Column

Adding Video to Your Business Development

Video can be an absolute game changer in your business development arsenal. It provides the same benefits of developing great written content while allowing users to feel a connection with you as a person. It’s versatile, fun, informative and shareable on so many platforms.

If there is one thing that the pandemic has done, it has made people more comfortable on camera. Whether it is Zoom, Teams or Google Meet, we are more comfortable seeing each other on video now than ever before. When done right, video can capture the attention and understanding of your target audience in under two minutes. It’s not easy and it takes a lot more than two minutes to create polished clips, but when done right it will allow you to be head and shoulders above your competition.

Studies have shown that when viewers watch a video, they retain 95% of the message, yet retain only 10% after reading written content. While this is likely more true for new businesses than the legal industry, the number itself is staggering. Part of that could be due to trying to make things simpler when we create video content as opposed to wanting to sound like experts when we write content.

Once you have decided to use video as a business development tool and have considered what your content will be, understanding the new medium is incredibly important. Creating video content is very different than the written word. Here are a few things to consider when creating your message:

  1. Have fun and let you personality shine.
  2. Lighting is extremely important.
  3. Bad sound is unforgivable.
  4. Editing needs to be done at a professional level.
  5. It will take a lot longer to get it right.

Creating shareable content that looks and sounds great is only part one. Part two is getting your content in front of your audience. The following may seem small but will have a significant impact on how far and wide your content goes:

  1. Use an attention-grabbing title so viewers know what they are in for.
  2. Put keywords in the video description.
  3. Pay attention to the thumbnail.
  4. Use link-building to help get your message more broadly seen.
  5. Consider your distribution channels—your website, social media channels, YouTube and Vimeo—and embed them in your marketing materials.

Lastly, once your content is out there you want to track how well it’s doing so you can make changes to further build your audience. YouTube Analytics and Google Analytics are great and provide metrics such as:

  • overall views
  • most popular traffic sources
  • average watch times

If you are considering video as tool to further your business development, there is no time like the present.

Comments are closed.