How to Make a Business Promo Video on Your iPhone

I’m excited for today’s post because we’re going to dive into some golden nuggets of information that you can start applying to your business today in regards to creating your own business promo video.  

Now, let’s be real for a second…there is often pressure to create videos that look perfect and highly produced.  And although I believe there is a time and place for those as a division of your brand, there is also value in simply creating content. Period. There is so much value in just showing up, speaking to your audience.  You may think it’s simple, but they will likely find it highly valuable.

Now, when I speak about this, the top three things people say to me are:

  1. “I’m not comfortable on camera”
  2. “I don’t know what to say on camera”
  3. “Who’s going to pay attention to what I say?”

 

As an entrepreneur, we can have the added voice in the back of our head asking, “What is my competition going to say? What are people going to think?” And my answer to that?…create content for you CUSTOMERS and you’ll win.  It is about THEM and how you can serve THEM.

Speaking of good content, it’s widely known that Facebook loves video. Like, looooves them.  The algorithm favors live videos, as well as videos in general.  

So…I’ve been testing the waters and seeing how much I could increase my organic reach by playing according to Facebook’s rules (i.e. Facebook Lives + videos).  And although I may not have the budget (and let’s be honest, the desire) to have a video crew following me around, documenting my life…I do have a cell phone.

To test this, yesterday I made a quick video on my iPhone during a brainstorming session with a friend.  This is the first time I’ve ever shot, edited, and posted a video…all from my iPhone.  I took that 1-minute and 47-second video and posted it on Facebook.  And here’s the crazy thing…in less than 19 hours, it’s been viewed more than 10,000 times with a reach of 35,000 people.




So how can you easily do this for your business?  I suggest Pay Attention, Get Attention.  What I mean by this is, by paying attention to what people are searching for, watching, and stopping on while scrolling through their social media, you can ask yourself, “How can I better equip myself to better serve them via social media?” Step into their shoes for a moment and think like they would in order to answer these questions.

How did I test out this idea? I paid attention to what I was often asked, “What Does Your Brainstorming Sessions Look Like?” I answered their question visually by creating a video on How to Make the Most from a Brainstorming Session…and as a result, got the attention.

 

Now, let’s break this down how you can do the same in 3 Simple Steps

  1.  Clearly State The Topic

I want you to state this within the first 10-20 seconds!  This needs to happen really fast because as people are scrolling, you have a very short window in which to hook the viewer, keeps the viewer, and have the viewer stay with you for the entire duration of the video.  When you can keep a viewer from the start middle and end, you know that the chances of securing them as a follower, fan, or customer increases.  And don’t talk a lot…less is often more!

  1.  Provide value by teaching them, answering questions, and giving clear explanations

By giving your viewer simple action steps, you can create a unique space for your business.  Rather than speaking about how great you are, give them valuable action steps in order to better serve them!  If you can create content that helps alleviate stress, address their pain points, or just helping them along the way, you can convert friends into customers.

  1.  Tell a visual story, not just a commercial

This mean you must plan.  The temptation can be to go off the cuff but it is very difficult to make short and effective videos by simply being spontaneous and seeing what happens.  Instead, plan what you’re going to say by making a shot list.  Think about it this way, use how to explain visually what you’re saying audibly.

For example, in the video I made yesterday, if I was talking about taking notes and setting deadlines, I needed to show myself taking notes and settling deadlines. I also made a list of environmental scenes I could use as background to overlay with text.

What this really shows is that if you plan in advance, you can quickly write a script (yesterday’s video was 1:40 minutes), think through and make a list of the visual elements you need to capture, make, and share it!  The key is to make a short, effective video of content that people really want to see as they’re surfing Facebook!

Here are a few smartphone camera apps that’ll help you make videos easily (found in the Apple app store):

Stop Motion

Videoshop

Vidlab

Ripl

(As a point of reference, I shot 8 minutes of footage which resulted in a 1.5 minute video.  The first time using the app, from shooting, editing, and posting, it took me about 1.5 hours, but that was with a huge learning curve.  I’m certain that the next time I do it, I could most likely create from beginning to end in 35 minutes.)