Video content is becoming the norm. People expect to have video material in their social feeds and, of course, on YouTube. But if your business hasn’t quite got to that point, it’s time to give it some thought.
You could invest in getting professionally made videos, but that incurs a cost and not every small business has the budget to keep generating this kind of video. It is possible to do it yourself and today’s smartphones video cameras are excellent, but then you have to consider what kind of videos you want to make.
Not everybody is comfortable talking to a camera. While there are many people who feel completely at ease chatting away to their smartphone video camera, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
If you’re one of the people who press record and then stumble over your words, get embarrassed and try again – and again. Or you just can’t remember what you’re supposed to be saying, there are other ways to produce video material.
Animation
Everyone loves a good animation – they’re generally attractive and easy to make. You can subscribe to something like Doodly, probably the best known (and currently on a special deal).
Alternatively there are great free options like Powtoon which is excellent for explainer videos.
There are others such as Videoscribe and this article lists a selection with costs.
Voice over slides
If you prefer to voice over slides there are plenty of software options, such as InVideo and Wavevideo. These allow you to build a presentation and add your words on screen to the combination of images and video clips. You can upload your own images and video or use their library.
If you don’t want to use your own voice some software offers an automated voice or you can look on Fiverr for a voice-over actor and give them your script and/or slide presentation. They will then do the voice over for you to upload.
You can even simply use a Zoom meeting – without inviting anyone and record it. However, you might need something like Camtasia to do any editing.
Video clips
You may be wondering where to get video clips from. Most of the image libraries, such as Shutterstock and istockphoto offer video as well as static images.
Even the free libraries like Pixabay, Pexels and PikWizard have video libraries too.
Initially, it will take time to put together a video, but as you become familiar with the tools and know what you’re doing you’ll be able to put together a short promo or explainer video in a relatively short time.
The secret is to explore the tools, find the ones you like best and then have a systematic approach to create a video once a week (fortnight/month) and you’ll soon grow a video library.
Use your videos on your website, on social media and on your YouTube influencer channel.
