Here’s how you can create more videos for your brand

Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

Over the years, I have had the honour of creating brand videos for businesses ranging from entrepreneurs to big brands. Sometimes, I will be hired to solve the problems created by other production companies. In short, my clients hire other creative agencies who hire production companies who will then create video content for my client but the videos are not getting much engagement or traction. I concluded that without proper planning, creating content just for the sake of putting it out there might not only create more problems for you, but it will also lead to a sudden depletion of your marketing budget, preventing you from growing your business.

Today, I am going to share with you some of the problems and solutions I have experienced over the years. I hope it helps you create better video content that resonates with your customers.

Here are some of the topics I will be covering.

- Think bigger; don’t stop at one
- Create content from a customer’s point of view
- Reaching out, which platforms are you going to use
- Quality or Quantity

Think bigger and create content that connects.

The first mistake I noticed that most clients make is putting a full stop after creating one video content. What I mean is that they will hire me and my team to shoot a brand video without considering the bigger picture—what to do next. If you are a new or somewhat semi-famous brand, you will need to think about the bigger picture instead of just focusing on creating one powerful brand video that represents your brand.

I would like to give you an example.

If you are publishing it on Instagram, your video might be pushed down after a short time. This will also depend on the hashtags you use. If you use famous hashtags and everyone within that hashtag is pushing out content constantly, your powerful video will disappear in the blink of an eye. Therefore, you will need to know how to multiply your content and push it out consistently.

If you are publishing it on your website, it will depend mainly on how your website ranks and how well-versed you are with SEO. Having a strong brand video on your website that explains to your potential clients what your product or service is all about is important. Sometimes, we rather watch a video than read what is on the website. On the other hand, if the video is not getting much attention or engagement, it defeats the purpose of having a brand video. Therefore, publishing more content on your website is also important to help with ranking and SEO.

Now, how do we do that?

The key to creating more content that fully represents your brand is to work on creating a series instead.
Instead of thinking about making one brand video, dissect your ideas and create a series of videos that align with your brand's values.
The process of creating a series of videos will allow you to think of the bigger picture and generate ideas from different perspectives or points of view.

Imagine this scenario.
Today, I run a Yoga studio. I want to hire a production team to create a brand story video. This video will contain scenes of me sharing my stories, the outlook of the studio and my members practising yoga, etc.
At the same time, I want to create a series of short reels too. How do I do that?
Did you notice the difference?
Creating the main brand video is simple. There is a default template for doing that.
Now that your brand video shows the important parts of your service, how do you create more content?
You create ideas from new points of view or perspectives.

A customer’s point of view

The easiest way to start is to create content around a customer’s perspective. This method is very effective as it addresses your customers' doubts when they see your product or service. I like to create a series of videos based on the FAQS (Frequently asked questions) that customers will ask. But what if I have none? Simple, you create your own. I would write out a list of questions I would ask myself as a customer. As a business owner, you are the best person to know why your customers are not signing up for your services or buying your products. Start a series of videos that address these concerns.

- Why is your service so expensive?
- Can I have a free trial lesson?
- Where are your products made from?
- Why is the other company cheaper?

This is where it gets interesting. How you speak or explain in the videos will determine the characteristics of your brand, which might result in building a community of like-minded supporters or a gang of haters. My solution to this is simple. I try to be authentic and use my personal stories and experiences to support the questions. I am never a fan of hard selling or talking highly about myself.

- Why are your bags so expensive?
We handcraft them ourselves using only the best materials from Spain. (nope)

Our bags are all handmade. We prefer to do that because it makes us feel proud of our work whenever a customer buys them. In addition, it allows us to pay attention to the little details and ensure that the bags we put out are flawless. After spending years travelling around to source materials, we concluded that Spain provides the highest-quality materials, which is essential to our brand’s identity. We only make what our customers deserve.

Haha, as cheesy as it sounds, I am just throwing ideas around. But you get the drift.

Creating videos to answer questions like these will effectively build a strong customer connection. However, if you are afraid to speak in front of the camera, there are a few ways to do that. The most important takeaway from this exercise is to create content that matters in all forms—written posts, photos, videos, animations, etc.

- short written blog posts
- animated videos
- narrative/faceless videos
- photo blogs

Once you have identified the frequently asked questions, consider the customer’s perspective. What will your customer want to see?

- Educational content, knowledge sharing
- Behind-the-scenes
- Customer’s testimonials
- Get to know the team
- Collaborations

If you want to create more content that will resonate with your customers, think like a customer.
If you want to create more content that will resonate with your distributors, think like a distributor.
If you want to create more content that will resonate with collaborators, think like a collaborator.

Where do you want to publish your content?

If you are just starting out, try not to tackle all the social media platforms. I feel that there is no one-size-fits-all method for doing this. What will work on Instagram might not work on TikTok, and what might work on X might not work on Instagram, etc. Spend a few days or weeks testing which platform works for you and focus on that first.

Once you have figured out where to publish your content, you must equip yourself with the basics. This can be the format of the video or photo or even the camera you will use.

I would like to give you an example.

To me, Instagram is filled with high-quality content. Photographers and filmmakers are mostly using Instagram to showcase their work. In turn, high-quality videos and photos might subconsciously influence Instagram scrollers. This might be bad news if you are filming your videos poorly—bad lighting, audio, and quality. However, this is subjective. It still boils down to how engaging your content is. I am not an expert in this field but I urge you to spend some time researching the platforms that will serve you best.

Budget and Consistency

Let’s talk about consistency. In today’s world, content is king. Having a massive library of content is essential for growing your page so to speak. But, how do you do that?

If you have a marketing budget every month and can afford to hire a videographer, go for it. But if you do not have a marketing budget to hire a videographer, do it yourself. At this point, you will need to weigh your advantages and disadvantages.

If I hire a videographer to create content for me, I can spend my time working on more pressing matters like growing and reaching out. I will not waste time on silly things like video editing or setting up my tripod but it will cost a fee. If I do it myself, I will have to learn more about video editing and how to operate a video camera or the video functions on my phone. I will also need to purchase some equipment.

The goal here is to create content consistently with ease. What I mean is… please do not spend a full day trying to shoot a video. Ideally, we want to create 3 to 5 videos daily to focus on the more important parts of the business. In short, we want to stock up on content for rainy days.

My solution to this is…

At least pick up a skill or two that will help you create content independently. I understand it can be quite heavy on the pockets if you are just starting.

Thanks for reading!