This Just Works: 3 Types of Videos You Can Create & Implement in your Social Media Marketing Strategy

Social Media Manager Shannon Goodell & Videographer Asha Bynum of DigitalMarketer are all about social media video marketing – and have more than a few helpful insights to share from their talk at This Just Works.

There are three types of videos that any business can create and implement into their social media marketing strategy – and this recap post covers all 3.

This session was presented at This Just Works, the digital anti-conference. You can see the full session (and 14 other talks) by registering here with code TJWAG2020.

The 3 types of videos you can use in social media

3 types of videos that any business can create for their social media marketing strategy are:

Rapid fire interview series
Mini whiteboard workshops
Hashtag holiday videos

1. Rapid fire interview series

A rapid fire interview series video is (you guessed it) a series of video interviews with an expert in your industry.

DigitalMarketer did a 10-video series like this with copywriting expert Joanna Wiebe of Copyhackers in the “talking head” style.

A “talking head” style interview series with Joanna Wiebe.

There are 3 steps to create a rapid fire interview series:

Discover the topics that are important to your topic audience
Find the expert – An expert that is or has worked with your brand before, experts in your company, expert community members, or even yourself!
Come up with a series of 10-15 questions that focus exclusively on that topic and will answer the questions your target audience is already asking.

How do you come up with those questions, exactly?

“Pay attention to what your audience is talking about on your social media channels. If you post a copywriting blog, how are people engaging with that? Are they showing interest? You can also join relevant online forums and Facebook groups. If you have your own private community for your customers, look at what they’re asking about or struggling with,” says Shannon.

And then there’s the obvious – ask your customers directly!

Some questions that ALWAYS work in interviews are:

“What are the most common [topic] mistakes [audience] are making?”
What are 3 quick [topic] tips that any [audience] can use?”
“What are your predictions for [topic] in the next [time period]?”

Some quick tips for these interview series videos are:

Let your expert know ahead of time how long the session will take and the questions you’ll ask – and let them add their own
Schedule 45-60 minutes for the interview. You will ask question after question to keep the momentum strong.
Remember it’s ok to improvise a bit. You may need to ask some follow-up questions. Just go with the flow and keep it conversational!

Here’s an easy interview formula you can follow to build a good interview flow:

Ask the question → Expert repeats part of the question → Answers the question → Repeat until all questions are answered

For filming and editing an interview video series, Asha has some tips:

“You want 2 angles to edit with. This can mean setting up 2 cameras with one close-up and wide shot. You can also just film a wide shot and zoom in. And to get good, clean audio, record audio from a separate source, like a boom mic or a lavalier mic.

The different types of shots you can set up. L to R: second angle, Wide angle, close-up angle. (Source)

Other filming considerations include:

A clean background, so nothing distracts from your subject
Familiarize yourself with the questions so you can help if there’s a mess-up, or if a subject gets off track – keep the content directly relevant to the question.
Keep intros as short as possible and cut straight to the content
Go into a CTA or question to your audience at the end

“For editing, feel free to just cut out any video where the subject pauses or is thinking. You may also want to edit out stutters, redundancy, and false starts. Because these videos are short-form, you want to keep the content as simple and clear as possible,” says Asha.

2. Mini Whiteboard Workshops

A mini whiteboard workshop video is a video that instructs a viewer on one specific tactic or strategy.

Here’s an example of a Whiteboard workshop video from Natasha Takahashi.

A social media video.

This series from Natasha Takahashi (3 videos) provided value, promoted an upcoming workshop, and got over 50,000 views on Facebook.

The key to mini-whiteboard workshop videos is…

“You need to choose a topic that can be taught using a whiteboard! This is a completely different type of video than the interview series. The expert can be the same (and you can even knock out an interview series AND a whiteboard series in one sitting). BUT the whiteboard workshops take more planning and effort,” says Shannon.

Also…

Watching workshops, other videos on the topic, and even reading blog posts can help you brainstorm potential whiteboard topics. Some YouTube searches can be really helpful here.
Keep each video simple and focus on teaching just one tactic or strategy
Make sure each tactic or strategy is valuable to your audience, and that it’s something you know they want to learn about. Start with the core tactics or strategies that you have multiple content pieces on and know inside and out.

“What’s great about whiteboards is that you can take one core tactic or strategy (like building chatbots) and film multiple videos each teaching a different chatbot campaign or tactic,” says Shannon.

9 steps to create a mini-whiteboard workshop video

Decide on expert and what they’ll be teaching
Break it up into X number of videos
Outline each video – this is so important!
Share an outline with the expert and video team – answer any questions and discuss how you will film together
Get feedback and make any adjustments based on feedback
Schedule a recording session for 45-90 minutes
Make sure your whiteboard is completely clean!
Test your markers beforehand to make sure they aren’t faded, and that you don’t use colors that won’t show up well on camera. Black, dark blue, and green markers are good.
Just keep filming. DON’T start completely over when an expert messes up or you’ll be there all day. You can fix a lot of things in editing.

“If you film without a plan and an outline, you’ll end up with an incoherent, jumbled mess. It doesn’t have to be an in-depth outline; just bullet points for each video that detail what will be drawn and examples to include,” says Shannon.

How to film a whiteboard workshop video

Although there are some similarities in filming a whiteboard video vs. an interview series, there are some things to consider about filming that specifically pertain to whiteboard videos.

You need 2 angles from 2 cameras. One to display the expert and the whiteboard, the other for a close-up on the whiteboard material.
A lavalier mic is best to record audio since the subject will be moving around as they write.
Make sure to check for glares off the whiteboard!
Doublecheck legibility and try to sketch out what the final image or content will look like with the expert so that everything can fit on the board.
Know the outline so you can come up with checkpoints if there’s a mess-up
Follow the expert’s hand with your second angle as they write
You still want to minimize dead air, but brief pauses are okay if the expert is finishing writing a thought. You may need to shorten how long it takes to draw or write something out to keep the information flowing.

3. Hashtag holidays videos

“Taking advantage of trending topics and fun social media holidays with video can be a great way to get more eyes on your brand! A video that DigitalMarketer did about International Pet Day got over 60,000 views on Facebook,” says Shannon.

Capitalize on trending moments – especially cute ones.

Here’s how to create a hashtag holiday video:

Use an online social media holiday calendar to brainstorm and plan fun videos
Brainstorm with the team and members of your company and track them on a Trello board – you’ll get fun ideas you hadn’t thought of
Make sure the videos (even the fun ones) still fit with your brand and audience
For trending topics, be sure that you’re being sensitive to the experience your audience and the world is having
Get company participation by posting a sign-up sheet
Change up your fun videos with animated videos that also fit with the holiday or trending topics
Planning ahead is key so that you don’t miss out on a holiday that fits well with your brand
Post your #holiday videos everywhere using the hashtag
For trending topics, be wary of using hashtags depending on the world climate
Before creating a video around a hashtag, always check out what content exists for it first. You don’t want to come off as insensitive or create a video around an irrelevant hashtag.

How to film a hashtag holiday video

These videos usually require the most scripting to be on theme and relate to your brand marketing – which makes them excellent for brainstorming with a team.

“This is the most flexible video type so have some fun with it! I love getting coworkers involved so that audiences feel more connected to everyone behind the scenes. Be sure to provide clear instructions on how you’d like people to film themselves,” says Asha.

It’s often also a good idea to break up the amount of “talking heads” style videos that pepper a social media feed and use stock videos or make animated videos for these trending topics instead. You can animate text, use emojis, or make many other creative decisions to help your video stand out. And always keep them short and sweet!

For any video type that you create, add a CTA at the end.

Your CTA can:

Drive traffic to a relevant resource – like a blog post, lead magnet, or an upcoming event sign-up
Drive traffic to a previously recorded piece of content or event – like a product sale
Drive engagement with a question

By using these videos to drive awareness and traffic to relevant content or an upcoming event, your videos will fit with your overall marketing objective.

Do more with your social media videos than just posting on your channels. You can embed them in emails or use them as a base to build an entire blog post around.

To download the full recorded This Just Works digital event, go here to register with code TJWAG2020!

The post This Just Works: 3 Types of Videos You Can Create & Implement in your Social Media Marketing Strategy appeared first on ActiveCampaign Email Marketing Blog.