SMB Madison February Meeting Covers Video

In February and March 2010 Social Media Breakfast Madison is covering Do It Yourself and Professional Video topics.  Brandyn Olson of Requisite Video provided the presentation for February and Sandy Kallio provided reporting duties.

First steps

• Set goals for your video.
• What are you trying to do?
• What results do you desire?
• Have a call to action.

Other points to consider

• Research your audience and have a strategy.
• Where is your target audience active online?
• What are the problems and issues they are talking about

Choose your tool (s) carefully with resources in mind.

• What tools will you use?
• Where will the video be hosted or embedded?
• How will you get people to view it?
• Where is your target market active online and can you reach them through the tools and resources you have?

Test & measure.

• How will you know it’s working?
• Views can be misleading.

His example:  Client’s goal was 10 new members in three months. Video by Requisite Video had 100 views, obviously focused on the right audience because 13 converted memberships to the customer in the first month.

FaceBook page considerations

If  you’re on FaceBook have you built an audience so they’re ready and willing to receive your video message?

What do they need to see, hear, feel? Consider your Web page a 24-hour channel. If there’s no video, nothing’s on.

Brandyn Olson talked about Requisite Video’s  FaceBook fan page being more active than his Web site.  He also shared his strategy to spread content over FaceBook and YouTube vs. pages hidden behind pages on the company Web site.

Making the best of what you have.

At the meeting we had a High Definition and regular Flip video, a camera and tripod on display as examples.  In most cases, HD is not crucial. For clients who shoot their own video but want a more professional look, Requisite video will re-edit and post it for them.

Other products to consider are the Kodak Xi8 which has an external mic, or the Sony Bloggie which is HD and allows you to take 5MP stills.  The external mic picup is an important feature for interviews.

Viewers expect quality.

If it’s a great story, they’re willing to sit, listen, watch longer. Tips to improve quality:

• Stabilize with a tripod, your body, bean bag. Brandyn demonstrated walking, crossing leg over leg facing subject and using both arms for slow panning. Emphasized slow movement to avoid stutter problem.
• Follow the rule of thirds and focus on the intersections of those spaces for subject placement. Avoid distractions in the background (such as a plant growing out of your subject’s head).
• Frame so just the top of the head shows.Typically, there’s too much room above the subject. Better to get more floor in the image than than ceiling.
• Lighting it up. LCD/laptops can make the image darker, so this is essential.
• Audio quality – or lack of – is the biggest problem with flip cameras. If you need an option for an external mike, consider the Sony camera.
• Avoid noisy coffee shops, find a quieter place such as a conference room, get close to the subject – especially if a soft speaker, and be aware that as the interviewer your voice will be heard well.  A small tabletop tripod is important and warned about pointing it up and filming your subject’s nostrils.
• Once you take your video, don’t forget to think about how else you could use the content.  Make it into a podcast, video-cast, and transcribe for a text-based post.

Video content is not search-able… yet.

Until the technology is greatly improved tagging, meta descriptions and file titles on video are the only way anyone can find your information. Don’t forget this step.

The search engines can see that its a video, but unless you tag and describe the contents, its an unknown.  Pay attention to how you tag, and where you post. All of the social sites allow you to tag and add a description which is critical. this is also a good reason to transcribe your video for text-based post. Phonetic searching is coming, but Brandyn sounds less hopeful  since he tried “Sauk Prairie Bald Eagles” and got “George Washington Cape.”

Distribution channels: YouTube, Website, blog, FaceBook, paid placement.

Brandyn talked about YouTube as the hosting platform and that he used to be concerned about traffic loss from his site when the video would end and other video options would pop up for viewers.

He created his own YouTube channel and has two categories for his videos posted there: testimonial videos and promotional videos.

It is suggested that paying attention to how you title the videos, using a video  interview of Midwest Airlines staff as an example of how one could capitalize on that name.

Brandyn talked about the benefits of posting on YouTube: free to start, optimized – the most active place for video.

Brandyn and others talked about archiving video and labeling drives so can find what he needs later. He keeps a list via Google docs but it’s not searchable by key word. Al Falaschi of Widen ( a Madison-based company specializing in digital asset management) said he uses Final Cut Server asset management as a software tool.

Brandyn showed how his company created four videos for a martial arts business, with the first piece short and very upbeat – and with an embedded play list with the other three. Viewers could watch all four or pick what they wanted to see without scrolling down a page.

When NOT to do it yourself.

• When you’re not sure what results you want
• When you’re not sure what your message is
• When your goals are not achievable with the tools and resources you have
• When you’re branding yourself or your company. Consider professional help for this opportunity to make a great first impression.
• When your time is worth more than the cost to hire a professional.

Our March Social Media Breakfast Madison on Tuesday, March 30th at Talula Restaurant (802 Atlas Avenue Madison WI), will cover video from the point of view of having others do it for you. Final speakers to be determined.

Please share your video experience and stories in the comments.

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