The Video Hype – A Q & A With Our Resident Videographer
Katie Batchelor
Following up from our last blog about the power of sharing video content to promote your business online, we thought it might be a good idea to explain a bit about what sorts of video content might be available to you and which would work best for your brand.
Now Gareth, what exactly is a Digital Media Specialist?
Hello Laura, not only do I create fantastic content for some of our business clients but I’m also here to help them to start creating their own. I love helping a brand to really find their online personality and get them comfortable with what to do and how to make the most of their digital content.
Should people be using video content to market their brand online?
Absolutely! People on average are spending over 2 hours a day on social media and as a result it’s becoming harder and harder to grasp and hold someone’s attention. Big blocks of text are overwhelming but something short and straight to the point like a video, is more personal and engaging. How often do you see toddlers staring at a book the same way they do their favorite YouTube channels these days and adults aren’t that far behind.
Let’s talk about TikTok. What’s with the big hype and how can we use it to create marketing opportunities?
TikTok is the biggest growing social media platform, it has been downloaded over 3 billion times and boasts over a billion active users every month! If you think your business doesn’t need to tap into that potential, then maybe it’s time for a rethink. TikTok is fantastic at helping the user to discover content that they are really interested in without the user even realising it. That means that your content is being shown to people that TikTok already knows should be interested. The app is very simple to use and one of the best things is, you don’t really need that much creativity to do well on the platform. Unless you are one of the top creators, your viral video will come from following trends of videos. Trending videos will even have outlines within the create section of the app and all you have to do is make it relevant to you and your brand and watch your followers of people genuinely interested in your field grow.
Right, so TikTok is here to stay. Got it. Now, what exactly is an Instagram reel?
An Instagram reel is very similar to TikTok, in fact a lot of the videos you see are from TikTok and as such the trends follow and Instagram also have a fantastic algorithm to help users find content that is correctly targeted towards them. I get asked quite often what is the difference between a reel and a story and on face value I understand they both are short videos that fill your whole screen but stories go out to the people that already follow you and the reels go out to the whole of Instagram, this means your reel can be following the trends and it draws people into your page where you can then get them with the more personal content of your brand. One thing that we try to drive home to our business clients is to have your reels, feed and bio all matching up, your reel of how to make beautiful cupcakes won’t equal a new follower if when they get to your feed its full of classic cars and your bio tells them that you’re a dog walker! They want to see the cupcakes they came for, if you must post about classic cars and dog walks save it for your stories.
As with most things marketing related, consistency is key here then. So, Gareth, how is a podcast different from other types of media and what are the benefits of creating one?
Podcasts are a lot more targeted and personal. Most podcasts are consumed on commutes, either in the car or on public transport. There’s nothing else competing for the same attention whereas on the other platforms you are filled with other posts from your competition and other distractions. It can be scary to start creating your own podcast and working out what you want to do or even what you can do for your podcast can be daunting, but the best advice is just to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re on your own, with a colleague, or have a guest just make sure your title makes it obvious what the point to the episode is more than who’s in it, keep your introduction short and don’t worry about how long it is either some of my favourite podcasts are less than 6 minutes an episode. As long as you keep the information good, that’s what really matters. Planning your next couple of episodes in advance is always good. That way you can give your listeners something to look forward to.
Thank you, Gareth for your time and expertise. Now for the question we really want answered: does a gigantic lens like Captain Jack’s telescope actually make for a better photo/video?
Generally, yes! But why does everybody ask videographers that?!
