How do I get started with video marketing?

The short version:

Identify your ideal customer.
Identify the problems that your ideal customer needs solved.
Come up with a dozen topics you can speak on for thirty to ninety seconds where you either solve a problem or present some information that the viewer will find valuable.
Practice your presentations until you get good at them.
Schedule your recording session. (click here to schedule a free phone consultation)

That's really all there is to it. Your objective is to inform and educate, not sell. Each video topic should be in an area where you have expertise, so you shouldn't have difficulty either coming up with topics or with the actual content.

In the three-part video series below, Career Coach Berri Wells explains to her target audience the two types of objectives they should keep in mind when networking to find a new job.

Short, helpful videos released on a consistent schedule allow you to present yourself to your target audience on a regular basis. Over time, this both establishes you as an expert and builds rapport with potential clients. When they see enough of your videos, they feel like they know you and when they contact you, you don't have to do any ice-breaking. You've educated your customer and they're reaching out to you because they're ready to talk about something that you offer. This is how you sell without selling.

I cannot over-emphasize the importance of keeping it short. People are not going to watch a long video and three minutes is a long video. When you're watching television, if a commercial comes on with a timer that shows it's a three-minute commercial, would you sit there and watch it? That's how Internet video works. People can see how long the video is before it begins and the farther you go past 60 seconds, the less likely people are to even start the video. Keep it short.

Tips for Developing a Comprehensive Video Marketing Strategy

Who is your target audience?

Identify your ideal customer and speak to their problems BEFORE presenting solutions. No one is interested in buying what you sell. People are interested in solving the problem they have. Plan your videos around addressing their problems.

What questions do your clients commonly have?

Answer those questions in short, single-topic videos. Use the Twitter model to create videos that tell people exactly what they want to know, succinctly. If your website is the place to go for fast answers from an expert, what will that do for your lead funnel?

What is the big picture of what you want to educate your target audience on?

Start there and work backwards. Go from the big, overall picture to the high-level topics that will each get their own video series. Within each video series, break the topics down to individual videos of 90 seconds or less. 60 seconds or less is even better. Always keep in mind that this is about delivering content that your target audience will view as helpful and beneficial. You're an educator, not a salesperson.

Develop a quarterly marketing plan

Now that you have your topics, your series, and your individual videos mapped out, you have to determine the schedule and the sequence for delivering your videos. Creating a quarterly curriculum is a simple way to do this. On what topics do you want to educate your target audience this quarter and what does that look like on a weekly basis? What videos are you going to release this month? What videos are you going to release this week?

Clone yourself

Another strategy for leveraging video is to use it to clone yourself. Do you find yourself answering the same questions over and over every week? Create a set of videos that address those frequently-asked questions and make yourself available to answer them 24/7. You regain time during the day and people have more access to your expertise than they otherwise would.

Educate the market

What would people buy from you if they were aware of how it would benefit them? Use real-world scenarios to allow people to conclude for themselves that they may need to reach out to you for more information about something you presented.

Video testimonials

Instead of a block of text, provide video testimonials from your clients. Aside from an in-person recommendation, a video testimonial is the strongest form of social proof you can get.

Summary

Your video marketing strategy is based on you creating short videos on topics in which you are an expert. Use video to share your expertise and provide people with the information they need to make informed decisions about how they can solve specific problems they have. People ready to buy will contact you for more info.

As with any marketing, video marketing is about consistency. One or two videos will not establish you as an expert. And one or two videos will not keep you at the top of mind when someone needs a solution to a problem. You have to stay in front of people to position yourself to get the call when they decide to make a purchase. Another way to think about it is to look at McDonald's or Coca Cola. Where on the planet do people not know about McDonald's and Coca Cola? But you see them each advertising ALL the time. They do it because it's necessary. If McDonald's and Coca Cola have to market themselves consistently, what do you think you should be doing?