The Main Mindset Challenge for New Video Marketers
Let’s face it, there is no shortage of information about how to leverage video marketing to grow your client base.
The problem is the execution.
Unfortunately, video production and marketing preys on many of our more primal insecurities–fear of judgement, inadequacy, and capabilities.
Lack of resources–like money, time, and talent–are less-often the big problem.
More often, we simply doubt our ability to create something that people will like and respond to.
We’re afraid to put ourselves out there.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s take a look at the most common objections I hear from my clients about why they haven’t implemented video marketing, prior to working together.
Objection #1: I’m Not Creative
Most of us know how big an opportunity video marketing can offer us. So why do businesses–especially established small businesses–ignore this opportunity? Why do we opt to avoid video marketing in favor of less effective alternatives?
Sure, you might say that most small businesses typically don’t have the time or staff.
Or perhaps it’s because it costs a lot, relative to just using an image and some text in their ads.
Or maybe they tried once, it didn’t work, and that was that.
After working with dozens and dozens of businesses to create videos to help them grow their businesses, however, I typically find that the most common, deep-seated reason for not implementing a video marketing strategy is that they believe they aren’t creative.
My response is that creativity is simply a process, and processes are learnable.
‘Creative people’ are quite often just people who had an interest/curiosity in a creative discipline and then studied the processes that facilitated creation.
A great deal of the creative process that will engage potential clients and help you grow your business with video marketing campaigns is learnable and reliable. It’s not some innate quality that you are born possessing, but one that you acquire and refine with practice.
And if you remove this subjective fear of creativity, replace it with a reliable process, and then combine it with all of the technical marketing tools that most businesses are already comfortable with? That’s where we start to fire on all cylinders.
When I was in middle school and all I wanted in the world was to be in a boy band (because, hey, it was the late 90’s), everyone told me I was a bad singer. “You can’t learn to sing. You have it, or you don’t.”
It took me until I was a Junior in high school and was still singing (terribly) in any musical theater production or local group that would have me, I saw that the best singers in the productions (except one, darn you and your natural talent, Mike!), had studied for years with vocal coaches.
Well, you can guess what I did. I studied. I got a coach. I got better. I then started getting hired and eventually toured the country as a professional actor, doing a great deal of musicals and Shakespeare productions–both of which require a ‘good’ voice.
Developing creativity for coming up with ideas for videos is the same. The people who are good at it have probably studied other people and practiced a lot.
There are many story-telling resources out there. Your biggest tool is simply watching other videos that you think are good in other industries and dissecting what they’re doing. Then incorporate these elements into your videos.
If you’re going to ‘borrow’ from other videos, I highly recommend doing so from videos in industries, other than your own. Copying your competition doesn’t help you stand out.
Also, you can rely on video story structures, which is my main mission in the ecosystem. If you haven’t already read it, you can find my main thoughts on how to leverage story structures for reliable creativity here.
Objection # 2- I Don’t Have Enough Time
This brings up the problem, of course, that, as a business owner or marketer, you don’t have years to develop these storytelling skills.
You need results now! Business is struggling now! Covid and all its ugliness is affecting life now! Your competition is snuffing you out, now!
It’s true. Video production does take time. But it can take far less than you think. Here are a few ways to cut down production time:
- Have in-house production capabilities, even if that means a video
- Write videos using story structures, and invest in your storytelling capabilities.
- Avoid perfectionism at all costs. Speed and testing are far more powerful than ‘the perfect video,’ because it doesn’t exist.
- Use available locations, people, and props to ground your stories.
- Likewise, avoid writing any stories that require unavailable resources or ones that would require ‘making a call’ or spending money.
- Stick to 15-30 second videos. They can focus around a single event, location, and button.
- Batch your production. Don’t make one video at a time. Create a list of video ideas. Then batch as many into one day as possible. This will help you avoid needing to ‘assemble the forces’ more times than necessary, which also cuts down on admin time, significantly.
The time it takes to produce a video almost always comes down to writing stories that are easy to produce and avoiding the ‘home run’ mentality. Subsequent first-base hits will bring in many more runs than one home run.
Objection #3- We Don’t Have the Budget
Despite the resource-driven approaches and story structures I’ve provided, I’m sure many of you still don’t have the resources to make videos on the regular.
While I’d love to tell you that video marketing is free and easy, it definitely isn’t.
At the end of the day, video marketing IS an investment. It doesn’t need to be crippling, but it is a commitment.
So sure, do dabble in the shallows, if you’re new to the process. But I whole-heartedly encourage you to jump in, skivvies and all.
Does this mean you need a designated production team?
Nope. Maybe you can get your all-in-one marketer trained up. If you’re interested in this, don’t hesitate to reach out, as I do production training for in-house teams. They can be up to speed in only a few days and skip months of trial and error.
Maybe you can do some of this yourself by getting a phone in your hand and learning some editing basics.
Or maybe you’re a larger company and have a designated team. Or have some money to hire a freelancer or agency.
There are many viable options that don’t need to cost a great deal or take a lot of time to implement.
It mostly comes down to commitment:
It’s a commitment to bringing your business all the leads, clients, customers, and success that your efforts deserve.
It’s a commitment to your potential customers to make them aware of a solution they desperately need.
Final Words of Opportunity
We’ve never possessed the power to create, test, and pivot so quickly, which means that we now have the tools we need to truly connect with and understand our potential and existing clients.
So, with all these objections and doubts, address, go. Get started.
If you need help and step-by-step guidance, reach out. Schedule a call.
Find out what works. Scrap what doesn’t.
Transform your business.
