A business vlog, or video blog, is a continual online video series about your business. It allows for a fun and entertaining way for your business to engage with your customers, to market products, share ideas, spark conversations, and build deeper relationships. If your business isn’t blogging or vlogging, you are missing out on an incredible branding and marketing tool. It takes a lot of work to pull off a successful blog. You need to think things through before you get started and map out a strategy. In this post we will go over the very first things to consider as you plan your very own business show!
1. Pick Your Audience
Depending on your business model and products and services that you provide, your audience may be varied, or completely niched out. If you cater to a tight niche, this step of the process is pretty straight forward. Your audience is right in front of you. If you’ve got a lot of different types of products and services that bring in different customers you will need to take some time to research the right audience to pursue. Questions to ask yourself: Is this group my best clientele? Are they most likely to be shopping and researching online? Can I get the best bang for the buck by spending my time and energy working to reach out to and solve their specific needs? I’m a passionate and enthusiastic about catering to this audience?
2. Understand Your Audience’s Problems
Your biz blog can be entertaining and informative, inspirational, or track along specific topics, but most of all, it is imperative that it works to provide customer solutions. You want to show case your business as a place that exists to help. Your vlog then becomes a valuable resource that can be subscribe to and visited regularly. You build your brand as the expert in your field.
** Special Note ** The point of a biz vlog should be to build a loyal following- to increase brand awareness and word of mouth advertising. This is not done by tooting your own horn and pushing your message on the public. It’s about becoming a publisher of valuable content that resonates positively with those who experience it. See yourself more as a content publisher/communicator and less of a messenger/advertiser. It’s the difference between a giver and a pusher.
3. List Out Your Topics and Shows
Write out a list of all the different questions you receive from your customers. Create a questionnaire and make it available in your shop. It you are making your social media networks a place to engage your customers and have conversations, you’ll be able to glean valuable information from there. Also, think outside the arena of your immediate business. What are some related industry news items that your audience may be interested in seeing? What types of lifestyle or value driven content would your audience appreciate?
4. Fit Their Style
After nailing down who your audience is going to be you need to think of a presentation style and format that will resonate with them. Demographics and fulfilling expectations is a major element to consider. YouTube is a great place to start. Type in some keywords related to your audience and get some idea of what others are doing. You may find that what you see is total junk. You might get some inspiration, but the key is to get ideas and make them your own.
5. Keep It Simple
A big mistake many start up vblogs fall into is over thinking it, or trying to over produce their show.
The ABCs, NBCs, CNNs of the world have millions of dollars to spend producing their content. It’s unrealistic to think you can top that production value. Come up with a show treatment model that works within your time frame and budget. Do you already own a video camera? Use it! Do you have a place in the garage to conduct interviews? That will work! Would it be interesting to shoot on location around town and never have to deal with lighting and set up? Make it easier on yourself and have fun with it. Your attitude and exuberance will shine through!
