Produce Your Authority: How to Create Video That Builds Brand Influence
Amy currently produces a YouTube series known as Savvy Sexy Social, which helps rising stars achieve greater social connections and increase brand awareness by promoting action, productivity and strategy in business and life. Amy’s journey to where she is today started with the idea to make a video for a wedding. As a bridesmaid, Amy decided that she would compile short videos of the bride’s friends wishing her congratulations along with videos from the bride’s past. When she played that Windows Movie Maker-made video at the wedding, Amy said, “I had their emotions in the palm of my hands for 5 ½ minutes”.
Ever since she uploaded her first video to YouTube in 2008, Amy has never looked back. In 2011, Amy became a full-time business owner and launched Savvy Sexy Social. Now thousands of people get tips and advice on the best way to leverage video for their business from Amy.
To start off, Amy asked the audience what they thought to be the most common fear in video making is. The correct answer to this question is having the proper gear to make video. There is a common misconception today about making video and what equipment is needed. Amy believes that just because we do not own a thousand dollar DSLR camera doesn’t mean that we can’t create videos. Smartphone cameras have made strides in quality and everyone uses their smartphones for video! We don’t have to go out and spend thousands of dollars on equipment to become great video makers. The most important factor in making great videos is a content plan.
Equipment doesn’t make your content plan amazing. A content plan does. Amy outlined the three keys to quality video content:
- Content Design - what is the topic and what subjects will the video cover?
- Content Flow - how do you want to convey the topic and subjects in the video?
- Content Distribution - through what medium will the video be watched?
As we create videos, we need to know our brand, mission, and medium in which the video will be consumed. A great strategy statement to keep in mind is: “I make a video for x about x so that I can achieve x”. We should ask, what do I want people to say about me or my business after watching my content?
Amy also shared an effective formula for creating quality videos:
This video formula gives creators a clear layout of how a quality video show flow. Here are a couple of things to note about this formula:
- It is vital that you create content that is engaging past 8 seconds. You can lose the attention of your viewers at around 8 seconds.
- Note that the generosity of your content should be weighted to the beginning of your video. It’s all about catching the viewer’s attention.
- Ensure that you factor in enough time to properly close your video. Have an audible and clear CTA prepared.
Lastly, Amy provided advice on taking time to promoting the videos you make. For distributing video content, consider the following methods of distribution:
- Social Media
- Collaboration (business partners, business contacts, etc)
- Repurpose
- Search
It is critical that you take time to promote the video you created. Amy says that often when we finish creating a video, we want to start focusing our time on making the next one. We should take the time and find ways to promote the video through the channels suggested above.
It is clear that we are moving more and more to video based content consumption. As evidence, there are around 10 billion daily video views on Snapchat, and people are spending, on average, 40 minutes per day watching YouTube on their mobile devices. With the tips and suggestions Amy gave, we can ensure that our businesses are keeping up with the trends in video and create successful, engaging content.
Enjoy the video replay!