Video has become an increasingly popular medium for consuming content – in fact, online video content now makes up 82 per cent of all internet traffic.

So it has never been more important to create, edit and upload videos to your blog, website or social media accounts. Even if video marketing is not part of your skillset or your main marketing method, adding a few videos to your overall content will be well received by your audience.

What are the benefits of video content?

A two minute video can convey hundreds of words of written content, but present it in a faster, easier and more intuitive way for consumers. Videos have the added benefit of reaching audiences who don’t want to read and can embed visual, audio or animated elements to bring your message to life.

What types of video content you can create?

If you haven’t yet tried out video marketing, one of your top concerns is probably “what should I create videos about?” There’s an endless amount of video content opportunities out there, but if you’re starting from scratch, here are some of the simplest tried and true ideas to get you started:

1. A how-to tutorial

Imagine you’re a craft supplies shop that sells wool, needles, scrapbooking and embroidery supplies and fabric. How can you increase sales of these products amongst a younger generation of people wanting to learn new skills? Simple. Create a video tutorial. Show people how to create an elaborate cake decoration, knit a scarf, upcycle old beer crates or embroider a cushion. Your staff already have those skills so simply grab a camera and walk your audience through the steps.

2. Answer FAQs

Most businesses tend to find that they get asked the same questions repeatedly by prospective customers. Rather than spend all day on the phone or replying to emails about the same thing, you could create a simple video answering the top questions and post it to your website. Question and answer formats provide very helpful information that your audience will love and these sorts of videos are great as they don’t require much preparation or post-production work. Simply record and upload.

3. Interview someone

Everyone loves a good interview. If you’ve just hired a new staff member for a key role, you can interview them about their background and share it with your audience. You can also interview representatives from community groups you’ve sponsored, interview happy customers or interview a relevant online influencer who works in your industry.

4. Behind-the-scenes or sneak peek promo

Customers love to feel like they are the first to be in the know about something. If you have a mailing list, you could email out an exclusive video to your email subscribers showing them an upcoming project or product you’re working on. If you’ve got a new product launch coming up, you can build a lot of buzz and excitement by creating a series of super short 10-30 second videos, with each video adding a little more detail the closer it gets to the launch date.

5. A day in the life

Got a great work story? Perhaps your company is in the food manufacturing sector? You could create a short video of someone testing new recipes. If you’re a dairy company, you could show the journey of the milk being collected on farm, driven to the factory in milk tankers, being processed and turned into finished goods. You could also highlight something fun that happens within your office? Create a short video that brings your business to life. Customers will appreciate seeing the more human aspects of your brand from time to time.

6. Snippets from live events

If you’re a financial advisor or life coach, one of the best types of video you can create is recording one of your live events and showing snippets of yourself in action sharing your insights and knowledge. Live event footage can be used in a range of other industries as well. If you work in the agricultural sector you might record some footage from a field day. Try anything you think might be interesting. There’s no limit!

7. Facebook Live

Creating live videos on social media platforms like Facebook using your phone or computer’s camera is a super simple way to create video content. If you want to go down this route, you will need to put some preparation into what you will say, because with it being streamed live you cannot edit later. You’ll also need to choose a quiet, well-lit room or outdoor space to shoot your video in as there is nothing worse if your audience cannot see or hear you.

Once you’ve chosen the type of video you want to try, keep your videos short and sweet in the beginning (less than two minutes is preferable) and see how your audience responds. Once your videos rise in popularity and you refine your video skills, you may choose to create occasional longer videos to your content strategy too.

This article was originally published in 2018.

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