Vlog What You Know: Video Storytelling

Video Storytelling How to Vlog What You Know

The popular phrase, write what you know, is one example of a familiar human tradition that can easily be applied to the less-familiar world of social media. About two months into my work with Bijou Penn Creative, I quickly began uncovering many comparisons like this one between wise, age-old sayings and social media best practices. Coming in just as rapidly were emails from Lehigh Valley small business owners, start-ups, and nonprofits who were determined to tell their company’s story via Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. 

No matter their level of social media experience or level of determination, most of them knew that video is where they needed to focus their efforts in 2020. About 99% of them also want their voices and faces NOWHERE near a video screen! This can make producing a personal video a bit tricky! But according to experts at Buffer, 76% of businesses say video has helped them increase sales in 2018; 80% of marketers say video has increased time spent on their website; and 81% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. AND Youtube is the #2 most visited website after Google. Okay video, you win.

If you feel 0% comfortable with video, remember the mantra, write what you know, and just apply it to video: Vlog what you know! No one is asking you to win an Oscar, but a 12-40 second energized chat about what value you add to a customer’s life? Yes, we’re asking you to do that, and here is how:

BEFORE YOU HIT RECORD 

  1. Stand or sit in good, natural light by a window (hence all the driver’s seat videos you see from influencers).

  2. Check your surroundings for potential noise from traffic or crowds. If you can’t avoid a disturbance (shout out to my momtrepreneurs), just keep filming! We’re all human and showing humanity is good business! 

  3. Prop your phone up to a good distance from your face with camera in selfie-mode, or just hold it up at a higher, but natural, angle while you record. 

ONCE YOU HIT RECORD

  1. Remember you can easily clip off the start and end of any video, so pause to relax before you start talking. 

  2. Act as though your aging parent or school-age child just asked you, “What did you do at work today?” Speak briefly, c l e a r l y , and in a positive tone for 10 to 45 seconds. 

  3. SMILE!

ONCE YOU FINISH RECORDING

  1. Yay, you! You’ve been meaning to do that since 2018!

  2. Replay the video once to see if you need to clip the first or last few seconds using the EDIT feature on your phone, or record a second version if you’re still up for it. 

  3. And finally, don’t post it on social media. Curve-ball, I know, but DO NOT post that video on social media. Instead, you are going to film another one tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. Once you have 5 short videos on your phone, you can post the one you like best on social media (don’t forget to post it in your FB & IN stories as well!).

    Why not post the first one? There is little to no strategic benefit to showing your face for 10 seconds then hiding online for months. Getting comfortable with video is a repetitive task that is going to help you hit those 2020 KPI’s. 

Ready to film? One last thing, so what do you know? How are you going to pick a topic? Here are some ideas to address that will help you tell a story about your business:

  1. Create a tutorial video that helps you sell a product or service without sounding like a sales pitch. Show HOW it all works in 30 seconds without ever saying, “Buy my product.”

  2. Talk about what critical problem you solve by telling the story of a time you solved a critical problem. I bet you have plenty of them.

  3. Introduce yourself, or reintroduce yourself, by telling the story of your inspiration for being in business. How did it all begin?

  4. Schedule time for a video right after a sales meeting or initial consultation with a new client. Questions that your target audience want answers to will likely be top of mind. This also gives you a chance to perfect your pitch a second time while the word choice that worked well (or didn’t work at all) in that meeting is still fresh in your mind. 

PRO TIP: Only 15% of people watch videos on Facebook with the sound on. Make sure you have captions on BEFORE YOU SHARE!

If you are like the businesses I work with, you have the years of experience needed to write what you know. In fact, you have more stories than you have likely ever told anyone! Well my friends, those stories are now called digital marketing content, and we’re all ears.

6 MIN READ + TIPSKate Kareha