Would video help your business?
Guest blog on the power of video from Iain McBride.
This is my take on video as a way of getting publicity with videos on the web and Youtube, but first I'd like to add my brief thoughts to the social media debate.
I started as a hack in the days when we all used manual typewriters and, in moments of high stress, these were not only used to bash out copy but physically thrown across the room. Twitter was what the birds did and social media was a meeting of reporters in the pub.
I must admit I've not personally embraced Twitter and Facebook but they are great tools for journalists. Most tragedies now mean a quick search of Facebook for the victim's picture and nine times out of ten it's there in the public domain. I'm happy to argue the morality of it with anyone, but since a judge ruled that once people had chosen to publish these on the internet on an open forum anyone could use them it's been a free for all.
Similarly Twitter is a great way of finding out what some organisations are doing - and in some cases careless Twittering leads to negative headlines. So keep tweeting and facebooking - we love it.
One of my roles now is as a freelance video producer, and one trend that has become apparent in recent months is the growth in demand for Youtube and web videos to draw attention to a product, service or business. Web video boosts a site's rankings on Google and also has numerous spin offs. It can be produced in days once it's been commissioned, and it can also be placed on Youtube for nothing.
I'm obviously biased about their value but one recent example shows, I think, how they can add value. A Kent racehorse trainer recently invented a very simple product and we were asked to produce a video about it for their website, but also with a view to it being used at exhibitions and to show potential sellers at home and abroad what the product does. You can see the video here at http://www.equinedesigns.co.uk/
One of the directors told me it's succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. At their first exhibition, at the NEC in Birmingham, people were drawn to their stand because the video explaining the product was showing on a screen and their sales team didn't have to explain what it was all about. Since then they've used it to win distributors in the United States, China and Australia.
If you're thinking of having one then a few words of advice:
- Think pictures - it's got to look interesting. People just talking to the camera are a lazy and fairly pointless exercise. There are always ways of illustrating things and that's where your producer earns part of his fee.
- Think endorsements - nothing is better than a good soundbite from someone who's used your product, business or service.
- Think who's talking on behalf of you - without being cruel some people are best kept away from the camera. Not necessarily because of how they look but because of how they sound or their obvious lack of dynamism. The good news is that a bit of coaching before they're filmed can iron out most problems. Again this is where a good producer stands out from the crowd.
- Think what you want to achieve - what's the aim of the video? Who do you want to interest or convince? If it's very different audiences, for example one with technical knowledge and one without, consider doing two versions.
One word of caution - there are many people out there doing videos and, a bit like wedding photographers, if you want it done on the cheap you can find someone to do it. But beware the £250 web video will look exactly like that - cheap, and is that the image you want to portray?
Iain McBride has worked in newspapers and radio, and was with ITV for 23 years. He was Head of Media for Kent Police for two years and now produces corporate videos and runs media training and press release writing workshops. His website is www.iainmcbride.co.uk
