Before you start creating marketing videos to grow your business, you want to make sure you avoid common mistakes that will certainly hurt your results. I’ve overseen the creation, optimization, and publication of thousands of web videos for business owners and entrepreneurs in professional services.
Here are the top 7 mistakes I commonly see:
1. Talking to strangers
The #1 biggest mistake business owners make is publishing videos so people “magically” find them online. It’s rare a stranger will discover you online and then contact you to do business or buy your expensive product. Rather, it’s better you communicate with your #1 business asset first – your customer or prospect database. They will buy from you again and refer you. Write a list of questions commonly asked by your best customers and answer them with a short 1-2 minute video. Put the video on your website and promote it with an email and social media update to your customer list. Matt Cutts at Google does a great job staying in touch with his webmaster community by answering commonly asked questions on video. He’s a great example to model.
2. Selfish intent
Give and you shall receive. Your business videos must be 100% educational forsuccess. In other words, you must help,not sell in your videos. This will position you as the expert and trusted authority in your niche. Customers in your database want to know you’re looking out for them and you care. Sure, you can include a call to action link in yourvideo or share the steps to get involved with your product or service, but keep it minimal. If you’re looking to increase sales as fast as possible, you’re publishing videos for the wrong reasons. Rather, you’re publishing videos to help people, and if you do it well over time, you’ll strengthen the relationship with your audience which will lead to more business for you.
3. Poor description
You must communicate the value of watching your videos with strong copywriting. Too many videos have a weak headline and a poor, if any, video description. Ideally, you want a specific title followed by a one or two paragraph video summary. Include a link to your website so people can learn more about you. You can go so far as to include an entire transcription of your video in the description. If you skip the copywriting, fewer people will press “play” on your video since they don’t know what to expect.
4. Using a script
It’s very easy to forget what to say when you’re in front of a video camera. Your natural response will be to write down everything you want to say and read it into the camera. This is a bad idea. You’ll come across as inauthentic and the viewer will feel like you’re reading or “presenting” to them. You have to be trained to read a teleprompter correctly. Rather, answer a customer question just as you would at point of sale or on the phone.Your videos can start easily like this: “Hi, this is Bob with ABC Service and I was asked by a customer last week ‘How can I get the best results?’ so I wanted to share that answer with you today….’” Your answer should come naturally as you speak from your heart.
5. Inconsistency
The best marketing plan any business owner can implement is a consistent “touch” campaign to communicate with their database. People who know you are more likely to watch your videos and take action than strangers. You must be consistent if you commit to a video publication schedule, especially if you’re sending them to your database. Don’t send them a video – wait 3 months – and send another video. The ideal communication frequency is two educational Q&A videos a month to your database. You can publish as frequently as weekly, or even daily in some niches, but you must stay consistent with at least 2 items of value to your database a month. That’s the bare minimum necessary to stay top of mind with your audience.
6. Poor sound
The video quality from a typical webcam or smart phone today is incredible. However, sound quality is more important than video quality. If your audio is strong, but your video quality is poor – people will still watch your video, but not the other way around. If you’re going to use the on-board camera microphone, make sure you speak strongly and close to the camera. The farther away you are from the camera, the lower your sound quality. If you can, make sure to use an external microphone such as a lavaliere microphone for your smart phone or a USB condenser microphone for your computer to get the bestsound.
7. Unprepared
Finally, the last big mistake people make is just not being prepared to make a video worth watching. As you grow your business, you ultimately control the message of your company. Marketing is your biggest leverage point. Don’t discount it. Don’t wing your video in the middle of the workday in-between appointments either. “Touching” your database with your logo or simple reminders you’re still in business does not work anymore when attention is so precious. Rather, you must truly help the people you’re communicating with. I challenge you to make your videos so good people would pay money to receive them. Think through what you’re going to say before you shoot your videos. It’s also a good idea to record your videos in a relaxed and calm state of mind – not in the middle of a busy workday.
About the Writer - Frank Klesitz
Frank Klesitz is the CEO and FOUNDER of Vyral Marketing, a digital marketing and social media company based in Omaha, NE. Vyral Marketing assists professionals in the Real Estate, Financial, Medical, and other industries to produce effective marketing videos to spotlight their businesses and services. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Frank resides in San Diego, CA.
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