You Don’t Need a Blockbuster Budget to Leverage Video

If your content doesn’t stand out in a field of memes, your message might not be heard. However, competition for space on a social timeline shouldn’t be a deterrent from trying new and creative ways to talk to your target audience, specifically video or live streaming features on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Marketers who use video produce revenue 49% faster than those who don’t, and 76% of businesses that use video marketing report an increase in traffic as a result of video.

Many campaigns and organizations shy away from video because funding a video team to shoot and produce their desired content is out of budget. Keep in mind that 95% of content is retained by viewers when it is consumed from a video vs 10% when reading text. Thankfully, we live in a time where you can shoot and produce quality video right from your phone. We’re here to share the best practices and resources you can use to have great video on a budget.

Invest in Affordable Equipment

For quality video anywhere you go, there are a few key pieces of equipment worth investing in.

As a former campaign staffer, recording events was important but my arms could only withstand a few minutes holding my phone without shaking. Investing in an affordable tripod is a must if we want to make a quality video. This tripod, which can also turn into a selfie stick, is a wise investment if you find yourself in that situation.

There will be situations when the background noise is less than ideal which is why it’s important to invest in a lapel mic that will hone in on the voice that you want to capture. This reasonably priced mic cancels out unnecessary noise, and works well with most smartphones.

You’ve recorded the video, now it’s time to produce the content you want to share with your audience. If you have an iPhone, a terrific app that is free and easy to use is iMovie, Apple’s native video editing software. For those with an Android device, Adobe Premiere Clip is a fantastic app at no additional cost. If you’re using a PC, you can download the Windows Photos app. If you’re short on time, check out Kapwing, an online video editing tool.

Video Best Practices

Call to Action: Don’t forget to tell your audience what you want them to do after watching the video. Be explicit and tell the viewer exactly what action you want to drive. In fact, don’t wait till the end, tell them as many times as possible.

Length: Attention spans are short, keep your video brief and to the point. Try to keep videos between 30-90 seconds long.

Captions: Most users watching video on their mobile devices are viewing the content on mute. Make sure to include captions on your videos – you can either add captions during the editing process, or, if you’re uploading to Facebook or YouTube, you can use the caption generator tools. Captioning your content will also keep your audience watching for longer. Facebook conducted internal research that shows captioning a video can increase view time by 12% on average.

Mobile: Develop your video content to be optimized for mobile. Over half of video content is viewed on mobile.

All of these tips sound good on paper, but take a look at them in action. An excellent example of a campaign that used video in a new and fresh way was IMGE’s client, John James for U.S. Senate.

As a way to earn media and garner new followers on social networking platforms, candidate John James decided he would embark on a challenge to record 100 videos in 100 days to connect with voters directly and share his message across the state of Michigan and throughout the United States. John and his campaign kept it simple, with a majority of videos showing John holding his phone, talking straight to the voter on various topics. These videos accumulated over 1.5M views and more than 450K minutes viewed!

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to share quality content with your audience. Follow these tips to incorporate video into your marketing plan, no matter your budget.

TL; DR: Video is not just a tool for those with a blockbuster budget. Anyone, anywhere, can use video to leverage their brand or campaign.