Did you know that video is more powerful than any other form of content? Content is vital in your marketing, and people are especially drawn to visuals. Videos have the advantage over images because they allow you to talk to your audience as well as show them what you and/or your product look like. You can answer questions and even give demonstrations of how your product or service works. So how do you make video content work for you?

On Friday 2nd December, we were joined on the Big Friday Finish by Jordan Farley, Managing Director at Artisan Electrics! Jordan and his wife started their company in 2016 and have since won awards for their high-quality installations. As well as running a successful electrical business, Jordan has also become a YouTube superstar and has over 4K subscribers on his YouTube channel, ELECTRICIANS PODCAST. Here’s how you can become an online star and get your video content working for you.

Getting started

It is a popular myth that you need a lot of equipment to make your own videos. While many professional content creators do have their own specialist equipment, you can also record and edit videos with just a smart phone. Fear that recording a video is a complicated process holds many people back. This doesn’t have to be the case. If you start simple with your technology – and hire someone to do the editing for you – you will make it quicker and easier for yourself.

One thing to remember is to plan ahead. If you are aiming to release videos on a regular basis, you need to know well in advance what sort of content you want to release and when. Think about what you want to achieve in the long run. Marketing is only effective if it’s regular, so make sure you are regularly planning future videos in advance as well as working on current ones.

Getting and keeping people’s attention

The first 10 seconds of a video are essential in grabbing your audience’s attention. There is so much online content out there that if people aren’t immediately hooked, they will look elsewhere. Find a subject that you know people will be interested in and be clear from the start what your video will be about. According to Jordan, your knowledge should make up 20% of your communication, while how you feel about it should make up 80%.

Your goal is to establish a rapport with your audience so they want to do business with you. Speak clearly and look at the camera to connect with your viewers and smile throughout. You’d be surprised how many people start a video smiling and within 20 seconds that smile has vanished.

Telling a story

When recording a video, your goal is to entertain your viewers. Stories make people laugh and engage with their emotions, which is essential for outstanding marketing. How you need to go about this will depend on the nature of the video – your viewers need to feel a personal connection with you and relate to what you are talking about. The more people like your content, the more likely they are to promote it to their friends and followers.

When trying to be entertaining, don’t be too controversial. Although sometimes a small amount of controversy can increase the responses you get, what you say online will be in the public domain forever – if not on the web itself then in the minds of your audience.

Instead, focus on what they want to hear from you. You are not simply there to get attention, but to engage and educate.

Dealing with responses

One of the advantages of having a YouTube channel is the feedback it provides, both in terms of statistics and comments from viewers. Before you make a video public, get someone else to watch it and give you honest feedback so you know how your viewers are likely to receive it. Feedback may be uncomfortable to hear but it is vital for helping you learn and improve – (that’s why we call it feedforward at ActionCOACH).

You will also inevitably receive negative responses, even when you have done nothing to earn them. According to Jordan, there is no way around this – you simply have to develop a thick skin and only focus on comments that are positive and/or helpful. Remember that you cannot please everyone, so just keep creating your content with your target audience in mind and put them first.

To learn more from Jordan Farley about creating outstanding video content, watch the full webinar on our YouTube channel here.