Creating video content can be intimidating. Especially when you're just starting out! That's why we decided to host our first-ever panel with experts who share their tips and tricks to creating great lean video content. So whether you're just starting out or you're looking to up your game, this panel is for you!
In this blog, we’ll share the top 10 insights gained from:
Hibob’s Head of Content, Shelby Blitz
Similarweb’s Employer Brand Manager, Sivan Felder
Walnut’s Head of Marketing, Emmanuel Cohen
They share the strategies that helped them produce high-quality, engaging videos that get results.
Insight 1: Video Content Has No Recipe
If you put a lot of time and effort into your videos, there's no guarantee that people will respond positively to them. For example, Emmanuel said, "you can work on a video for 4 months and get 10 likes." In addition, you can work on a video for 40 minutes and get 1000s of likes - you just don't know.
"The beauty of creating content is that when you share it on social, you have nothing to lose; you can go as wide and wack as you want." - Emanuel Cohen
Videos are a great way to connect with your audience and share your story in an engaging and visual way. However, video content can be difficult to perfect. There is no real recipe for success, so you have to experiment and try different things to see what works for you.
The key is to keep trying and learn from your mistakes. With patience and perseverance, you're bound to create videos that Resonate with your audience and help you achieve your goals.
Insight 2: Create Really Fun & Cool B2B Videos
B2B is no stranger to boring content. Most people think that business-to-business has to be serious and stuffy, but that doesn't have to be the case. With a little creativity, you can make B2B content that is both informative and fun.
That's just what Emmanuel did during his time at Wix. They had been struggling to get people to engage with their videos. They were sending over film crews to capture video testimonials from their users but found that the only thing these videos got them were a few likes and low engagement rates. It became clear: Wix needed something more original if they wanted to pave their own space in the market.
So they decided to try a new approach. Emmanuel found people on Bored Panda doing unique stuff with video. He then looked into those users to see if they had a Wix website and reached out to ask if they could share their videos. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and Wix was able to promote some amazing websites created with their platform.
"I took something that is not from the marketing world and implemented it into our marketing strategy for free. And that went bananas" - Emmanuel Cohen
Insight 3: See What’s Working
Creative thinking is important. The experts don't know what will work, but they're willing to try new things in order to find out! As Emmanuel suggests, one tip for companies who want to start creating video content but don't know where to start is to "look what works in your field." This can help you understand what kind of content is popular and engaging and give you some ideas for adapting your own content into a video format. He continues. "Mix and match and try. something will work at some point. Don't be afraid to fail; social media is very forgiving for mistakes".
"When I think of video, I always ask, okay, what's working? Let's do otherwise." - Emmanuel Cohen
Shelby says, "my tip would be just to look at what you're already producing, whether a written blog or a guide or whatever it might be, and think about how you can turn it quickly into a video. Whether it's just text that simply comes up on screen or have someone jump on zoom and talk through the concept."
"You don't need to come up with like a huge grand idea; you can look at what you're already doing and see how you can kind of squeeze that into a short video." - Shelby Blitz
Sivan agreed, stating, "I'm a huge fan of copying. So if you see something that you like and it works - you can literally just swap out their dialogue for your own."
By following this advice, you can quickly and easily create engaging video content that will reach a wide audience.
Insight 4: Quick & Dirty Content for the Win
The market moves so quickly that it's become a necessity to produce content quickly to stay relevant. The problem with high-production videos is that they take an insane amount of time to do, so you've got to look for shortcuts.
"How can we meet the deadlines of yesterday?" - Shelby Blitz
As Sivan said, "every other time we spend money, by the time the video is finished, they're like, oh, we totally changed everything." She continues, "so quick and dirty is really the only way to get anything out."
It's important to be efficient in your production process. Figure out what steps you can cut out or streamline in order to save time and money. Don't be afraid to experiment and see what works best for your particular audience and situation.
"That's the beauty of doing things quick and dirty because then you can say, oh, we tried. Let's go on to the next one because it didn't cost you a lot of money." - Barak Shachnovitz
Insight 5: Create Videos & Create a Lot of Them
Hibob writes about 6 case studies per quarter, and out of the 6, they get 2 videos - an average of 12 videos per quarter. Shelby realized they now "had all this amazing content from customers." and asked, "how can we use this for more than just, you know, writing a case study?"
So she took the zoom call, cut them into 1-2 small quotes, added nameplates and subtitles using Peech, and included them in her case studies, ads, and social media content. This process has been extremely beneficial for Hibob, as they could now create multiple pieces of content from one customer interaction.
Insight 6: Put Humans Front & Center
Hibob is an HR platform, so they know that putting humans front and center is important. Similarweb agrees as they offer employees opportunities to get involved with video content. However, they know that not everyone is comfortable getting on camera. That's why they developed a few ways to help motivate employee participation.
Sivan realized the importance of personalizing your pitch to the needs of the individual. For instance, if they had a personal brand, she would explain how getting on camera could help benefit their personal brand. Or simply just providing an opportunity for employees to share their stories in their own words. By taking the time to understand each employee's motivation, she was able to create video content that was both meaningful and engaging.
Insight 7: Small Steps Lead to Big Wins
When it comes to management and expectations, it's important to be clear about what you are doing and why you are doing it. This is especially true when it comes to projects that may not have a clear ROI.
In these cases, explaining how the project will benefit the company in the long run, is important. For example, if you are working on a project that will improve employee branding, it is important to explain how this will attract new talent and improve retention rates.
A Emmanuel said, "If you have to wait every time for permission to do something in marketing, I will probably have never achieved anything because people tend to be a bit scared because it's the reputation of the brand, but once you do..." He continues with reference to his time at Wix "I just took the video and published it online. Everyone was like, Mano, what did you do? It's not the brand. And then 1 million views - yeah, you know what, do it again. So you just need to take the leap."
By being clear and concise about the benefits of your work, you will build trust with management and eventually be given the freedom to do your job to the best of your ability.
Insight 8: Most KPIs are qualitative, not quantitative
Shelby says, "It definitely depends what kind of video and what the goal is of the video."
Sivan believes the ROI that has the highest value is when an employee shares the video or when someone comes up to them and says how great one of their videos is, and then, of course, analytics. She said, "People don't take the time to tell you these things unless it was very impactful because who has the time to remember anything." She also continues, "I don't think people can expect really to get like a lot of impressions nowadays or a lot of engagement."
Emmanuel said, "Put yourself in the conscience of different people that are in your target audience. That has a real business impact that is not measurable like data."
Insight 9: Video is Not Exclusive
Where there's a lack, there's a gap. The lack of video content on LinkedIn has shown some marketers that there is a gap in video content on the platform and an opportunity for growth and development in that area.
"Content has no territory, you can share content from TikTok on LinkedIn, and people will enjoy it because it's fun." - Emmanuel Cohen
While Shelby said, "TikTok stuff is a great example because you can use it on your LinkedIn. I wouldn't make your LinkedIn into a glorified TikTok, but you can reuse that content." She continued, "there are some open questions about the LinkedIn algorithm and how they want people to interact with their platform." Sivan agreed, stating, "I would still say it's worthwhile like not to do hundreds of them, but like one a month is still, I think, impactful."
Emmanuel states, "there is an opportunity on LinkedIn because people don't share video." He continues, "we do marketing that is strongly video-based and mainly on LinkedIn, and we see a very positive return. My feed on LinkedIn is full of videos, but at the end of the day, our algorithms are very simple; when you like something, they show you more of it, so if I like video content, I see a lot of video content." "On the contrary, I would say there is an opportunity on LinkedIn for video content because it's not reached its full potential like other social media."
There you have it, the top 9 insights from our expert panel. It's no secret that video is one of the most important forms of content. But for a lot of businesses, getting started can be really tough! The brands that see it as an opportunity will likely flourish, while those avoiding it altogether may struggle to maintain their footing in the marketplace.
What was your biggest takeaway from the panel?
