Businesses don’t always have the time to produce the content they should, we know this, but are you aware of the advantages of digital marketing? Today, we walk you through the art of ‘vlogging’.
A ‘vlog’, an abbreviation of ‘video blog’, is often hard to find on company websites, as business owners choose not to take the time to get these brilliant marketing tools correct.
Vlog (noun): a blog in which the postings are primarily in video form (Oxford Dictionaries)
So we have the definition, but how do we use them, why should we use them and what is their purpose? Why put what you want to say in a video rather than a text-based blog?
Vlogging, interestingly, is potentially easier to do than writing and significantly less time consuming. For instance, it is suggested that blogging should be done like this:
'Start with the baseline of one (blog) post per week. After two to four weeks, add one more post per week if you can handle it and continue for the same period' (Social Media Today).
For most businesses that sounds absolutely terrifying, we know, and we aren't sure if that is possible for the majority of small/mid-size businesses. We recommend aiming for three blog posts a week, and if you have time, building up to five blogs per week - would creating and editing a video which says all you want to say really take much longer?
How long does it take to brainstorm, research and draft, redraft, edit and finalise a single blog post? Compare that with the length of time it takes to turn a camera on, sit in front of it and simple say all those things you wanted to scribble. Editing and uploading really doesn't take that much time afterwards - in fact, as long as you're a confident speaker, you'll probably say a lot more than you would have writing.
As humans we have a tendency to shorten things to make it easier for ourselves, when writing, we might not expand when we should, just because we hate the monotony of typing. Hello there, vlogging!
So now we know what it is, how can you get ahead of vlogging?
1. You're not Martin Scorsese but...
Don't make it the dullest thing ever, no matter what your skills are like, it isn't hard to ensure your vlog is professional. It's a business blog, so your audience will never expect a fancy edit, but crisp sound, clear photography and strong lighting is a must. An audience won't watch if the subject's voice is muffled, or they have to change the screen brightness just watch in comfort.
2. Mix it up...
We don't mean a very questionable DJ remix, we mean let's change the way you're shooting film! This doesn't entail hanging from the rafters to get an unusual angle 'just so it's different', but it means making your vlog 'visually interesting'. You rarely see anything on TV done in one shot, it's more about different angles, viewpoints and keeping your attention. Even if it's only cutting away between two angles, it's better than one 'to camera' angle.
3. Comedy and sound never hurt anyone...
So don't automatically avoid it! A lot of business vloggers would automatically believe they should be straight-faced and, well, boring. This is wrong! You should never shy away from comedy, no one expects you to morph into Jim Carrey, but you can add a little personality. Another thing, which is less likely to be found on amateur business vlogs, is good sound editing! We mean add some music, spice up the quiet bits of your video so it isn't like watching paint dry - no, you're not James Cameron and it doesn't have to equal the impact of Celine Dion in Titanic, but you do have to create an interesting vlog!
4. Who are you making it for?
Your audience comes first, above everything, so remember to pretend you are one of them. Is it interesting? Are you dying to tweet, or check your lives on Candy Crush Saga? If yes, then maybe it's not going as well as planned. Be a person, not a brand in a suit - add humour, add music, change the lighting, sound, shot angles and photography. Make sure they can relate to you and enjoy watching your vlog - if you are on edge, you will channel your discomfort through to them.
5. KISS
That is, 'keep it simple, silly!', similar to our reminders that you aren't James Cameron or Martin Scorcese, you should remember that your audience doesn't have particularly high expectations. Their hopes from your vlog are going to be 'let's get through this without getting bored to death' and, no doubt, 'let's learn something'. So let's aim to meet these, if you can also manage to do the above four points, you've significantly exceeded these hopes and you should have a recurring visitor.
What should you vlog about?
Of course, before all the planning, producing and editing a vlog comes into play, you need to know what you're vlogging about. What topics are relevant to you, your company and your industry? Or even, which generic vlogs are good places to start practicing?
Three vlogging categories to start with are:
- Company updates: These are essentially, subtly promoting your good business and all that's going right with it. That can involve being in the press, company expansion or taking on new staff and/or apprentices.
- Industry and world news: What's going on in the world or your sector? Talk about it with your company's slant on such developments. Is there anything to be aware of internationally that your company is affected by, or that your company could end up being involved in?
- Instruction vlogs: What is your sector involved in and how can you guide your audience? Think 'How to...', 'Top 5...' 'Ways to...' and develop them to suit your purpose and audience.
The most important consideration to remember when creating your content, is to keep them interested, it's irrelevant how you do it, as long as you do do it.
Great apps and technological equipment to have (or think about having) are:
Why should you make at least one vlog?
Vlogging, when compared to blogging, is mainly beneficial because it is a human voice and human face, not just words on a screen. Other benefits include:
- Less time-consuming: It might seem unlikely, but all the preparation in blogging is a lot less time-effective. Instead, you can have a relatively unrehearsed, unscripted conversation on camera for two minutes and get a lot more said, a lot more done and all in a lot less time.
- Better for SMO: Although blogs are fantastic resources and full of brilliant info (we like to think, at least), it's possible that video is that little bit ahead of the game when it comes to Social Media Optimisation. You can't include keywords in video as it won't make a difference, but if they're more interesting to watch, they realistically should be more shareable - they can reach larger audiences. If you feel you're missing out by not having an SEO strategy (even though your SMO is improved by the shareability of video), why not create an accompanying blog and insert the vlog into that? If you have the time and motivation, combining the two techniques is the best possible method of success.
- Personable experience: You can say more, do more, be more, with a vlog. It's not about grammatical technicalities or ensuring you've put an apostrophe in the right place. Slipping up on video isn't a big worry, unlike in writing, you're live, and real, and that is much more hard-hitting with an audience of any kind. However, by combining the blog and vlog you can target two different categories of audience - the visual and auditory visitors. Use your blog to get to those who prefer to quickly scan, with limited time, and create a vlog component for those who want to watch rather than read.
