4 Reasons You NEED Video Content Marketing For Your Personal Brand

video content marketing, claire bahn

You knew this day was coming— video content marketing. You can’t escape it, and once you read the statistics, you’ll want to dive right in.

The problem is, video content seems to be universally accepted as the most intimidating type of content to create.

It puts you in a vulnerable position, doesn’t it? There are lights, you’re being recorded, and you get tongue-tied trying to read a script.

I get it— it’s hard to accurately portray your true self in video form. Especially when you carefully craft every line that you want to say. However, I can tell you from personal experience that, not only does it get easier to film yourself, but it’s actually pretty fun.

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So how can you go from a nervous, stumbling mess on video to a confident, leading expert who regularly produces video content?

Honestly, that’s an entire blog on its own. But maybe these numbers about video content marketing will be enough to persuade you to get started.

4 Reasons You Need Video Content Marketing

Before I help you out with the steps to getting started with video content, let’s take a look at why everyone keeps talking about it.

I did a lot of research so that I could put this blog together for you. It was a little overwhelming— not going to lie!

If anything, however, all this information is empowering. Even though I’ve had my YouTube channel for years and I’m actively posting IGTVs, this information is really what lit a fire under me.

So much so that I’m currently revamping my entire channel so that I go full force with my video content strategy by 2021.

Here’s why you should join me:

1. It’s in demand

In recent years, YouTube has become an entertainment hub, and for more than just silly cat videos. YouTubers are blogging their everyday lives and turning into self-made millionaires, and brands are reaping just as many benefits.

Let’s let these numbers speak for themselves:

  • 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support (HubSpot, 2018).
  • Mobile video consumption rises by 100% every year
  • Videos are a consumers’ favorite type of content to see from a brand on social media (Animoto, 2018)

Needless to say, your audience has spoken. They want to see you on video, even if you haven’t opened your Instagram Stories yet.

2. It promotes your influence

I talk about this all the time when it comes to your personal brand:

Personal works better than business branding because people buy from other people. We’re in the age of girl/boy next door influencers, and the expectation to be “relatable” is climbing.

Viewers aren’t interested in your company outings, your employee birthdays, or the charity you recently donated to. They want to see a startup founder’s “day in the life” routine, your weekly setbacks, and your exciting new brand deal or investor funding.

Besides the personal part of your brand, your audience has a lot to gain from the educational videos you produce. For example, I make videos about ways you can market your personal brand. Sure, it enables people to do it themselves, but those who want a true ROI will want to hire a professional: someone like me who can save them the time and guesswork of putting their personal brand together.

These types of videos are the ones that actively promote your influence. Social media video generates as much as 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. This means that your educational video content marketing is being seen outside your sphere of influence.

3. The ROI is insane

Traditionally, content marketing is playing a slow game. SEO, social media, and even YouTube videos take a while to work up to mass audiences. And they aren’t technically lead generators. They simply raise brand awareness.

However, video content has proven to have an effective return on investment even without sales associates or paid ads. And all it takes is jotting down some of your expertise, pressing the record button on your iPhone, and the nerve to actually post it online.

Let’s take a look at the statistics for video content marketing ROI:

4. It gives buyers confidence in your product or service

There are a couple of ways that videos can help online “window shoppers” become buyers. And it all has to do with the way you use your video content.

If you’re positioning yourself as an expert in your industry, video can do a lot to portray your personality and your excitement about your product or service.

Think with Google determined that, “more than 65% of YouTube viewers say video content on the platform feels like real life.” When a real person (aka your personal brand) displays your product in a video, consumers can get an accurate perception of what they’re about to buy.

This helps potential buyers feel more confident about their purchase because someone they like, know, and trust is genuinely recommending it.

If you aren’t utilizing your own personal brand to promote your company, you can turn to bloggers and influencers who are willing to put themselves front and center. If you can garner a review or endorsement by one (or better yet— multiple) content creator who is already creating video content, you’ll see your sales or app downloads go through the roof.

Even if it’s a review of your service, people will be able to tell if someone’s video endorsement is genuine or scripted.

The music you use also plays a role in how people respond emotionally to your video’s message. So make sure you’re picking the right type of background sound!

RELATED: PERSONAL BRANDING FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

How To Get Started

As I said, video content marketing can seem intimidating. But I promise that it’s not as difficult as it looks!

In fact, you can get away with creating videos right from your phone. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many free video editing services that I recommend other than iMovie, but if you have an iPhone, you can have editing software in the palm of your hand.

Just so you know your options, here are my steps to getting started with video content.

Step 1: Decide which type of video marketing you want to use

Did you know that you can post videos on virtually any social media platform? You can choose from:

  1. YouTube
  2. Facebook
  3. Instagram
  4. LinkedIn
  5. Twitter
  6. Tik Tok

And that’s barely scratching the surface. Within each social media platform, you have even more video posting options. For example, on Instagram, you can stick to 1-minute IGTV videos or 15 second Instagram Stories.

How often should you post your video content? Once a week is plenty enough. If you create long videos on YouTube (10 minutes or more), you can usually break those down into bite-size pieces and repurpose them on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram!

RELATED: HOW TO CREATE A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT STRATEGY

Step 2: Get the appropriate equipment

There are so many ways you can film videos these days. Have you seen the latest iPhone commercials? People are actually shooting entire movie-grade quality videos straight from the HD phone cameras.

It really doesn’t have to be complicated.

If you’re filming indoors, the best (and cheapest) lighting system is simply natural light. Sit down in front of an open window, have a decent backdrop, and turn the camera on!

Another go-to option is the ring light. You can get the small $15 iPhone lights that clip to your phone, or you can go big and get these dimmable $75 lights for your DSLR camera.

From there, you need to decide on a video editing service. I personally use Final Cut Pro, but Adobe Premiere is another highly reputable editing software. Or you can hire someone to do that part for you.

I always find that editing is the hardest part of video content marketing so I make my husband take care of all of that!

To break it down, here’s what you’ll need:

  1. Your phone or a DSLR camera (think Canon)
  2. Lighting equipment or a window source for natural light
  3. Video editing software

RELATED: HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN BUSINESS IN 10 STEPS

Step 3: Write down all of your video ideas

Here’s the great thing about video content marketing: your videos can be as long or short as you want them to be.

If you’re not quite ready to dive into the editing aspect of videos, stick to Instagram Stories. That way, anytime you have a piece of advice to give to your audience, you can pop on and speak freely— the same way you would speak face-to-face with a client or customer.

Once you start doing that, the video ideas will start flowing daily. Keep a list of ideas on your phone. That way, if you decide to create long-form content down the road, you’ll have a bank of ideas that you can elaborate on.

If you have a blog, you have it made. A blog can double as a script for your YouTube videos. Likewise, your Instagram captions can usually be turned into Tik Tok or Reels. So make sure you save everything and keep your list of video ideas all in one place.

Step 4: Learn to edit

Again, this is the hard part. When it comes to editing, you have a lot to learn: how to trim your video clips (and you’ll really start to notice how often you say um!), figure out how to pick the perfect background music, and learn how to add texts or graphics.

The background music is tricky as well because you have to make sure it’s not copyrighted. You can’t just throw the latest Beyonce song on your video and call it a day. Your video will immediately get flagged and usually taken down. Thankfully, YouTube and other platforms offer a bank of Fair Use music.

When it comes to adding text, video transitions, or graphics to your video, most of the professional software (like Final Cut) has template options for you. I recommend watching a few YouTube videos on how to properly edit videos.

Like everything else, practice makes perfect!

RELATED: HOW TO MAKE YOUR BRAND GO VIRAL

Video Content Marketing Tips For Your Personal Brand

Hubspot determines that 73% of consumers want to see videos on social media that are “entertaining.”

Before you go running off, remember that entertainment is subjective. An educational video about how to use Instagram hashtags can be just as enticing to one person as an influencer vlog is to another.

That being said, there are certain expectations people have when they’re watching videos. Viewer retention means everything if you want your video to perform well. If you start off your video slow by rambling, people are going to jump to the next video in about 3 seconds.

Thankfully, there are a few tricks that can make your video seem more entertaining:

  1. Use animations like this one
  2. Incorporate short and snappy jump cuts to keep your viewer’s attention
  3. Change up the background from one shot to another
  4. Use graphics and text
  5. Tell your viewer they’ll get a bonus if they watch until the end of your video

It’s not a matter of being an extrovert to make video content more appealing. All you have to do is look for strategies to make your videos easier to watch. If anything, start by making your videos short. This is why Tik Toks and Reels are so popular right now. They get straight to the point. Once people starting asking you to elaborate  (and they will), you can look into ways to make your long-form video content entertaining.

Conclusion

If you have a personal brand, you need to invest in video content marketing. Plain and simple. It’s one of the most assured ways to kick your business off the ground. There’s nothing more compelling than seeing a business owner put their own image online to advocate for their own product or service.

It’s time to elevate your personal brand to align your visibility and notoriety with your expertise. Our Personal Brand Concierge Program was built for high-achieving entrepreneurs, investors, founders, and executives just like you. Learn more about our Personal Brand Concierge Program.

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About Claire
Marketing Agency, Strategic Communications, claire bahn group, claire bahn
Claire Bahn is a personal brand strategist and the CEO and Co-Founder of Claire Bahn Group. She has been helping high achieving entrepreneurs, investors, founders, and executives create their best personal brand for over 10 years. She helps entrepreneurs leverage their personal brand to develop the authority, influence, and trust they need to exceed their business goals.
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