How to Succeed With Online Video Marketing for Your IT Business
Since I got started creating online videos for my business and my clients, few developments have me as excited about the medium as LinkedIn's live-streaming. Although LinkedIn launched its live video streaming initially for individual accounts, in early 2020, the site extended the service to Pages.
As a business leader, it means you can promote your videos on your page or your company's profile. According to the Small Business Trends website, the feature potentially has significant ramifications for your company's LinkedIn strategy. Live broadcasters on the platform see up to seven times more reactions and more than 20 times more comments.
However, live-streaming on LinkedIn is hardly straightforward and requires you to use a third-party tool to create your stream. While my firm, Ulistic, can guide you on the technical aspects of getting your message live on this popular business networking platform, there are other considerations for business and thought leaders.
In my recent video conference with Earle Foote of Nexus IT, we discussed what it takes for business leaders to successfully promote their companies and their brands through social video and establish themselves as thought leaders. We also explore how video can build a connection with your business partners, clients, and your community.
People Seek Motivation And Connection During Hard Times
I always make clear that I am bullish on the prospect of video becoming a mainstream marketing vehicle for IT service providers.
Unlike most IT solution marketers who push a hard sell of their client's services, I believe business leaders want to hear about business owners' journeys and how they addressed the challenges that they faced.
When you hone in solely on your services as a topic of your video, there might be an initial spike in interest, but in a market flooded with people marketing what they do, instead of how they did it, engagement eventually flat-lines.
Sincere Engagement Is A Gold Mine For Your Brand
Do not be satisfied being the guy making things happen behind the scenes. Today's business leaders do not want to do business with faceless entities; they want to know who is in charge, their values, and their story.
This is not a new field of thought. I noticed that once the pandemic hit, many companies that solely focused on putting their services in people's faces suddenly changed to try to be selfless and authentic.
However, in my experience and that of Earl, this sudden change of heart does not fool anyone. He says, "The reality is, if they didn't have the collateral built up already, the message falls on deaf ears because they didn't make their deposit into the social bank account ahead of time."
It is essential to show your audience that you care about them and what they are going through. However, establishing a sincere interest in your clients and your community takes time and is something an instant switch cannot help you fake.
I have not only been interviewing many of my contacts for a long time, but I also pepper our conversation with interesting little things of interest, like my interest in music and the fact that I play bass guitar in a band.
These tidbits build a personal connection that translates to a relationship with your business and its values.
Essential Lessons For Entrepreneurs Looking To Share Their Experiences On Social Video
Starting a video series can seem intimidating at first. However, Earl Foote provides the following tips that can smooth out your journey considerably:
- Start Small: Expensive recording equipment does not matter as much as your content. You may be surprised to learn that your audience, particularly on social media, engages best with simple cellphone footage than they would with highly-refined, professionally edited video. This is not to say that you should present them with shaky, grainy video, just that a video taken at reasonably high resolution with clear sound provides a level of authenticity that airbrushed footage does not.
- Be Patient: Just because you posted a couple of great videos at the start does not mean that you should expect to gain 45 new leads each month trickling into your pipeline. It takes a concerted effort over 12, 18, or even 24 months to see any kind of ROI on your video marketing efforts.
- Cut To The Chase: Depending on the kind of video content you create, you need to be reasonably brief if you want to capture the attention of people skimming LinkedIn or other social media channels.
- Make Your Content Easy To Consume: When a top-level business leader is sitting in their office, they probably do not want people around them to know or hear that they are watching a promotional, motivational, or inspirational video on LinkedIn. Besides getting to the point mentioned above, subtitle your videos and give them headers so that people can watch them on silent while reading your content.
Moving Away From Webinars, LinkedIn Live Streams Are The Next Frontier
One of the main advantages of LinkedIn live-streaming compared to a standard video is that it allows you to have intimate interactions with your audience in real-time. If you usually field many questions from your followers or customers on the platform, a great way to connect with them is to host a live stream.
Not only does it give you an unscripted avenue to talk to your audience, but it also provides a perfect way to collaboratively speak to your audience with others in your industry or with clients who can offer testimonials.
What's more, LinkedIn live can help you to promote any special events or share a live experience of the event with your followers.
Talk To Us And Let Us Make Video Work For Your MSP Business
To go live on the LinkedIn platform, you should first apply for approval through an online form. Upon approval, you will get an email message showing you the streaming platforms that you can connect to. Choose the one that best suits your needs and sign up for an account. Then connect that service to your LinkedIn account. Contact us today to learn more.
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