Have you already tried your hand at making a video to promote your business?
By David Scott
If you’re a DIY marketer for a small business then you’ve probably heard all the stats before; how 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video (compared to 10% when reading it in text), and how nearly 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store.
And if you’ve heard the stats, then you’ve probably already tried your hand at making a video to promote your business, more than likely utilising a full-suite video production team. The results were terrific, but now you know you need to scale your video efforts, and quickly.
But how?
1. Use The Right Tool For The Job
Not every video you make to market your brand or product needs the full Hollywood treatment. According to technology consultant Burton Kelso, the trend of live streaming videos has seen the demand for polished videos that were the norm of four years ago decrease. “With the many inexpensive cameras that are available on the market with high quality, you don’t need the services of a production company. It’s almost expected that your videos are raw and spontaneous.”
It’s clear that for day-to-day brand building in small business, there are other ways to create a professional-looking video that can save you time and money. One option could be using an online video maker, that has become an increasingly popular alternative in recent years. Placeit, Biteable and Animoto are just three of the web-based tools you could try, each with a huge range of editable templates and options to help make your final video shine. With just a few clicks you can add your own clips, customise and output something that catches the eye of customers old and new.
Finally, if you want to be freed from your desk, you could even consider one of the many mobile apps that put the power of a video editing suite right in the palm of your hand.
2. Pay attention to visual trends
You’ve got yourself a new video creation tool and you’re ready to test it out…now what? For Mike Sheety, the Director of Canadian t-shirt company ThatShirt.com, one of the most important things he considers when making a marketing video is how to make it eye-catching. “Something that looks pretty is going to draw individuals in. The more visually appealing it is, the easier it is going to be for your target audience to make it to the end of the video.”
Luckily, there is no shortage of resources that can help inspire your visual creativity! Take a look at Shutterstock’s 2019 creative trends report or Envato’s recent 2019 Video Marketing Guide for some examples of this year’s hottest visual styles, or take a deeper dive into Pantone’s colour of the year to see why everything is tinged with a touch of coral.
Stock video sites are another good place to go looking for quality, on-trend content; take a look through the catalogues on free sites like Mixkit, Pixabay or Pexels as a starting point. The best thing? These royalty-free catalogues also offer you a chance to download and insert beautiful looking stock footage into your project with just a few clicks, taking your videos from good to great in minutes.
3. Be a master composer
Giselle Romo, the Video Content Reviewer for Placeit, has some top tips for marketers pulling together a slideshow video on the fly. “If you’re using effects on your video, go for a similar style throughout the entire video,” she says. “For example, if you choose geometric shapes, stick to that throughout, don’t change the style of the effects.”
“Also keep your slideshow video unified by choosing a color palette and applying it across all the slides. Your palettes should be between three to four colors, and you can get inspiration and HEX codes for these from sites like Schemecolor and Colorhunt.”
NYC-based advertising agency Website Store uses slideshow-style videos to demonstrate their behind-the-scenes work for their clients. Owner Alexander T says the key is to remember how all the creative elements fit together. “It’s essential to keep in mind that the colour, story, fonts, and tone stay on brand at all times. It is also crucial to consider the medium in which they are outputted to, as videos for social are far different than for television.”
What are you waiting for?
There will always be a place for full-service video editors and production companies, but as a small business marketer trying to grow your online presence in 2019, there exist a number of free or low-cost tools and resources that can help your business look good on film, and all just a few clicks away.
David Scott is currently the PR & Communications Manager for Envato, the company behind one of the worlds largest communities for digital creatives. A former journalist, David has more than a decade of experience working with large organizations, small companies and freelancers to help tell their stories to the world. @envato; @foreverandadave
Video marketing stock photo by one photo/Shutterstock
