WOW #030: Video on a Shoestring Budget

Quote of the Week: 
“The play button is the most compelling call-to-action on the Web.”
- Michael Litt

This week I’ll get tactical, but open with a question:

Are you currently using Video Marketing to promote your small business? 

If you are on the outside looking in when it comes to using Video Marketing, I am guessing the usual suspects are preventing you from moving forward:

• Time & Money: It seems time-consuming and costly.
  
• Purpose: What's my strategy and how do I use video?
• Uneasiness: I don't want to be recorded on video.

Creating effective videos has never been easier and cheaper than it is right now. After you’ve developed a storyboard with the right messaging for your video, the next step is using digital tools and software to cobble everything together.

Today, I wanted to share my “tech stack” that I’ve used to create videos for myself as well as Clients. It won’t make you Christopher Nolan, but it might level-up your current game.

1. Pexels - Video
   Pexels offers royalty-free video (photos too). In the search box, make sure you’re searching keywords for videos and not photos. Tip #1: screen for videos that are the right length for your storyboard. To quote my barber, “I can always cut, but it’s difficult to add.”
   
   
2. Bensound - Audio
   Bensound has royalty-free and licensed music. It’s easy to get lost amongst the sea of different genres and moods. Tip #2: click the “free music only” box to bring up royalty-free results vs. licensed.
   
   
3. 11 Labs - AI Voiceover
   If you’d rather not have your own voice on video and aren’t friends with Will Arnett, this is a good tool. Tip #3: if you plan on producing a lot of videos, the free trial runs out. (<10,000 characters a month keeps it free)
   
   
4. OBS Studio - Editing
   There are tons of video editing tools out there, but this one is Open Source. Tip #4: watch a few How-To videos before snipping and cutting (a definite time-saver).   
   

2 Takeaways: 

1. Include a Call-to-Action. In Litt’s quote he mentions the play button as the most compelling CTA, which would make your CTA at the end of your video a close second. Even if it’s just a URL, it’s an invitation for your audience to explore more of your website and engage with more content. If your specific video strategy is “top of funnel” then a short link or email makes even more sense.
   
   
2. Video is the Ultimate Marketing Amplifier. In addition to your website, your video can easily be edited, spliced, and tweaked for social media channels. Furthermore, after you complete your first few videos (without vendors or agencies), you’ll discover that they aren’t that time consuming. 

1 Action:

Set aside time this week to evaluate your current Video Marketing strategy for:

• Cost and Time Production
• Impact and ROI

How can you move the needle on either (or both)?

Finally, this issue wouldn’t be complete without a sample using the tech stack I mentioned: my homepage video.

Have a great week everyone,

Hubert