When starting a new business everyone tells you that you need a 'business plan'. Having one helps to identify your brand's mission and it can even help you receive financing. But in our modern times, is there a better way to educate and inform others about what your company is all about?
There's something about putting pen to paper or fingers to keys that helps you boil down what you are all about. In just a few short sentences you need to explain your brand's philosophy, who it serves, and how it solves their problem. Having this plan is also the first step to writing your company's new video outline! If creating an online video about your new company isn't high on your long list of to-do's as you establish yourself in your industry or town, it really needs to be.
According to a survey conducted in 2019, 80% of people research a company online before visiting it or making a purchase and yet only 64% of small businesses even had a website! That's a lot of missed revenue opportunity! Now let's hope since you are reading this....you at least have a website or are planning to create one. Now, let's consider what is on your website. Hopefully something about who you are, where you are, a logo, some product shots, photos of your location? That's all a great start. But just having a site isn't enough. There's things you need to do to help your company get more traction online. By now you've heard the term SEO, it stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the algorithm that is utilized by search engines like Google to rank a website to determine where it pops up in those search results. Google puts a priority on web content that has more value. Sites with a lot of descriptions, photos and videos rank as having the highest value. Video embedded on a site being worth the most. Go ahead and Google the things that people might search for when looking for what your company does. What comes up? You'll notice YouTube videos come up first. Do the results also reveal your competitors? Go to their sites and see what's on them. They likely have video on their home page. Look for them on social media as well. Are they actively posting new photos and videos?
So, if you don't have high quality video content on your site or a big social media presence yet, don't sweat it....Rome wasn't built in a day either.
Now, larger brands will employ a social media manager, website authors, a marketing team or even an agency to handle all of this for them. I'm sure that's not even on your mind or in your budget right now. The good news is you don't need all of that right now. But what you do need to do is get some QUALITY video on your site and establish a regular presence on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube). It sounds exhausting I know, the thought of creating content in addition to running your business can be daunting, but remember...while it takes effort to get a train to move, once it's rolling it doesn't take much to keep it going. This is just something you have to do now. Your site with a great video embedded is your digital "sign-post" on the super-information highway. If you want potential customers to see what you offer, they need to know you are there.
Hiring a video professional to create that marque video that best establishes your business and brand is where you need to begin. THIS is the video that resides on your website's home page. THIS is your "business plan" video. THIS is the video you send out to customers or anyone that asks you what you do. A well produced video is an equalizer that can elevate the perception of a local company to the same level (or higher) as a big national brand. Great lighting, quality camera shots, good directing, slick editing, and graphics can make all the difference. Once you have that established Brand Story Video, you can start shooting some of your own video content with your smart phone to include on your site and social posts. Even big companies do that. Professional videos AND your own amateur videos are actually part of a larger marketing strategy. But whatever you do....DON'T SHOOT YOUR OWN BRAND STORY VIDEO. Remember, it's THAT video that establishes you as the pro and as the expert. This is often your potential client's first impression and the last thing you want them to think is that you are cheap and unprofessional with a video with bad sound, lighting, and shaky shots.
How much should you spend on video/photo marketing?
Experts estimate that your marketing budget should be a percentage of your revenue. B2B (business-to-business) companies should spend between 2 and 5% of their revenue on marketing and for B2C (business-to-customer) companies, between 5 and 10%. This is because B2C companies typically need to invest in more marketing channels to reach multiple customer segments. It's often suggested that a good way of narrowing your target budget is to research what’s common for your industry and what your competitors are spending.
So now you are convinced right? You need to have a new video made for your website, and maybe you want some other ideas for future content too. What now? The first step is to identify your goals for video and set reasonable expectations. Nobody is going to create a "viral" video on purpose. Also think about who you are trying to reach and how your video can explain how you can solve their problem. At Lunarvue Media we often start with a questionnaire in our client discovery process.
Take a look at it here: Client Project Scope Form
Feel free to download it, fill it out, and email it back to me at: ben@lunarvue.com
I'm always happy to answer any questions you might have about video production or high quality commercial photography. No strings attached. I don't even mind giving you some tips to help you get started on your own videos if that's where you are at now. Being a part of telling your brand's story is a great honor and we believe in helping everyone leverage the power of video. Think about what you want your brand to mean to your customers, do some research on best marketing practices, and dig into how video is being used by other companies like yours. Write it all down, create a plan, consider your marketing budget, and remember....having a vision for your company and sharing that with the world is just part of growing a business today.
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