Image by: Parceiromaste
Today, you can't do digital marketing without the use of video. Not only does it enhance the brand and increase conversion, but video makes or breaks crowdfunding campaign. It's the text and the images that get people interested but it is the video that closes the sale. Studies have shown that a good video increases the likelihood of making a sale.
It's much more powerful medium than just using text or images when building a personal brand. Honestly, hardly no one remembers the article you write but they will remember that video.
It contains modules that focus on the topics below. This is an applied course — one learns skills through doing these three applications:
- Setting-up your YouTube channel
- Designing a process to regularly create videos — great videos
- Putting together and distributing a high quality video.
Module 1. Getting in the Race: Choosing Your Channels and Your Tools
Image: D-Kuru, Fractal forms on the cover side of a microwaved DVD
Not too long ago, there was only one video channel that you had to worry about—YouTube. And YouTube continues to maintain its dominance. However, all the other major social channels are piling into the video bandwagon. Even Twitter is trying to add video.
From a branding standpoint, the plethora of competing channels creates opportunity to reach the same niche in another way. If they getting your message on YouTube, it might get through on an additional channel. So it could be a way or use content more than once or another way to waste your time.
Module 2. Producing Your First and Your Second Video
Image by: Officialkalla
There has been a shift in marketing. In the old days, everything was text. Then images and text were combined. Now we are seeing futher movement way from text toward using video. And costs have come down. It's not the high cost of video we see in television or movies, but low cost messaging within the income of everyone with a decent smart-phone. That means the video is within the budge of all entrepreneurs who wish to use streaming video to enhance their brand, capture leads, improve the probability of conversion and close the sale.
Module 3: The Business Case: How You Can Make Money
Image by: Gaurav Shakya
With many platforms allow you to build a following, your work, your effort is not reworded. Some platforms even want to own your intellectual property. In fact, you better test the terms of service prior to posting if you don't want to loss control of the fruits of your labor.
Also, your entertaining one of Facebook's members is worth $11.86 per user per quarter to Facebook corporate. But you will receive nothing for your time (Eavis, 2016). The same with Snapchat and with Instagram. Seems like a lot of work to satisfy vanity needs. But at least on YouTube, there is the possibility that you can receive income if your channel is successful. If you are really good, you can get into the six-figure range. This offers real possibilities. See also, Eavis, Peter (2016). How You're Making Facebook a Money Machine. New York Times, April 29.
Module 4. Getting Subscribers and Viewers
Image: Andrew King.
According to Statistica, "more than 500 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. This equates to approximately 30,000 hours of newly uploaded content per hour." In today's world, you can have the best video, but no one will find you. But don't despair — there are people who want to see your content. But you have to help them out by optimizing video editing, metadata and the copy writing within the channel itself
Module 5: The Marketing Side of Video — If You Can't Market it: It Won't Be Seen
Image by: Halicki
One can always hope with a video that you have the "field of dreams" phenomonen — that if you make it, they will come. Sure, there are some people that have a viral video; just like some people do get struck on a golf course by lightening. But I would not put big money on it. If you want more of a sure thing, you need to engage in a vigorous marketing program. But marketing video is not exactly like marketing another piece of content — you need to approach it differently. In fact, a major reason individuals do video is to market other content.
Module 6. Course Wrap-up and Lessons Learned
Mahatma Gandhi at railway station in the early 1940's
One can always hope with a video that you have the field of dreams phenomonon—that if yo make it, they will come. Sure, people do get struck on a golf course by lightening—but I would put big money on it. If you wan more of a sure thing, you need to engage in a vigorous marketing program. No campaign is complete without a thorough process of figuring out what went well, which we will continue; and the what didn't work, so we don't do it again. That's not what most people do though. They keep repeating the same mistakes again and again.
