Video, as a content marketing tool, has seen phenomenal growth over the last while, with Facebook and now Twitter embracing this popularity and facilitating its use with prominence on their platforms. The value of video is immense as it creates instant visual attention in a world where online content gets more and more crowded.
We all want to be entertained and, whilst being entertained, we all want to learn and take something from a type of content that resonates. I watch video to gain clarity, be inspired, learn new concepts and as a tutorial tool to understand the how and why we are doing what we are doing every day.
As a business that looks at content and all the associated functions related to social and digital to add value, I want to find things that inspire me to try and inspire others about the field that I am passionate about.
Words, whether written or spoken, drive traffic and as well as providing compelling entertainment they can also have a tangible impact on your brand.
Here are some content marketing videos that have either inspired, educated or added clarity to my business and marketing strategy.
Content Marketing Institute: What is Content Marketing?
It’s all well and good to say you work in ‘Content Marketing’ but what exactly is it and how has it evolved?
CMI have put together a lovely, short video collating industry influencers ideas and thoughts on this. No tips in this one but a video that re-affirms why the concept is so important.
Rand Fishkin: How to Provide Unique Value in Your Content-Whiteboard Friday
The Wizard of Moz takes a popular or edgy content marketing or digital topic and delivers advice and opinion on it from a standing point by a white board. The white board illustrates the thought process of the video content and this illustration, as well as a transcript is included in each post as a take away.
In this video, Fishkin deconstructs the marketing term unique value and asks what does it really mean?
Rand says:
“If you’re making content for the web and you’re trying to figure out how can I be uniquely valuable, see what it is that you’re fitting into, which of these themes, hopefully maybe even some combination of them, and is that defensible enough to make you differentiated from your competition, from what else is in the search results, and does it give you the potential to have truly remarkable content and SEO going forward.
If not, I’m not sure that it’s worth the investment. There’s no prize in content for hitting Publish. No prize for hitting Publish. The only prize comes when you produce something that meets these criteria and thus achieves the reach and the marketing goals that you’re seeking.”
Jay Baer: The Content you Need is Under Your Nose – #JayToday
These 3 minute snippets of intriguingly compelling content are usually delivered with passion and conviction by New York Times Best Seller and President of Convince & Convert: Jay Baer.
With over 80 short videos to choose from that cover content marketing, social media and business, Baer produces snippets of insight that will add value to any marketing goals. The video I have chosen out of these 80 is on a topic of a question I get asked A LOT. Where do I get new content?
Jay says:
“2015 is going to be the year of co-operative content . What I mean by that is that the content resources you have at your disposal are vast, they are untapped.
Everyone who works with you are potentially content creators, every customer you have is potentially a content creator. Stop thinking about content as something you have to put together like a Hollywood film and start just thinking about providing content that people care about.”
REELSEO: Tim Schmoyer How-to Conduct Effective Video Interviews: 9 Great Tips
Every week ReelSEO provide a Visual Creators Tip for budding video marketers. They also use these video to educate on all aspects of creating, sharing and promotion. This particular video covers the techniques and advice for creating a great video interview:
Tim says:
Create a goal for the Video Interview before you start: “What information or main point do you want to extract from the interviewee? Know what the goal of the interview is and the direction you want to go before starting. Don’t just start asking random questions and hope you get something good. Know where you want to go with the interview and communicate that to your interviewee ahead of time.”
Kevin Spacey: Closing Keynote Highlights – Content Marketing World 2014
Just over five minutes long but these five minutes of edit encapsulate the essence of telling the story. Spacey, who jokes himself about being invited to address the gathering on the topic of content marketing, sees the three pillars of storytelling as conflict, authenticity and audience.
Kevin says:
Conflict
“Conflict creates tension and tension keeps people engaged with your story. This kind of conflict between who we are, what we want to be and what others may expect of us is the central thread of the human experience.
Our stories become richer, become far more interesting when they go against the settled order of things to really achieve something different and unexpected.”
Authenticity
Spacey warns content marketers to be mindful of how easy it is to fall into the trap of focusing on keywords and ‘quick hits’ to boost ranking on Google.’
“Stay true to your brand and true to your voice and audiences will respond to that authenticity with enthusiasm and passion.”
Audience
Possibly the most important element of any story, Spacey praises content marketers for their grasp of understanding that the device and length are irrelevant to the story. Audiences want stories and if we give them the right one they will make sure to embrace it, discuss it and share it which is what content marketing ultimately aims for.
“Get your minds to work, express yourself with confidence and always remember it’s the risk takers that are rewarded.”
It’s so easy to run away with yourself working in the field of content marketing trying to stay abreast of the rapidly changing landscape of concepts and technology so this key note is special as it is a reminder of the importance of understanding the basic standard from which any content marketer should start: the audience.
These short videos all provide their own nuggets of wisdom within the functionality of the content marketing industry. The fantastic thing is that these types of videos are used as a consistent strategy by more and more marketing organisations. This means that these valuable segments of information will be continued on a regular basis. Keep an eye out for more.
Which Content Marketing Video’s do you enjoy watching and learning from?
Content Plan COOL TOOL: Canva
Check out our own weekly COOL TOOL videos. This week’s Cool Tool is Canva.
