CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Video Content Strategy Tips from Ben Amos
- The quickest route to victory includes a combination of video content strategy and tactics
- Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to get people into your funnel
- Keep your branding consistent across all of the various formats you are using, including your videos
- You might as well not do the video if you do not know what you want your audience to do, think, or feel.
- Video is becoming a reality transfer mechanism.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SHARE THIS EPISODE: – CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
Learn the right video content strategy and tactics to help you accomplish your business goals
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Doug Morneau: Well, welcome back listeners to the episode of Real Marketing Real Fast. Today we’re going to talk about a topic that has a lot of interest in, that a lot of questions about, and I know very little about. So luckily we’ve got a guest with us who is an expert in this space. So Ben has over 15 years experience in the film and media industry and he’s also the founder and creative director of Innovate Media. It’s a video production company and does online video content strategy through his agency and he’s operating from Queensland, Australia.
Ben has also founded Australia’s only purpose-built video blogging studio space and facility, Vlog Pod. And he’s passionate about working with clients to help them develop an effective online video strategy within their niche. And is driven to help other business owners and marketers understand the full potential of online video platforms in a wider business marketing strategy.
I met with Ben online through a group that we’re involved in called, Youpreneur. And apparently we attended the same event in the UK and we didn’t bump into each other so welcome to the show today.
Ben Amos: Hey Doug, thanks for having me. Yes, it’s a shame we didn’t bump into each in London back in November, but glad to connect here online and on your podcast.
Doug Morneau: So you’re covering a topic that has a lot of interest and everybody’s saying that content should be, or is or moving all to video. So why don’t you just share with us A little bit of your background and what you’re doing and what services you’re offering your clients?
Ben Amos: Sure. Yeah. Look, I’ve been in video production in various roles for over 15 years, as you said there when you read my bio. So basically, filming, editing, creating content. I started the business, my own business eight years ago and originally we were producing wedding films. It’s a big market here in our local area. And it was a way that I could use my technical and creative ability to stories. Stories of wedding days, but very quickly, as I started my own small family, we realized that I didn’t want to be out there shooting weddings every Friday and Saturday and Sunday night and I wanted a bit more of a life.
So I transitioned into producing video content for businesses likely. At this stage, YouTube was barely a thing. It wasn’t much of a thing for the business and business video, but it was a platform in which businesses were able to start to consider putting video content that I created for the purpose of their communications in the online space and on websites. So we’re kind of testing the grounds in a way because the content that I was creating for these businesses, they paid good money for it. They loved what we were doing. It communicated the message that they wanted to. And They were happy but when they stuck it up on YouTube, chances are, I would check back six months later, and kind of how many views they’ve. And in many cases, the results were less than impressive. Maybe 30-40 views on a video that cost them maybe $5,000 and in no one’s book that’s a good return on investment.
So for me, that kind of, I realized it’s something needed to change. As a content producer, I needed to provide more to clients. I needed to help them understand better how to use the content in the videos that were being created the way with creating for them and use it in the right way, on the right platforms online in order to get the right results for their business. So that kind of, I guess, was the inception of my journey in upscaling myself in becoming quite knowledgeable in online video strategies. So it’s the strategy that needs to inform the content that’s created rather than just making a video for the sake of making a video.
And that’s kind of everything that I do today. It’s all based on video strategy both in my agency here in Australia and also in my brand Engage Video Marketing, where I’m helping educate other people around the world, around using videos strategically.
Doug Morneau: Now, you mentioned, when you started talking about that you were worked on strategy and often I see people that will go to marketing events or go online and they’ll say, “Oh, I should do video.” And I think a video as a tactic without much thought to strategy. So the comment is, “Hey, I got to put video up.” And so the question is, well what do you mean put video up? When you’re talking about strategy, what are you kind of recommending for people who are saying, “Hey, how does this work and where would I start?”
Ben Amos: Yeah. I think the word strategy, particularly in the business context can be often seen as a bit of a buzzword or one of those kinds of c-suite marketing words that don’t really have any grounds in real business practice. But there’s a really good quote by an ancient Chinese general, Sun Tzu. So he wrote a book, this ancient military general in ancient China called, The Art of War. And the quote in that, which is kind of the foundation for everything that we do is, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
Obviously, Sun Tzu is talking about military tactics but when you break that down the idea of if you create a strategy, but you don’t actually have any tactics or you don’t implement the tools that you’re strategizing with, then it’s just a slow route to victory, you’re not going to get anywhere. But the critical thing is that tactics without a strategy is just noise, and that really resonates with me when it comes to the online and digital space. Because so many businesses are approaching video or any of that digital marketing really, in a tactical way without any real consideration to strategy.
In other words, they’re just applying different approaches to things. Like using different mediums of communication so they’re going, “Oh well, everyone’s talking about live video, I need to start doing live video. I need to be creating long-form video sales letters on my page or I need to be using Instagram video.” Or whatever it might. They’re thinking tactically but without a clear strategy that’s going to actually define what tactics they should be using. Does that make sense?
Doug Morneau: Yeah. That makes sense. And I’m assuming when you’re talking about that. This would be no different than creating any other form of content, where you’re going to have a Content Calendar and you’re going, “Okay. This is what we’re going to produce and this is when we’re going to produce it.” I mean that’s how we post a social media and blogs and the other media. So it kind of makes sense you do the same thing, with video being as just another form of content.
Ben Amos: Yeah. But I’ll go one step further than a Content Calendar. I mean a Content Calendar is a publication schedule or a plan as to when you’re going to do things, but if you’re going one step further and saying, “Well, what content is on that Content Calendar? And is that the right sort of content for what we want to achieve in our business?”
The way that I approach it is kind of looking at, rather than looking at video or any digital marketing tactic for the sake of the medium itself. So video for video sake, what you need to be doing is thinking what do we want to achieve in the business. Do we need greater awareness of our brand? More people hear about us online. Do we need to connect better with our audiences? So we’re building stronger relationships with the people that are hearing about us or do we actually feel that what we really need to do is actually improve conversion rates on our sales page because a lot of people are coming to that page but we’re not actually converting enough.
So when you kind of identify what the goal is for your business, it’s going to move the needle for you. Then aligning the content that you create with that goal, that’s where strategy starts to really make sense.
Doug Morneau: Do you have a specific example that you could share with us? I mean you don’t need to share your client name if that’s not cool. But an example of how you use it to start engagement or build a relationship or generate leads for a business.
Ben Amos: Yes. So basically the way that we approach strategy for our clients and the way that I educate people on how to approach strategy when it comes to video is thinking about the customer journey. So this idea of a funnel I guess, which your audience being marketers would understand. That idea of starting at the top of the funnel, which is wider, which is brand awareness, where you want people to be hearing about your brand and building positive emotional connections with your brand first. That’s kind of the first goal of video in the marketing strategy.
So when we talk about reaching people who have never heard about your brand or business or you before, then you need to be reaching them first on an emotional level. So from a video sense, what we want to do is to use storytelling. So we talked about creating videos that we call brand stories or client stories. Because storytelling is an intrinsically emotional form of communication and people buy with emotion and they justify that decision with logical thought. So if you can’t reach people who have never heard about you before with the right sort of emotional messaging first, so by telling them a story that resonates with your brand and resonates with the person you’re trying to talk to or your audience, then that’s the best way to get them to buy in well before you ask them to buy. Does that make sense?
Doug Morneau: Yeah. Absolutely. I mean I’ve heard it said that you need to date before you get married. So it’s kind of ridiculous to send out an offer with a hard request saying, “Hey, you’ve never heard of me before, but pull out your credit card and buy this.”
Ben Amos: And you see it all the time despite that you know, people understand that in a human relationships sense, that you do need to date before you ask for the proposal for marriage. But it’s the same thing with any digital marketing and particularly, video as well. I see people focused on video for the purpose of sales, or actually making that conversion, getting someone to buy something. But if you think about it, you first need to be reaching people who are a cold audience, who potentially have never heard about you before. And all they care about is what’s in for me? They’re just focused on their own needs, desires and wants for life.
So that’s where storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to get people into your funnel in the first place. And then as you move further down the funnel, then you need to be thinking about, okay, well, now people want educational information. They want to fill informed. They want to believe that you know what you’re talking about and that they like you and trust you. So just like dating you go on additional dates and they find out more about you. And it’s the same thing with video in a marketing strategy, now we need to be thinking about and not telling stories as such, but providing valuable, helpful content or information. So video blogs or how-to videos or educational videos on a consistent, regular basis. Particularly through social media because that’s in that kind of the center of the funnel I guess using marketing terms, that’s where people want to be understanding who you are and what you stand for and what value you can provide to them to help them realize their goals.
And then as you get down to the, I guess the pointy end of the funnel and what way would cause as the third goal for the video in your marketing strategy is really all about sales and conversions. Now you need to sell to them because if you’re not selling at the end of the day, then you’re not going to have a business. So it’s well and good to tell great stories and provide good, valuable education through your videos, but if you’re not actually selling then you don’t have a business.
So at this pointy end, now you need to be providing rational information. So this is where you can pitch, where you can provide walkthroughs of your product or specific details about what services you provide and how a customer can buy from you. But if you try to rip someone who is cold effectively, who have never heard about you before with this video, then they’re just going to be turned off and run the other way.
Doug Morneau: Absolutely. And you’re going to spend a ton of money driving traffic to and bouncing traffic and you’re going to wonder why you’re not getting the ROI in the traffic you’re sending.
Ben Amos: Yeah. Absolutely.
Doug Morneau: One of the guys I really like in marketing that’s a kind of close to where we live. A little bit south in the U.S. is Frank Kern. And we got a chance to hang out with him over a weekend one day. And his strategy is that once you get people on the sales funnel, he’ll send a video and if you don’t click and watch the video, he won’t make the offer. So he figures if he’s going to send something that’s educational based on you opting in, and if you don’t have enough initiative to watch the video that’ll explain how to solve the problem that you signed up for, he’s not going to pitch you the offer.
Ben Amos: Yeah. So he’s not wasting his time. He’s qualifying through his approach. So he’s being very strategic about how he’s doing things. I’ve actually experienced Frank’s sales funnel myself and noted that. It is quite unique actually because not a lot of people do that and it’s a simple tactic.
Doug Morneau: Well, I don’t know what it is, I think it says, that we … Like you said, we understand with our head that we need to build this relationship. And then as soon as we start spending money, it’s like, “I got to get a sale.” But you know someone’s going to go to my landing page and pull out a credit card right away, but if we had this conversation like we’re having now, we’re going, “No, you need to qualify people or the right people you know, do you have an offer that makes sense to them before you say they buy my stuff.”
Ben Amos: Yeah. And there are certain cases when the same approach, the same kind of funnel mentality can be implied to create a sale quicker. So for example, if you’ve got someone who, they maybe have never heard of your brand before but they’re ready to buy so they’re qualified themselves in a way then a video on, for example, a landing page or a sales page for a course. In fact, the copy on the page as well, so the written copy should follow the same approach of connecting first emotionally, provide valuable information that positions you as an expert and the right person to trust in this transaction, and then make the sale. You don’t go for the sale at the top of the page or in the opening line of that sales video. So it’s the same thing but in this case, it’s just on hyper speed, I guess.
Doug Morneau: Our first big win using video was, we were writing long-form copy in the investment field and so you know I’m talking about 14-15 pages worth of content. And so we would be running ads, renting third-party email list, driving massive amounts of traffic to his landing page and obviously, we had enough conversion over the years that our clients were happy to keep doing that. So we said, “Why don’t we test some video.” When all we really did was, we just had a professional voice actor read a script and we just took the copy that we had produced, the 16-page copy condensed that highlights down to a 5-minute video. And the conversion numbers were just astronomical. It was just crazy.
And we still have the long-form copy but we had the video. So the people who didn’t want to read 16 pages of copy, could listen to a video. It was basically the highlights of the same content. The time on site went way up and conversions went way up as well.
Ben Amos: Yeah. I mean it’s a no-brainer, anyone who’s engaging with content online understands that video is one of the easiest ways to consume content. And now that’s backed up by the fact that all of the major players, platforms, social media platforms are getting behind the video. They’re making video their major play. So it kind of can’t be ignored in the marketing strategy anymore. And I think, I’m sure your listeners understand that.
Doug Morneau: So where’s the very first place to get started? Because you’d mentioned a number of things, you mentioned doing Facebook live, which is one style so it’s not likely heavily produced. Hopefully, somebody’s got a decent camera and good lighting or using Instagram or using Snapchat and then you moved to services. I’m assuming that are more in line with what you do, which you’re actually scripting and producing and editing so it’s a little bit more polished.
Ben Amos: Yeah. So the first place to start always is getting that strategy right first. So not only understanding what videos to make that align with where a customer is at any time in the customer journey based on what we talked about before but understanding the strategy really always needs to start with understanding your audience. And when you’ve got your audience, then from there, and you understand your audience and what drives and motivates and what connects with them and will lead them to buy your product. Then you understand that customer journey that we talked about. So you can start to map out what type of content.
Now, when I’m talking about content here, I’m talking about what information do you want to share. Don’t worry yet about what format that video is going to take. Whether it be a live video, or animated explainer video, or something more produced or whatever. Don’t worry about the format yet, let’s worry about what do you want to communicate first. Because when you can kind of map out what do you want to communicate or what do you want to share with people, then you can start to think about then, “Okay, well, where does my audience want to consume that type of content?” So depending on what type of content it is.
For example, if it’s a more of a how-to. So how to actually do something that you’re an expert in, that you can give people a small win when you share it via video. Then you realize that “Okay well, this type of how-to works really well for YouTube because it’s a bit more of an in-depth kind of a piece of information.” So it’s going to need to be you know, 5-10 minute video, which is too long for Facebook or Instagram. So YouTube then becomes the right platform for that. So then you go, “Okay. Well, based on a how-to video, it’s going to be a combination me talking to the camera and then screen capture because it’s a web software how-to.” This is just an example.
So now I’ve got a plan for how to put it together and you can decide whether or not that’s something you’re capable of producing yourself, or you use some professional or a videographer to help you put that together. But for that one piece of content that you want to communicate now you understand what the format’s going to take, what platform you’re going to use, and then from there, you start to think about how can I optimize that in order to reach the right audience. So when we talk about optimization of content it’s about utilizing whatever tools you have on the platform you’re using, let’s take YouTube as an example, and doing things to that video in order to get the most people to actually see that video. The most of the right people to actually see and engage with that video.
It’s kind of like exactly like what you do with websites and search engine optimization but you do it on the video platform in the right way for that particular platform. So optimization after that, then you need to understand, okay, well, now that I’ve got this content, it’s optimized and people are viewing it. It’s on the right platform, what am I going to measure in order to give me some feedback on this? Is it just views or do I care more about retention rate? So how long people have actually watched this video for? Or do I care more that people have actually just shared it with their friends and families so it’s got a good viral rate? Then you kind of understand, based on the content, based on the distribution channel that you’re using, you can start to figure out what measure of success am I going to judge here.
And all of those things vary based on individual pieces of communication that you’re trying to get out there. So that’s where the strategy starts to come out. If you can map this out and go with this particular video, this particular message make sense to be on this particular platform and I’m going to produce it in this particular way and these are the stats or the metrics that I’m going to measure to figure out whether or not it was successful or not. And then you go back to the beginning again and you start again with a new piece of content. So that’s kind of really where you need to start. First of all with the audience. That was a roundabout way of maybe answering your question there, Doug.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SHARE THIS EPISODE: – CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
Learn the right video content strategy and tactics to help you accomplish your business goals
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Doug Morneau: I got it but I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed, I’m thinking, “Wow. That’s a lot of stuff to consider.” I mean as you mentioned that, I, right away went to format. So you must have been reading my mind. I was just kind of trudging down there. We just talked about building relationships and there I was just moving ahead quickly and going, “Well, what format? How is that going to look?”
So being that I’ve taken us in that little bit of a rabbit trail, I don’t know if the word is forgiving, but if you’re using different formats, how does that affect the brand engagement for a company? So if you’ve said, “Hey, this is our audience and we want to use all of these formats or some of them are going to be shot on a handheld or going to be Facebook lives and some are going to be produced.” How do you keep those congruent so the audience that’s engaging with your various pieces of content being that they are produced differently doesn’t lose the branding effect?
Ben Amos: Yeah. It’s a really good question. And I think where a lot of people do begin to struggle because if we take the strategy out of the picture here. So you’ve worked out the strategy and you know you need to be using these different types of format. For example, longer form produced content on YouTube. You’re going to be doing a weekly live video for a certain purpose. And you’re also going to be creating some sales videos and maybe some more training type videos that go almost within your product as well, for example, or alongside your product.
So different types of formats. Potentially produced in different ways with undoubtedly different budgets behind them as well. Some being free, some being something you need to spend money on. I think the critical thing is to have a consistent story. So what that means is being really consistent in the way that you pull your brand together, or the way you communicate your brand across these different formats. That comes down to typical things around branding like having a consistent voice using the same type of language and even the same type of color palette. For example, when color can be brought into it. Music, so using consistent music that’s part of your brand voice would be a good way to keep things consistent. But also consider your audience and the different platforms as being … Not your audience as being different, but the different platforms as being different.
So the way that people will engage with you and your brand on Facebook live, for example, is going to be much more human and relational than they will engage with a video on a sales page, for example, which is much more transactional. So the same person, the same audience person will expect to engage differently with different bits of content on different platforms. So important to be consistent with your brand across the different pieces of video, but also understand different video has different purposes and different platforms engaged with people in different ways.
Doug Morneau: Yeah. Fair comment. Now, one of the … Just a note. I’m sure you know or maybe you know of Dan Norris.
Ben Amos: Yep. Down here in Australia.
Doug Morneau: In your present world. Yeah. I like one of the comments that he made. He said he would always rather have his share if he gets a like on a social media platform, that’s okay, but to him, he doesn’t count likes, he only counts shares.
Ben Amos: Yeah. Look, again, that comes down to your strategy. If that’s what makes sense based on what you’re trying to achieve with that video. If the purpose of that particular video, for example, is to reach the most people, then a share is going to be more valuable than a like in anyone’s book. Because that’s where the viral nature of social media can really be a powerful tool.
If you create content that people want to share then that means that you’re creating content that provides value to someone. If it doesn’t provide value to someone watching it, they’re not going to share it, even if you ask them to share it. If it’s an ad or a pitch for your product or service, they’re not going to share it. So If it makes sense strategically to be aiming to reach the most people with a particular video, then think about how you’re going to get people to share that. And the best way to do that is to think about how you’re going to provide value to someone who watches this. And entertainment id value. You know that the most viral videos out there are just highly entertaining or humorous. But that’s still value to someone watching that.
Doug Morneau: Absolutely. So how do you do deal with the biggest comments people say, “Well, I’m not comfortable on camera and you know I’m not … I don’t look good on camera. I’m not comfortable speaking on camera?”
Ben Amos: Yeah. I mean I get this all the time because I’m pointing cameras at people who often don’t want to be on camera. That’s what I do it for my business. But the reality is that it’s not easy the first time. It’s often not easy the second time. But if you just do it, the more you do it, the easier it gets.
And I know this from my own experience because even as a video producer, I hated turning the camera on myself. But I force myself to and the more I did it, the easier it got. And now, it doesn’t really faze me at all. I mean I take the time to glance in the mirror and make sure that hair isn’t all over the place, for example. But you need to do that, you need to make sure you’re bringing your best professional self to any given piece of video, but you don’t need to get bogged down.
Look, the reality is if you’re comfortable and confident sitting face-to-face with the prospect or someone you’ve met for the first time at a meeting, a client meeting. If you’re comfortable doing that, why can’t you be comfortable doing it on video? It’s just an internal self-doubt and fear, which you can get over just by doing it and doing it more often.
Doug Morneau: I agree. When I first started doing videos, I’m super uncomfortable and our PR company who are working with me, did it a little bit easier by basically standing off camera and asking a question, she goes, “Just answer the question. Like you’d answer to a prospect.” And for me, that made a huge difference
Ben Amos: Yeah. One of the hardest things is that news where you’d approach of looking straight down the camera, which is interesting with live video, particularly from a smartphone. And I think what does make it easier for people is that you’re effectively talking to yourself. Well, that’s not the best way to do it. You should actually be looking at the camera on your smartphone when you’re going live on video. But for many people, they default to looking at themselves. So it’s like you’re talking to a person or talking into a mirror, which is much easier than looking at a lens of a camera and trying to imagine who it is you’re talking to. But ultimately, that’s where you want to get to is looking straight down the lens of the camera and talking to your audience, your ideal customer. Picturing someone who you’re actually talking to.
But obviously, there are different approaches for different types of video. Sometimes it makes sense to be more interview and looking off camera, but if you’re going to look straight down the camera, yeah try and picture someone. Try and figure out who it is that you’re talking to and picture him in your mind.
Doug Morneau: I often do that in my podcast. I pull up a picture from a website or somebody’s photo so I have an idea who it is I’m talking to because it’s obvious, we can’t see each other and that helps to be a little bit more personable.
Ben Amos: Yeah. Absolutely. Because any content is all about relationship, it’s about human to human, whether it is online or transactional through the internet. It’s all about people to people as a Chris Ducker from Youpreneur says.
Doug Morneau: So what’s the biggest myth about using video for your business?
Ben Amos: That’s an interesting one. The biggest myth I think is probably that you just need to be doing video. And the reason why I say that and let me just expand on that because I hear it all the time, particularly from digital marketers or social media marketers. They’re saying to their clients, “You just need to be doing some sort of video, you can’t be not doing a video today.” And I won’t go back to all of that reason why around getting the strategy right first, but the main thing is, and why this isn’t the right sort of advice is that there’s so much noise out there. Even in the video space. You look at any Facebook newsfeed or Instagram feed, what we don’t need is just another video thrown into those channels, without some kind of strategic thought behind it.
So although, yes, I absolutely agree, you do need to be using video. I think if you haven’t thought a strategically to at least some extent about why you’re creating that video and using it in that way, then I think you’re better off not doing video.
Doug Morneau: Fair comment. So kind of to sum up what you’re saying is, know who your customer is or who’s your avatar, know where they are, have a plan of how you want to engage them. So what’s the purpose or what are you trying to achieve whether it’s branding or generating sales or figure out your tactic or various goal of the tactic?
Ben Amos: Yeah. Absolutely. So the tactics come from the strategy. So understanding all those things that you just talked about there. And then figuring out whether there is any single piece of video content that you’re planning on creating, even if it is something that you just want to try out and test, if you don’t understand what do I want someone who watches this to do, think or feel after seeing this piece of video? If you don’t have answers to that question, then chances are you’re just going to be wasting your time in creating the wrong video in the first place.
Doug Morneau: Wow. That really sums up pretty easy. So you want to say it again? Know what you want them to think, see, or feel.
Ben Amos: With any single piece of media content, when you think about your ideal audience person who watches or customer or prospect, you need to know what do you want them, after they watch this video, to do, think, or feel. If you can’t answer those questions clearly, then you might as well not do the video.
Doug Morneau: And I guess that’s probably a good advice on any other content you’re producing. Like, why are you producing content? Are you adding to the noise factor or are you actually providing value to people and trying to move them in a certain direction that is in line with your sales and marketing plan?
Ben Amos: Absolutely. We don’t want to be contributing to what I’ve heard described as the avalanche of average, that is online these days.
Doug Morneau: I love that.
Ben Amos: We don’t want to be contributing to that. So we want to be making sure that any piece of content, video or otherwise has a purpose and it aligns with the goals of our business. It’s going to move the needle otherwise, we’re effectively just wasting time and money.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SHARE THIS EPISODE: – CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
Learn the right video content strategy and tactics to help you accomplish your business goals
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Doug Morneau: So what are you most excited about as it relates to your field, in the video marketing in the next 6-12 months?
Ben Amos: Yeah. I’m really excited about the way that video is being embraced across platforms. But I’m also really excited about the ease in which, and this might sound a bit counterintuitive, but the ease in which businesses are now, or anyone, is able to now produce quality content often without the need for high budgets or production companies. They are counterintuitive because that’s my bread and butter is producing content for people. However, I think that the easier it becomes to create content, it’s a bit of a catch-22 but we’re going to probably end up with more rubbish, to be honest. But we’re also going to empower businesses to be using video more effectively.
So there’s a lot of great tools, platforms, ways that people can start experimenting with video strategically and that excites me. And areas like VR 360 video. I mean it’s watching this space for me, but I’m excited about those sorts of technology coming out as well.
Doug Morneau: I think it’s just absolutely amazing. Like you said, looking at the VR that’s coming out available to sit at the comfort of your home or use your smartphone and be able to get a virtual tour of whether it’s a place you want to go or you’re going to rent a place for a wedding or for a business event or into a store, and all the stuff you’re going to be able to do that’s going to be interactive. I can’t even imagine what that’s going to look like in the next couple years.
Ben Amos: Yeah. It’s mind-blowing. And video as a communication tool is going to change. So the way we can see the video as being a produced in story kind of movie in a way is changing. Like video is now almost one to many broadcast tool. Like Facebook Live or when it comes to VR, it’ll be more of a reality transfer mechanism. Like you say, we ought to be in one place but through video and through VR and 360 videos, feel like you’re somewhere else. And that’s the power of videos. It’s going to be pretty awesome.
Doug Morneau: Also next time, it’s really rainy here and crummy in Vancouver, I can just put on my VR equipment and I can transfer down to Queensland or down into Sydney and have a look at the Finger Wharf and just imagine I’m in Australia enjoying the sunshine.
Ben Amos: Yeah. Come to the Sunshine Coast. It’s beautiful here. Best beaches in Australia.
Doug Morneau: Absolutely. Yup. I’ve been there. We had a great time. We spent a couple weeks down there touring around that was so awesome. So where can people find you online? What’s the best way for people to reach out and learn more about what you do and connect with you?
Ben Amos: Look, the best place is really through my website, engagevideomarketing.com, or on Instagram and Twitter, @engage_ben is where you’ll find me. But I’d love to point people and your listener to, if they are interested in finding out a bit more about applying video strategically to their brand and business, probably the best place is to download my free eBook, which is the Online Video Strategy Blueprint. And they can find that at engagevideomarketing.com/ebook.
Doug Morneau: Well, excellent. One last question and I’ll let you start your day as I wind mine up and that is, who’s one guest that you think I should have on our podcast?
Ben Amos: I was thinking about this and I’m currently reading a book by a guy called Donald Miller called, Building a StoryBrand. I don’t know if you’ve heard about Donald Miller before or StoryBrand, have you?
Doug Morneau: I have not. No.
Ben Amos: You have to have a look. I think he’s based in, gosh, I’m going to get it wrong now, but down in Tennessee or something like that. Yeah. I mean as a marketer, he talks about using story effectively and building a brand around strong storytelling. Very interesting read and certainly applying a lot of what he talks about into the work that we do. So check him out.
Doug Morneau: Well, excellent. Hey, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing just a bit about your business and video and how our listeners can make sure they add this to the repertoire but make sure they do it right by starting with strategy.
Ben Amos: That’s it, if you take nothing else away, that’s what I want you to take away. Start with a strategy and good luck with your video.
Doug Morneau: Well, thanks. I think I got the message. Strategy, strategy, strategy and quit making videos for the sake of making videos.
Ben Amos: That’s it. Thanks, Doug.
Doug Morneau: Well, thanks so much listeners for tuning in. Make sure that you bookmark this site. Don’t be afraid to share with your friends and subscribe to us in iTunes. If you like the episode, again, make sure you leave everything for us. And thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next episode.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SHARE THIS EPISODE: – CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
CREATE YOUR OWN WINNING VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY
Learn the right video content strategy and tactics to help you accomplish your business goals
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Get in touch with Ben
- Ben on Twitter – @engage_ben
- Ben on LinkedIn
Resources
- Web – Engage Video Marketing
- Facebook – Engage Video Marketing
- YouTube – Engage Video Marketing
Links to other podcast and or blog posts:
Real Marketing Real Fast Podcast – host Doug Morneau
WHY DOESN’T SOCIAL MEDIA WORK?
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CREATES CHOCOLATE SUCCESS