Tips: Do it Yourself Videos are OK, but Get Help if You Aren’t a Pro

 

Anyone who is a frequent visitor here knows, I’m an advocate of using online press releases and videos. So, a press release from PR Newswire offering video tips caught my eye. I’m in agreement. That’s what I recommend to clients, and business-news videos are a big attraction for this portal.

Videos, as a marketing tool, are great because they enable prospects to actually see your business from their computers. You can be seen as hospitable. Videos can help your prospects feel like guests.

PR Newswire offers reminders if you do it yourself with a simple camera – their tips include:

• Quick and simple product demos – nothing too complex requiring zooming in and out or different camera angles.
• Short interviews at events, or on-the-spot customer testimonials
• Offering a timely “sneak peek” at a daily special or a behind the scenes view

But here’s the catch: Such casual videos are often fine for a YouTube presentation. But appearances are important. That’s why I use pros for my client commercials, YouTube and for Web site presentations.

Here are PR Newswire’s suggestions on how to use videos:

• If you have a physical location, show the video on a loop for customers to see
• Incorporate the video into business pitches
• Embed videos in e-mail communications
• Post the video to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and any other social media presences you’ve established. If your friends, fans and followers like it, they’ll share it with their friends, fans and followers, multiplying your audience exponentially
• Show it to your mom. She’ll love it!

Videos are terrific to show your products or services. But PR News wire and I are in agreement. In this digital age, businesspeople and consumers are accustomed to high definition and good production techniques.

So call a video pro to do it right – planning is key – here are the questions to ask of a video-production house:

• What about the script?
• Conducting interviews?
• The location or a studio?
• Are props needed?
• What about securing permits, which includes the talents’ OK to use their images? (Note: a minor needs to have signed authorization from the legal guardian or parent.)
• Editing and posting?
• How and where should the video be positioned?
• Counsel on what to say and how to say it?
• How much is my investment?

Here’s the PR Newswire press release: http://blog.prnewswire.com/2011/04/20/a-picture-sells-a-thousand-insert-your-product-or-service-here/

From the Coach’s Corner, here are more marketing tips:

How to Win Your Major Marketing Campaign

Need a Game-changer? Try a Good Video for More Credibility

Startup Toolkit – How to Make a Hit on the Internet

Hospitality: Making your guests feel like they’re at home, even if you wish they were.

For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Need a Game-changer? Try a Good Video for More Credibility

 

In economic development, Tim Leiweke has quite a large profile in Los Angeles. As chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), Mr. Leiweke has helped build a mega sports-event empire, which has triggered an economic resurgence in downtown Los Angeles.

AEG is known for helping to develop the Staples Center, the L.A. Live Complex and other projects. But that’s just part of the story. AEG owns the most of the nation’s sports teams, and is a major force in concert promotion and venue operations. Owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz, AEG has 50 divisions worldwide and 24,000 employees – led by Mr. Leiweke.

In an article, “Downtown’s Quarterback,” the Los Angeles Business Journal outlined the reasons why the publication chose Mr. Leiweke as its 2011 business person of year. He received the award at a function on March 22.

So accolades being given to Mr. Leiweke were certainly warranted. The Business Journal chose to introduce Mr. Lieweke to the event’s attendees via an elaborate.

Not a surprise, either. Americans want more than a snapshot. They love videos in the theatre, at home or on the computer. ComScore reported in its Feb. 2011 survey that more than 169 million people watched video on the Internet some five billion times.

It was also not a surprise the video was produced by an award-winning Los Angeles firm, Focus Creative. Focus Creative designs and delivers an impressive potpourri of media communications. (To see the Tim Leiweke tribute video, visit www.focuscreative.com.)

“When honoring someone, a well designed video will share more about the individual than simply a speaker,” says Focus Creative President and Executive Producer Robert Grossman. “Video is a wonderful story tool.”  

An obvious question – how does it work?

“During the interviewing process, we can ask questions in response to what the interviewee shared very similar to a reporter,” Mr. Grossman explains. “By adding photos and b-roll, the video takes on a much deeper texture and hopefully helps the audience to like this person even more.”

Here’s a tip for event planners:

“A well done video will also increase the value of the event and thereby increase the amount of sponsorship dollars,” he says.

“There are so many ways to leverage video,” offers Mr. Grossman. “Today you can post your video on a website, video sharing sites, share it via social media.  You can use it to draw attendance to future events.” 

What are mistakes to avoid in videos? 

“The number one mistake is doing it yourself if you are not a pro,” he asserts. “The cost of equipment has dropped, but just because you have paint and paintbrushes, it does not make you an artist.”

He says video is an art form that deserves respect.

“From creating the story, the interview process and also post production, every person from the camera operator to lighting design and post production is an artist and should be an expert at their trade,” says Mr. Grossman. “There really are not any shortcuts, everything is critical when creating a video.”

Agreed.

Whether you’re an event planner or if you’re planning to make your business more relevant and credible, consider the approach by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Good videos should be part of marketing mix.

(Disclosure: I’m proud to say Mr. Grossman is a friend of mine; the results of his award-winning work speak for themselves.)

From the Coach’s Corner, I interviewed Mr. Grossman on one other occasion – it was a very popular topic: Planning an Event? Here are 25 Emergency Preparedness Tips.

E-Mail Marketers Plan to Greatly Increase Use of Videos, New Study

 

March 2, 2010

You can expect to see a lot more videos in your e-mail. Marketers plan a major expansion in their use of videos in e-mails, according to a report in Website Magazine. The magazine quotes a study by Getresponse.com.

The Getresponse suvey indicates 80 percent of respondents will insert videos in 2010. In 2009, only 15.7 percent used videos.

Sixty-five percent of e-mail marketers feel that such videos are effective. Sixty-four percent of such marketers now using videos say videos result in more sales.

Common uses of videos: Customer testimonials, product demos, product offers, and training courses.

You can see the report at GetResponse.

From the Coach’s Corner, I don’t believe the study by Gertresponse is too self-serving. It’s getting more and more challenging to reach consumers. Note this column: Of Interest to Web Publishers, Videos Continue Surge in Popularity.

For an overview of how to overcome consumer overload, see: Marketing Strategies to Cut Through the Clutter.