“A picture is worth a thousand words but a video is worth a thousand pictures” Confucius.
LagosMums Mumpreneur Academy recently partnered with Google to empower Mums with the Video skills training that they need to make their business thrive and it was a great success. It was a Youtube Masterclass training designed for micro, small and medium-sized business owners, to teach the fundamentals of using video as an element in Digital Media Strategy to grow their business. See snippets below
Why you need to start making videos
The speed with which you can communicate with video is faster than using pictures or words. Globally, there are a billion hours of viewing time on YouTube per day. Every minute, 400 hours of content is uploaded and YouTube has 1.9 billion monthly logged in users. The number of small and medium-sized businesses advertising on YouTube has doubled over the past two years
In summary, a lot of content consumers prefer watching videos as videos tend to catch and retain people’s attention more than pictures or words.
How to win with video
The first step will be to start thinking about how to create a video. Watch free courses on YouTube Creator Academy. You can also watch YouTube channels that show you how videos and movies are made.
YouTube is a great way to keep your content, especially evergreen content. It takes your content out there and there are tools that help you analyse data to know what works for your audience.
[Highlights and Pictures from LagosMums Google Digital Skills Training]
How do you create content that stands out?
Tell a story! Focus on the uniqueness of your product and share the remarkable elements. if people enjoy the story, they will buy/receive the brand. Infuse an element of curiosity and be authentic – stay true to your brand
Video content strategy
When you focus on the user other things like sponsorship, brand awareness, generating revenue etc will fall into place. Think about your content strategy from a user perspective instead of a brand perspective.
When creating videos, you need to consider why users watch videos. It is usually for entertainment, to learn something and to be inspired. So, publish content that inspires, educates and entertains. Instead of creating sales content, answer questions. Also, be consistent – have a schedule that you stick to
Your video content should be in three categories – Help, Hero and Hub. Help focuses on creating videos that help your audience, be the best to answer their questions. Hero focuses on making great promotional ideas once in a while. While Hub is about making content for the interests of your audience.
Content is King but Distribution is Queen! Share your content across your website, social media, email list etc so that it will get to a wide audience.
Fundamentals for YouTube creative
1. Engage in the first 5 seconds – Captivate your viewer from the start. Tell them what you will be talking about. Remember that the user’s digital device is not a seat in the theatre, they can choose not to watch. Tell a story, feature the brand in the story. Viewers are less likely to remember. If you can feature a face, smiling character, celebrity or child. Remember that your viewers are probably watching with their phone, let it be tight angles
2. Captivate the user until the end – Build intimacy by featuring a face, smiling character or a celebrity if you can. Give your viewers a reason to watch by educating, entertaining, or informing. You can also hold the user’s attention with something unexpected – be creative
In addition, try funny or touching stories if it fits your brand or use comedy. Before you rule out comedy, If you think comedy won’t work for your brand, will it work for your customers?
3. Be true and authentic –Â Keep it real
4. Tell deeper stories – Let your video be about things people can relate to. Refer to your audience through your passion point. You can also use cultural references of their stories (play on nostalgia),
5. Know your audience. Give your audience what they want. One way you can do this is to make use of analytic tools available on YouTube to view insights.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session! You can share what you learnt with us on social media @lagosmums. Also, follow us on social media to join subsequent Digital Skills Training With LagosMums Mumpreneur Academy.
