For many GenXer’s embarking on their journey of entrepreneurship, there are many obstacles that feel intimidating. For example, fast-changing technology might be one area they feel insecure about.
Another could be the confidence they lack in putting themselves out there. The younger generation has grown up immersed in social networks and apps, and have no reluctance being on screen, talking about whatever comes to mind.
But if you’re a GenXer who wants to not only compete for, but connect with your audience, you’ll want to get over these hesitations and fears and master things like video marketing, which captures more of your personality and allows your target audience to build a bond with you as a leading expert in an easier manner.
Video Marketing As A Powerful Branding Tool
For some people, video as a media format is something that is done by other. The technical tasks involved in recording and editing videos, not to mention publishing it and putting themselves on camera are enough to make any newbie niche marketer freeze up.
Unfortunately, those that are able to utilize video as a marketing tool get to enjoy an accelerated method of connecting with and catering to their target audience. It’s not hard to master video marketing – but when it’s an unknown strategy, it can be intimidating.
Most marketers have self-doubt around doing video marketing. They have concerns about their appearance, the sound of their voice or worry that their lack of confidence as a niche expert will shine through on screen.
You can learn how to minimize these fears and tap into the traffic that video marketing can provide with some easy steps that will have you taking action and leveling up with your video content.
Video marketing is going to give you the opportunity to reach your audience in a different way. Some people only learn from videos. Others enjoy breaking up the monotony of text with an occasional video.
You get to use these in a variety of areas within your marketing activities. They can be embedded on your blog posts, your About page, your opt-in page, in a sales letter or even created as the main product you sell to your customers!
If you’re worried that you’ll have to create an in-house studio just because you saw some marketing guru bragging about his green screen and lighting set up, please don’t. All it takes is a smart phone or other recording device.
Once you start using video, you’ll notice that your audience begins feeling more comfortable with you. They’re getting to know you better – your voice, your smile – and the connection will help you increase your subscriber list and ultimately, your profits.
Everyone always frets so much about trying to rank in Google. But did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine, being owned by Google? So by having a YouTube channel, you’re adding one more way you can beat the competition when it comes to attracting the attention of your target audience.
And even on Google itself, when someone searches for a topic, you may notice one or two videos are in the search results pages. That could be your video ranking easier than a text-based blog post could!
Another powerful component of video marketing is the viral ability it gives your content. People in the same niche can embed your video with the branding onto their blog and social media profiles.
Screen Capture Video Method
One method of using video that isn’t as intimidating is to practice screen capture recordings in the beginning. There are two different ways you can do this. Screen capturing is when your video is recording what’s on your computer screen.
Many GenX Marketers like this option because it still allows them to use video where their audience can hear their voice, but it doesn’t force them to put their face on screen if they’re not comfortable with that.
The first method of screen capture recordings is to use slide show presentations. These give you a very professional appearance for your recording and you can brand and style it to whatever best suits you and your audience.
Your slide show can be as short or as long as you want it in terms of the number of slides. Just make sure you pause long enough for the viewer to read it and don’t rush through it too quickly.
Many people have PowerPoint on their computer that they can use for this purpose. But there are also other options that are free, including Canva. They have a lot of built-in free slideshow presentations that you can customize with your text and images as well as your own brand colors.
Another way you can use screen capture recordings is to just have your video recording your computer screen without a slide presentation. This is perfect if you’re teaching someone something online, such as how to set up a blog, for example.
To capture your screen, you can use a tool like Screencast-o-Matic, Camtasia or CamStudio. Using these tools, you’ll be able to choose the size of the screen recording, blur out or highlight things on the screen, manipulate the audio if needed during editing, and more.
Video Marketing for Affiliate and Vendor Promotions
Video marketing is a great tool for your affiliate marketing efforts. People considering the purchase of something like to see a video clip of it being discussed and possibly used before spending money on it. This type of video is referred to as an affiliate review.
This is true for both digital and tangible products. You’ll want to use video to discuss your experience, feelings or thoughts about the product. If it’s a tangible item, you can hold it in your hand, show off features and talk about it with specific detail.
You might even be able to compare it against another similar product to show the difference between the two. These types of affiliate reviews do very well and can bring in more traffic than a mere text-based review on your blog.
Many customers head straight to YouTube to see if there’s a video on a product before buying it. They prefer not to read a blog, so YouTube is the search engine of choice, helping you beat out the competition who is still too intimidated by video to utilize it.
Make sure if you’re using videos as public reviews or other material, that you maximize its potential to be found by using descriptions and keywords that relate to the topic on the recording.
As a vendor, you can use video to create your products that you sell to your customers. In addition to using a video sales letter, you can have multiple video modules inside a members’ area for your buyers to access.
You can even host live events for paying customers if you want, such as a video webinar they pay for access to where you teach something or answer questions from them like a group coaching scenario.
Make sure you create a tight recording that doesn’t waste the viewers’ time if you’re going to put out an edited version. You want to splice it together so that any chunks of dead air or other wasteful moments are removed.
Once you’re finished creating your videos, you can publish them to Vimeo or YouTube and make them private or public. You can even host them on your own server if you’d like.
Some marketers like to use video for their products, but instead of only catering to fans of video material, they also provide other media formats – like an audio only file or text-based transcripts.
Even if you embed the video on your blog, you can add the transcript along with it so that everyone who lands there to absorb the information finds exactly what they need and prefer.
Additional Ways to Weave Videos Into Your Business
Affiliate reviews and product creation aren’t the only two ways you can use videos for your marketing efforts online. One thing you may want to do is turn the tables and get your audience involved in video.
Video testimonials are very effective – much more so than simple short quotes with a static picture that many marketers use to showcase customer approval of their products. If you can ask your customers to create a video testimonial, you can embed that right on the sales page so others can see and hear the glowing reviews.
You may also want to interview others in your industry about their niche expertise on camera, using a split screen effect. Don’t view them as competition that needs to be avoided, but rather as fellow entrepreneurs who you can work with to expand each other’s branding and exposure to the audience.
Another thing you can do is create somewhat of a news channel for your niche. The videos posted on this channel should be ripe with new stories and trending information so that as soon as something breaks, your video is first to grab the attention for it.
You can also create video replies to other expert niche marketers. Whether you agree with them, disagree or just have more to add, whenever you see someone else’s video that evokes a response in you, it’s a good idea to post a video reply.
This helps you leverage the original video creator’s traffic. The only thing you don’t want to do is become a troublemaker where all you ever do is create videos slamming another expert or trying to constantly poke holes in their theories and ideas.
If you don’t exactly know what to make a video about, consider buying video PLR (private label rights). Video PLR is just like text-based PLR where it’s created for you to use with your name on it.
You have the right to edit it, use your audio over theirs, and more. Usually, video PLR sellers will provide you with a transcript of the recording. That way, you can record your voice to their video and save it as something you created.
Or, you can simply use it as is. Some marketers want to use video but not create it. If this describes you, then you might want to just have an intro and outro created by a freelancer to add to the beginning and end of the video PLR piece and use it to help brand your business and generate traffic.
15 Tips for Mastering Video Marketing
There are many ways to make the most of your video marketing efforts. By implementing a few simple tips, you can create polished video presentations that your audience really enjoys.
Tip #1 – Don’t Be Fearful
If you’re worried about online trolls making rude comments directed at you, chances are, you’ll never give video marketing a try. Just about everyone who exists online has had to deal with these immature jerks. You just have to ignore them, block them and carry on.
You’re there to engage your audience, not bow down when confronted with trolls. You can always go to extreme measures like closing comments or managing and approving the comments if necessary.
Remember, all you have to do is put your best foot forward. When appearing on camera, be sure to check your appearance before clicking record. Keep in mind this isn’t a beauty contest.
Tip #2 – Keep Your Audience Focused
Sometimes, it’s hard for your viewers to concentrate because there’s so much else going on in your video. Even if it’s something static, like a big mess behind you, it can cause viewers to focus on the wrong thing.
Make sure everyone in your home knows when you’re recording so they can be quiet. You don’t want kids yelling and playing in the background. Also, make sure the lighting is good because a dark and dingy recording is another distraction you don’t want detracting from your message.
Tip #3 – Be Consistent
If video marketing intimidates you, then you’ll feel better the more you do it. It becomes easier. But if you only do it once every six months, you’ll never get past your fear. You also won’t be able to improve on the things that need it.
Tip #4 – Emulate Successful Video Marketers
If you want to master video marketing, go see what others are doing. Which channel has the kind of presentation and engagement that you’d like to see? Don’t ever copy anyone, but figure out what it is about the video channel that you enjoy.
It might be the time of the videos, the way they quickly deliver valuable (bite-sized) information you can implement, or the pleasant personality that makes you smile every time they publish a new video.
Tip #5 – Variety Is The Spice of Life
Switching things up is a smart idea when it comes to video marketing. You might have a specific place, like a home office, which works well. But you also may want to record from a niche event like a fitness expo or a marketing event.
You can record outdoors, too. You might go to the local Botanic Gardens in your area and record there. A soothing and relaxing spot can help people enjoy your video more than a background of a blank wall.
Tip #6 – Be Prepared
The frustration level that arises when viewers have to sit and wait as the presenter fixes something, tries to remember something or writes out everything on a whiteboard is infuriating.
You want to have everything ready to go before you hit record. Your viewers’ time is precious. If you’re interviewing someone, get to the point and don’t go offtrack with random discussions that aren’t relevant to the topic of the video they tuned in to see.
Tip #7 – Let Your Personality Shine
You don’t have to be a comedian or night show host to come across as someone with a nice personality. Try to use inflection in your voice and don’t stay monotone. Try not to read your presentation.
Have some notes to keep you on track and jog your memory about what comes next, but do it in a way that they can’t tell. It’s okay to use hand gestures and laugh and keep things lighthearted as you record.
Tip #8 – Make Improvements As You Progress
No one begins video marketing perfectly right off the bat. You want to level up with your equipment over time. If your channel grows immensely, then you might consider getting a green screen and lighting or a better camera and microphone.
Teach yourself about certain strategies that make videos better – whether it’s the lighting or the technical publishing process. It could be something as simple as learning how to highlight your mouse if you’re doing a screen capture recording.
Tip #9 – Video Length Is Important
Is it ever okay to record for an hour or more? Of course. But some research has shown that the sweet spot for videos is between 3-5 minutes long. So if you have an hour’s worth of content to get through, you might consider breaking it up into bite-sized pieces.
It all depends on the topic and type of video you’re recording. If it’s a webinar live event, then you’re not going to stop every 5 minutes. You’ll record for the duration of the event. But if it’s just a tip you’re sharing, consider keeping it in a shorter time frame and maybe sending the viewer to your blog for more in depth information.
Tip #10 – Pay Attention to Comments.
Your audience will be giving you feedback on your video marketing efforts. They might mention things they loved about your video or things that annoyed them. Instead of arguing about it, thank them and remember those tips for your future recordings.
It might be something like not sipping your coffee while recording or not recording when your dog is constantly barking in the background. Some things that you may not be affected by could cause a distraction for your viewers.
Tip #11 – Try Out Various Video Styles
You never know what presentation style will resonate best with your audience. It might be you sitting at a desk or doing an over-the-shoulder video recording. It might be you standing in a room at a whiteboard giving an enthusiastic tutorial.
Try some various strategies and see what your viewers respond best to. They might like you more toned down and going slower – or hyped up and motivating them with your excitement.
Tip #12 – Break Up Long Content Into a Video Series
If you have an idea for it, try breaking up a longer video into a series. With an on-going series, they will be waiting to see what’s in your next release. This helps you get subscribers to your channel because they don’t want to miss what’s coming up.
Tip #13 – Outsource to Lighten Your Work Load
If you’d love to make videos, but you’re not good at making presentation slides, outsource it! There are people very skilled at these designs. You can also outsource the audio if you give someone a script so they can narrate it for you.
Tip #14 – Relax and Have Fun
Some people are far too stiff during their presentations. They read off of a script or memories notes and it shows. You want to be casual and conversational, able to convey information as if chatting with a friend.
Tip #15 – Keep Your Eye On The Camera
Most people who try to make videos on camera make one huge mistake. They look at themselves on the screen. When you do this, it appears to the viewer as if you’re looking off to the side of them.
Even though you’re not seeing them in person, it’s important to make eye contact with the viewer. This helps them bond with you and it feels as if you’re making the video message for them.
Practice covering the lens with your finger so you know exactly where to look when recording. If you need a reminder, get a permanent marker and make a dot by the lens you should be looking at. Becoming a video marketer can feel awkward at first. But if you stick with it, you will quickly find your footing and a loyal fanbase who likes what you do and how you do it. Don’t worry about wedding out those who prefer learning from others – everyone has preferences, and it’s not a personal dig against you.