Video is taking over the world. It’s become quite the powerhouse over on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Why is video becoming such an essential tool for a brand? It has a higher retention rate than text posts with viewers retaining 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.
YouTube is a great indicator as to why video is great at teaching us about different topics. Video is an engaging way to process complex information into bite sized pieces. It builds a greater emotional connection that's not only memorable but visually stimulating to an audience. More importantly, for business purposes, it's a great return on investment with 90% of users saying that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision-making process.
The Rise of LinkedIn Video for Personal Brand Building
LinkedIn video launched late in 2017 and with it came the video storytellers like Quentin Quallum, Goldie Chan, String Nguyen, and Curt Mercadante who are the becoming big hitters. In Crushing It, Gary Vee mentioned that businesses should jump into untapped social media platforms. LinkedIn video is a fairly new one with a large potential to communicate your brand’s story. The opportunity is there and if done correctly, being one of the first in the game will establish your expertise and brand. As these video storytellers have shown, consistent videos build brand awareness, loyalty, and trust among viewers.
How does video build community for personal brands?
Videos build community because it provides an international digital platform that helps connect you with like-minded individuals. A platform where you can share your expertise; where you can also be raw and share your struggles and successes.
YouTube stars like Sean Connell, Pat Flynn, and Michelle Phan are great examples of building a community around their interest in electronics, passive income, and makeup. They’ve built a business from capturing their passion through video. With video, viewers get a window into you as a professional. For example, with LinkedIn video, in particular, Michaela Alexis showcased her struggles with unemployment and her transition into being the president of her own marketing company. She even shared her anxiety with public speaking and people connected with that because they’re all human qualities that we struggle with as well. We connect with stress, success, and development.
Video builds community by increasing conversations among the internet, it increases discussion with 92% of mobile video viewers who share videos with others. (MPW Digital Media)
How to start with video
Write. Find your stories by writing your ideas down and organizing them to what you want to say on camera and what you want your audience to take away from it. What pain point do you want to solve and most importantly, what value are you giving?
Whatever social media platform you choose to make video in, craft native video. What might work for YouTube might not necessarily work for LinkedIn, know your audience and cater your content to them.
If you write down many ideas, concentrate on one per video. Most companies I’ve worked with wanted to jam pack a video with tons of ideas when in fact, that’s the best way to lose an audience. One idea, one video.
Social videos generate 1200% more shares than text and images combined (WordStream).
10 quick tips for creating videos for LinkedIn
- The handy smartphone. If you’re planning on doing videos for personal branding, start with your smartphone. It’s fairly inexpensive and all you need is free apps to edit and compose.
- Stories sell. We are wired for stories as it allows us to better remember the message and connect with it.
- Subtitles. Add subtitles to LinkedIn videos, feedback says fewer people turn on their audio.
- Act natural. Pretend you're talking to a friend when taking video, this will help you relax and be more natural in front of the camera.
- Set goals. Have a goal in mind before you begin, what do you want people to take away. What's the call to action? Have a video strategy.
- One topic at a time. Write a script of a sort, key points you want to touch on. However, focus on one topic at a time. As you record videos, you'll see a gradual improvement.
- A series. Build a consistent content that becomes a series. Find a pain point and aim your focus there.
- Don't be a robot. Don't be afraid to laugh and stumble on your words, that's what editing is for; be you.
- Interview other experts. Interview others if you're not comfortable with talking about yourself.
- Show the real authentic you. Don't play a character that you want people to see, be a reliable source of information.
Remember, people love stories and connect with them, start sharing yours to increase your brand and help your audience. Most importantly, find a solution and make it shareable.
