Getting behind the camera for your business is inevitable in this day and age. To help humanize, raise awareness, and build credibility, speaking for your business in the form of a video can be the easiest answer. However, there are right and wrong ways to take a video, and the last thing you want is to create videos that don’t properly represent your business or don’t attract your current and future customers.
So, here is a quick rundown of the do’s and don’ts of putting yourself behind the camera.
Do’s
Be Authentic
Authenticity is crucial to making a good video. You don’t want it to seem flat or robotic. You can bring authenticity to your videos by speaking as you would if your audience was right in front of you, showing the ups and downs of the industry and your business, and creating content that is both informative and creative.
Align Your Approach to Your Larger Goals
If your larger goal is to become a thought leader in your industry, then ensure that your approach is to create videos that help prove your credibility and show your expertise within the field. Each video should be made with a larger goal in mind to make sure that you are taking the proper steps to achieve it.
Educate and Entertain
You want your videos to engage your audience. If they don’t, your followers will scroll right past and miss the information you are trying to provide. To keep them from scrolling, you want to create videos that are educational and entertaining. This doesn’t mean you have to crack jokes, but you should try to keep the topics relevant to the audience you are trying to attract.
Dress Smart
What you wear might not seem extremely important to the video, but it can help build credibility and ensure your followers don’t scroll past. Wearing something that fits in with your industry, such as a nice suit or business casual wear, can ensure people take you seriously. If you wear something wildly patterned, you might lose their attention, and it won’t look great on camera.
Don’ts
Don’t Forget to Have a Call to Action
A call to action to lead to your website or other platforms is essential when finishing a video. This can either be done verbally at the end of the video or with a text box that can appear. You don’t want a video to be the end all be all when people watch; you want it to be a stepping stone to the rest of your business and content.
Don’t Include Fluff
Videos shouldn’t be longer than five minutes unless it is for a larger project. This means you only have a short amount of time to get in as much information as you can. You don’t want to include fluff, such as a long introduction or unnecessary story parts. Your viewers could get bored or uninterested if there is too much fluff.
Don’t Overlook the Quality of Your Videos
Lighting, sound, and overall quality mean everything to create a good video. If it is dark or hard to hear, your viewers will not be interested in watching. Quality also leaks into thinking about how people will watch your video. Not everyone might have the audio on, so setting up captions can help keep your videos inclusive to everyone.
Don’t Forget Your Mission
Lastly, don’t let the task of creating one video after another cause you to lose the mission at hand. You want to grow your business and brand, raise awareness, and become a thought leader in your industry. Keep those thoughts in mind throughout every stage of filming to ensure you are holding true to those missions.
Filming, editing, and directing videos is a significant task to take on, but you don’t have to do it alone. Get your first batch of thought leader videos with the direction and expertise of Lillian James Creative.