photo by Dan Grody
Marshall Thompson (pictured), the founder of www.prvideo.tv is a veteran video producer, director, writer and still photographer with a worldwide clientele. He specializes in healthcare/biotech, energy, environment, business and education.
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Every day more than two billion video views take place on the Web; over 35 hours of video uploaded each minute. Is your business video one of them? If you answered “no,” you are not alone. Many businesses do a pretty good job with a website, and maybe even have a Facebook page. But many, including most small-to-medium businesses are still not using video to promote themselves.
Remember the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words?” That saying goes for video, too.
The business world is undergoing epic changes in the way it reaches customers. Social media now helps reach customers through blogs, Facebook, twitter and more, and each of those sites has a placeholder to upload your video. The younger the customer, the higher the expectation that some cool video will engage them to buy your product, eat at your restaurant or purchase and drive your car.
So make a promise to yourself right now to make at least one professional video this year that you can link to in your email signature, post on your business Facebook page, send to your twitter followers, tell LinkedIn friends about and post to the Holy Grail – www.YouTube.com.
Here are six video quick tips to get you going:
- Identify your audience and then focus every part of the video on serving their needs. Decide whether you need an on-camera spokesman or just text to tell your story.
- Will you grab your Web audience in just 30 seconds or is your story so complicated that you will need three minutes? Length is critical: long enough to cover the subject, short enough not to bore.
- A technical approach that works on social media platforms might not work on broadcast television so decide the format – smart phone or flip camera vs. professional high definition? Whatever format you choose should reflect a professional image and not just be “wobble” cam.
- Ensure quality audio: If the audience cannot make out what you are saying or if the music drowns out the narrative, you have just lost a customer.
- How will the video be distributed? Do you have in-house resources to get it placed or will you need to hire a PR agency to get the message out?
- What’s your budget? Prices can range from $1,000 to $100,000 and more. By starting with a budget in mind, a video company can help you develop the right spot so that expectations are met.
Below are some samples of my work at PRvideo.tv. For more information, visit http://prvideo.tv.
-Marshall Thompson, PRvideo.tv
