So you recently checked out the competition and saw that they have a video and that gets you thinking that your business should have a video too.  If this makes you want to run out with your iPhone and start shooting testimonials, company culture videos, or product videos and posting them on YouTube, maybe put down your phone, take a breath, and think strategically.

We know you want to keep up with the competition, but making video just so you can say you have video isn’t the answer.   As a Chicago video marketing company, let us give you a little guidance in this arena, because it can be complicated.   In fact, we had to break this topic down over a 3 part series.

First off, you really want to identify your video goals.  (Hint: video goals support marketing goals.)   Do you want to create video as part of an email campaign to improve open rates?  Do you want to use video to educate your customers?  To generate leads?  There are lots of valid video goals, but you need to decide what goal you want to meet that will fit your business needs.  Will this video support marketing?  Customer Service?  Sales?  Once you’ve figured that out you can focus on your content and tone.  

NOW you’re ready to start creating your video content…or are you?  

We know you really want to shoot some videos on your phone, and there is a time for that (but not yet).  If you are working towards a serious business goal, then you really should hire video professionals to help craft and produce content.  Let a video marketing company do what they do best, while you focus on what you do best.

Any video marketing company would suggest you start with a script. It’s how we start making videos, too.  We know that you think you can wing it, after all, you’re the expert of your own business.  However based on our years of experience, winging it never meets expectations in the end.  Get a script.  Write one yourself or have professionals do it for you.  Authenticity is key here because it’s so highly valued by your audience – just make sure you practice your lines first!

You don’t have to hire professional actors.  This could be your chance to be a star!

Finally, let your video marketing company recommend an appropriate video hosting service to post the finished content and let it do it’s work. (Hint: It’s not YouTube.)   A video hosting service made for business will gather important data that will help your team figure out if you are achieving your video goals.  Your video marketing company will use this data to give you insights into the performance of your current videos and to drive future strategy.

P.S. If YouTube came to mind when discussing video hosting, we have a whole other post about that topic.  See below.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK: Part 2 of “Are you marketing with video all wrong?”:  Cat videos and the risk they pose to your company’s videos.