Have your equipment ready.

Have your cameras, lighting, and shooting crew (if you are using other people to help you) – or tripod (if you are not) – ready.

Test everything to see that it works well, and never be complacent – be diligent.

Check batteries are charged!

Check the camera settings, check the sound is working, check that you have enough storage for the amount of video you are intending to shoot, or have the ability to download part way throughout the shoot to clear memory if necessary.

It would be a shame to lose the shoot and have to do it over, just for the sake of a flat battery or other minor technicality.

• Rehearse.

Rehearsal can definitely improve your ‘act’, especially if you haven’t done much on-camera presenting. Your public don’t know this – and so you may have to ‘fake it till you make it’ a little bit at the beginning. Attitude, as in life, is everything – particularly on camera.

Sure, you can rehearse in front of your bathroom mirror (I won’t tell anyone!) or in front of a small audience, or in front of a web-cam, or even do a test-record and watch it back. Even rehearsing in your mind before you fall asleep at night can help set your confidence to the right level.

Using a mirror or test recording can help you analyse your facial expressions and how they are coming across, so you can adapt and correct them if necessary. In the process, you will also hopefully overcome any self-consciousness – which doesn’t come across well in a video.

If you see that you are doing things like frowning, saying ‘um’, looking in a direction other than the camera, etc – when reviewing your test recording or in the mirror – luckily, these are all things you can rehearse and correct before shooting for real.

And finally – if you are intending to become a successful video marketer whose videos will convert well – make sure to make your video marketing decisions based on what you think the audience wants and would like to see and hear – since your online marketing video is for them, not you.

• Shoot like a qualified and skilled person – even if you are not.

Do it like the professionals do!

If you first have to refer to a professional video marketer or even to a book or a how-to video before shooting, do it.

Yes, there is a learning curve, and you are on it somewhere at some point. However, it’s really not that hard. Just start where you are. Learn what you need to learn, and then go for it. You’ll find yourself learning more skills naturally as you do more video production.

Use the right amount of light and the best angles. This is actually key, so do your best.

If you can achieve a good picture and sound quality, you will be doing well – in fact, better than most!

A tip is to stay fairly close to the camera if you are using a mike built in to the camera. This way you will optimise the audio you want to hear (such as your voice) and minimise the background noise.

Keep your video short and succinct – don’t waffle.

Boldness and confidence tends to translate much better on camera than shyness.

Shoot several takes, so you can choose the best.

Shooting in manageable chunks is often easier than running a whole script from beginning to end.

Be honest and fair about your product – and don’t say anything you do not mean sincerely, because that will show.

Tell the truth! And above everything else, don’t forget to have fun! A fun upbeat video will ‘sell’ so much more effectively than a dreary, serious tone.

• Edit and enhance the video.

Remove all the unnecessary footage that you don’t need. You can now add text, video effects such as fade ins, fade outs, cross dissolves and other effects, plus music, and intercut images – and whatever else you like.

Video editing is an art-form in itself. The final quality of your edit is going to be up to you. It may come down to your budget if outsourcing – or your equipment, skill and time if you’re editing yourself.

When you think you’ve finished, replay the video over a few times to triple check it, before exporting to the optimal file format.

If you have shot your video at high quality, you may want to use a compressed format such as .flv or .mov for export. If you have shot on a mini-video camera such as flip phone or I-phone, you may just be able to keep the quality at maximum.

You will need editing software for the editing and exporting part. Windows Movie Maker or Camtasia are good for PC users, or I-Movie is awesome if you’re using a Mac.

Don’t upload your movie to any website until you’re are certain that it is perfect – i.e. proof-view the final render one more time.

You may want to test the movie on a small audience to watch it for you and point out the mistakes you may have missed, before your final export. However, if you do this, be prepared for unwanted criticism from well-meaning friends and family!

Sometimes you might even need to remind yourself, and your friends, that your video is not going to be perfect.

My mentor taught me that ‘Good Enough is Good Enough’ – it is better to upload a video that is pretty good, or good enough – than have nothing at all.

Not that I am advocating mediocrity for a second!

It’s just that as a ‘recovering perfectionist’ myself, I realise that I could have been much more productive if I had just relaxed a little. And you should keep that in mind too, even while also striving to learn and achieve the highest standards you can manage.

When your marketing video is ready, upload it to as many video sites as you have time and energy to submit to. This is because each of these sites leverages your video to a new set of potential viewers and searchers.

There are a large range of sites that will host video for you to choose from, but start with YouTube and Facebook, as they are the most popular.

Exposure to multiple video sharing sites simply means more potential traffic coming your way, so any additional sites you submit to is a bonus.

Once you have submitted your videos, use social bookmarking to bookmark your blog posts and the videos themselves, and invite friends to share your links, in order to benefit from viral views.

And – congratulations, you’re now a video marketer!

What video marketing done correctly should do is bridge the gap between a complete stranger watching your video on the web, and someone who may want to do business with you – right now!

Video marketing shows your customers some very important non-verbal clues that will give them a ‘feeling’ about you and your company, but sometimes you need some advice from an experienced video marketer.

Barbara Griffin from is a video marketer, internet marketer and audio visual multimedia content creator and marketing video production consultant and specialist, and general manager of http://videomarketingnow.com

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