Put yourself in the frame
The idea of ’15 minutes of fame’ has never been so misleading, argues director of Lasco PR and Marketing Nathan Bushell.
Have you noticed an increase in the number of videos your suppliers, competitors and customers are releasing? They’re everywhere, right? Especially if you like to connect with people on LinkedIn.
And, they can be incredibly engaging. Get the tone right, and a video can get your message across succinctly to you customers, and with a personality that is hard to recreate in a written social media post.
We know they are popular because we are producing more video content for our clients than ever before, and the results have been startling.
Our filming service began life as a natural add-on to our content gathering procedure. Afterall, we spend a great deal of our time interviewing people – why not capture that on video, and share the content via YouTube, company websites, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, trade media etc?
Since then, we’ve become experts in creating short, engaging and informative videos that help drive new customers back to our clients’ websites.
If you spend time on LinkedIn, I can almost guarantee that you will have seen our video content, and the stats suggest you sat and watched it, even if it was with the sound turned down.
Not standalone
Despite the investment we’ve made in cameras, microphones, drones, lights, gimbals, software, and training, we don’t view ourselves as videographers. I would even hesitate to say that we had a film department.
The reason is simple: we are a full-service agency, and full service means being able to offer the right solution at the right time.
There was a time when ‘full service’ meant designing ads and writing press releases. Today, you’ve got to be able to offer so much more. With so many marketing channels open to you, you must be flexible and agile, which includes using video at the right time.
Just last night I was out filming someone as part of an award entry. That will help support the written element, and I’ll go on to create content for social media. I will also use what was said to form the basis of a case study for the trade press, using photos I took at the time to illustrate it.
I find a good camera and good microphone is just as important as a pen these days – in fact I think I use them more.
But, the video element isn’t a standalone feature.
If all you are after is a nicely filmed interview, with some shots of your factory or warehouse, then I think you’ve missed the point.
If you engage the services of a video company, what are you actually getting? Probably enough for a couple of posts on social media, and a spot on your website which will slowly go out of date.
If you don’t use video content as part of a wider strategy, then I think you are wasting your money.
For the most part, we film our clients and their customers as part of our integrated marketing strategy – we build it into the cost – so that messaging is co-ordinated across all channels.
If you want to move with the times – like we have – use video as a vital marketing asset, and not as a flash-in-the-pan experiment. Like all marketing, video needs to be part of a wider strategy that will help tell stories, engage your customers, and ultimately benefit your bottom line.
