OK, so I made a complete fool of myself yesterday…
I was meeting with a client who is launching a blog very soon. He remodels homes. He is a sharp looking fellow. He is a master craftsman. He is the perfect candidate to do a lot of fun – and effective – video demonstrating home improvement ideas for his blog (amongst many other ideas).
So here’s Todd, walking around Starbucks with his flip, demonstrating a style and attitude that I think will work great on this guy’s blog. At one point, I am on my knees pretending to talk about how to repair Starbucks floorboards…
And yeah, patrons in Starbucks were looking at me strangely. But who cares. In fact, it is even fun demonstrating using video in your marketing… 
That said, utilizing video in a creative way to help add some pop to your marketing is an increasingly popular way to go-to-market. Buying high quality, high definition, video cameras that are SIMPLE to use, is as easy nowadays as buying a calculator in the check-out line. I use a Flip UltraHD camera…
Here are a few examples of some folks doing it right:
How Chris Jordan can even make insurance fun:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixczt2r8Opc]
Stephanie Frost simply talking about an example of poor customer service. This video got picked up and was featured on the Huffington Post and on Diane Sawyer:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvRjt0j2p-Y]
My model for successful vlogging, Chris Brogan. Demonstrating what “overnight success” looks like:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raNlx0nZc5A]
Stephanie Lloyd and I have fun talking about marketing and social media on He Said, She Said:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBKeFMfD1iQ]
So here are a few things to keep in mind to make marketing with video fun – and effective:
- Be yourself.
- Make it memorable.
- Keep it short. These things don’t have to longer that 90 seconds to have an impact.
- You don’t have to be funny, but humor helps make it memorable.
- Be helpful. Serve. Try to impart information that really helps people.
- Remember that you don’t have to produce Oscar-caliber quality or editing for your videos to be effective.
- Be sure that when you upload them to a video site, such as YouTube, that you tag them properly with the right keywords to make them more searchable.
- Be real. If you are fake, you will lessen the impact. Considerably.
- Don’t rely ONLY on video. Integrate it into a broader marketing program.
- Remember, video isn’t for everyone. Find the medium that works best for you. And use it!
So, good luck. And if you can, leave some links in the comments with OTHER examples of people doing marketing right with video. Thanks!
