(Using The Power Of Video - Even If You're Camera Shy)
What do Tony Robbins, Susie Orman and Donald Trump all have in common? They understand the power of video to transform themselves from entrepreneurs into celebrities. Video is one of the most effective ways to develop your personal brand, establish your expertise, and build trust among your target audience. Video resonates with audiences long after they watch it. According to the Online Publishers
Association, 80% of people can recall a video ad that they have seen in the past thirty days. What's more interesting is that 46% of those who watched a video took action as a result.
Despite its effectiveness as a branding platform, video has in the past been out of the reach of most entrepreneurs and business professionals. That is no longer the case thanks to the evolution of online video. The falling price of high-quality HD cameras and the introduction of easy to use and free video sharing platforms like YouTube mean that these days anyone can start to leverage the power of video. As you will see below, video is the perfect medium if you want to brand yourself as the pre-eminent expert for your industry in your local area. Read on to learn exactly how to use video to become a local celebrity.
Why Video For Local Branding
The Star Factor
Think of all of the people that are involved in creating a film. There are editors, producers, riggers, sound technicians and many more. And yet it is the actors that are almost solely hero-worshipped by the general public? Why, because it is their face that we see in front of the camera. There is something special about being shown on camera. If you start using video marketing, you may find that your prospective clients are a little "star struck" if they have been following your videos for some time. It's an effect which can make commanding premium prices for your services much easier.
Position Yourself As An Expert
When you create video you will be able to impart short and easy to consume advice which can help your prospective client to move towards solving their problems. This enables you to become a trusted advisor which will make converting those viewers into paying clients much easier.
Build Trust
Video is a great trust builder because it allows people to put a face to your name. Video gives your prospective customers a sense of what you look like and your personal style. Compare this with your competitors, which they may know little or nothing about, beyond the name of their business.
Easy To Consume
Video content is generally fairly short and thus easy to consume. While people might not want to spend twenty minutes reading your latest blog post they will usually be happy to watch a short two minute video.
Less Competitive
Many, if not all of your competitors, in your local market may already have a website. But how many are consistently using video? The answer is likely not many. This lack of competition in your local market can make it much easier to rank in the search engine results.
Best Practices For Video Production
Prepare But Don't Script
When creating video you want to have a clear idea of what you are going to say but it's usually best to avoid reading from a script. When you read from a script your delivery can come across as artificial and stilted. Remember that you can always perform multiple retakes and edit the footage later to deliver a more professional looking video.
Dress Professionally
Think carefully about how you want to be portrayed on camera. Dress professionally and this extends to what appears in the background by you as well. Also, avoid wearing stripes and other close patterns on your clothes which can cause blurring on video.
Focus on Solving Problems
One of the most effective types of videos is creating content around helping your prospect solve the problems that they are facing or providing guidance. For example, if you were an accountant you might provide advice on issues such as small business payroll tax or sales tax.
If you are a personal fitness coach then you may give diet and exercise advice in your video. If you feel nervous on camera, imagine that you imparting this advice to a close acquaintance. Visualize that you are providing them with the best quality information that you can.
Optimizing Your Video For Local Search
When uploading your video you want to make sure that is as easy as possible to find. Luckily, optimizing for local search is relatively easy. Think about the "keywords" that you want to target with your video. These keywords are the search terms people would use when they are either trying to solve a problem. One way to determine whether people are searching for help with a particular problem is to use the free
"Google Keyword Planner Tool"
Once you understand what keywords you want your video to rank for, make sure to include the keywords in the title of the video several times through-out the description and in the tags. It is also a good idea to use what is known as LSI keywords. These are variations on the main keyword that you are trying to rank for. So for example, if you primary keyword was "how to lose weight" you might also use the LSI keyword phrase "how to slim down". Finally, because you are trying to rank your video for your local area, try to include the name of your locality in the title, descriptions and tags.
Video Syndication
Uploading your video to YouTube should be your first step when promoting your videos. According to a recent study published on SEO Moz, 91.957% of all video snippets in Google come from YouTube. So if you want to maximize your chance of entering the Google search engine results, then you need to be on YouTube.
That said, if your goal is to achieve the widest possible reach, it also makes sense to syndicate your video across other video platforms. This enables you to maximize your brand exposure. It is estimated that the average prospect requires seven contact points with a brand before they will be willing to make a purchasing decision.
By having your video hosted across multiple platforms, you can help ensure that you are getting more of those contact points. Some of the best tools for syndicating your video include:
* Tube Mogul
* Traffic Geyser
* Video Wildfire
* Hey! Spread
Remember, that the success of your video marketing strategy requires that you are consistent. If you put out high quality video content on a weekly, or even monthly basis, you will find that you soon start to build an audience of engaged and repetitive viewers.
This can in turn help to give your videos more authority in the eyes of Google which make it easier to rank them.
Don't underestimate the power of video for building your brand in your local market. For many entrepreneurs video can be the ultimate game changer.
Your expert in home service based businesses.
Tommy Mello is a successful entrepreneur, inventor, writer and speaker. He is CEO of four self- started business including a nationally recognized garage door service company. As a leading authority on branding and market recognition, Tommy aims to help other service businesses reach their full potential.
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