Do you have a phone?
Does your phone have a camera?
Do you own a business?
If you answered yes to the three questions above, then you can be vlogging in 2018.
What is vlogging?
It’s pretty simple. It’s blogging in video format.
Why vlog?
Because it is one of the best ways to increase your authenticity as a brand, boost your SEO and make your business stand out from your competitors.
Studies show that more and more people are using videos to get the information they need. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google. So by making videos about your business, you increase the chances of people finding you online.
What kind of videos should you be making?
There is a range of topics you could cover. From livestreaming conferences to customer testimonials to interviews with industry experts or to just “a typical day” in our office.
The good news is you don’t need to take filmmaking classes and be the next Steven Spielberg to be effective at vlogging.
In fact, sometimes less is more.
During this digital revolution…what customers are really looking for, is authenticity.
What’s more authentic? Hiring a video production company for a few thousand dollars to make a film about you with professional lighting, a rehearsed script, and fancy special effects that shows your business in the best possible light.
Or you grab your phone, hit the record button, talk about your business, and just be yourself.
Videos are a form of content marketing and I do support a video to tell your story but on a tight budget, vlogging is more authentic, cost-effective and adds value to the customer experience.
So how do you get started vlogging?
The social entrepreneur and content marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk has a good formula to get you to started vlogging. He says:
Don’t create. Document.
What he means is you shouldn’t focus on creating content that makes your business look perfect. As soon as you start doing that, you become less authentic. Instead what you should do is document your business.
That means taking the camera, hitting record and filming real life interactions with customers. Unscripted. It means filming a day in the office with your workers. Unscripted. It means giving out everything you know about your business and expertise for free. Unscripted.
You can’t get more authentic than this. And if the information you provide is valuable, people will begin watching your videos and subscribing to your channel, and hopefully turn into paying customers.
See our top 5 list of topics, to get you started with your vlog and video marketing.
- Old Blog Posts
If you have been running a blog for a while, a great way to start vlogging is to simply repurpose old content from your blog in video format.
- Customer Testimonials
Get a real customer that you have served and ask them to appear on a video and talk about their experience with your business. Your audience will appreciate seeing an actual customer offer his feedback.
Shout out to CarePlus Home Health, who did just that on their website!
- Guest Interviews
Interview experts in your industry. This is especially helpful for B2B marketing. The person being interviewed will be happy to be introduced to your audience and you will benefit from being exposed to their audience.
- A day in the office
Get your camera out and film how things are done at the office. Your viewers will appreciate the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes in your business.
- Q&A
Do a question and answer session each week where you reply to questions that your followers ask you on social media, YouTube or email. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you are paying attention to them and their needs.
Is YouTube the only place to vlog?
Absolutely not. You don’t need to use YouTube for your vlogging. There are several other platforms, including Instagram Stories, Facebook Live and Snapchat.
Remember each medium has its own style. Snapchat is tailored toward sending out short 5-10 second videos, while Facebook Live is better for livestreaming events that could be several hours long.
Whatever platform you do end up picking, remember to focus on building one platform really well, before moving on to tackle others. You don’t want to be all over the place, especially if you are just starting. Pick one, stick to it, then move on to others.
At the end of the day, be yourself and have fun!
