With so many business owners and marketers working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we thought we’d provide some guidance on ways to help your business survive the resulting economic crisis of this pandemic through the use of video. Communication methods and marketing strategy may seem a little hazy right now, but company connectivity and brand awareness are two crucial elements that will help keep companies afloat. In an effort to be as helpful as possible, we’ve put together a guide to video connectivity and marketing during these unprecedented times.
Connection
Video is very useful for complex or sensitive conversations, as it feels more personal than written or audio-only communication. Sometimes seeing the person you are meeting with ends up helping move a project along more efficiently. Visual cues can increase knowledge between coworkers, as a lot is said with our body language and facial expressions. Another benefit of staying connected is that it can help reduce the sense of isolation among team members. Working from home can be lonely!
Video Options For Connectivity During COVID-19
There are many types of videos you can use to stay connected during this Covid-19 quarantine.
Internal Communication Videos
These videos don’t have to be full-on produced, just informative to employees with clear audio. Think of this type of video as a quick way to share a presentation or announcement with a group of people without the pressure of being live. Here are a few ways to get this type of video:
- Use the camera on your phone or computer to record, upload the video file to your shared network, and share the link.
- If video quality is somewhat important, you could bring in a small video production crew (1-2 people) to record the video at a higher quality and have them edit it quickly/efficiently.
Video Conferencing
Amidst the call for social distancing, face-to-face meetings are easily replaced with virtual ones. Do you already have a platform that allows video conferencing? If so – use it! If not, here are some free resources you can start using immediately. Some companies have even opened up advanced video conferencing features free of charge.
- Google Hangouts Meet
- Now through July 1, 2020 all G Suite customers can use advanced Hangouts Meet features, like larger meetings (up to 250 people), live streaming and recording.
- Zoom
- You can video chat with up to 100 people on Zoom and they have launched a page titled “Support during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
- UberConference
- To ease disruption from COVID-19, UberConference Free now allows longer call duration and up to 50 participants.
- Skype
- Skype allows group video calls with 50 people at once. For this service to be free all users must stay within Skype (no outside calling).
- Facebook Messenger
- Messenger allows up to 50 people on a call with 6 of them able to utilize video conferencing.
- FaceTime (Apple only)
- If you have an iPhone or iPad you can use FaceTime to video chat with up to 32 people.
- WhatsApp
- WhatsApp allows up to 4 people to video chat at once. They have launched a page titled, “How WhatsApp can help you stay connected during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic” available.
Video Marketing
Why Is Video Marketing Important Right Now?
We’ve been seeing that marketing experts are recommending NOT to slow down on your marketing efforts. In fact, some are insisting that doubling down is the way to go. It may feel a little strange right now to be thinking about this but being prepared to succeed can’t be a bad thing, can it?
According to Wordstream, “The best thing that we can do as marketers is to look forward and to calm the nerves of consumers as best we can by having clear, concise, and accurate messaging”. And the best way to deliver that messaging? The latest statistics show that it’s through video. One stat in particular that really drives home why video is the ultimate marketing tool is that “Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text” (Insivia). Video content is a marketer’s best chance at connecting with their audience and therefore, continuing to build their brand during these trying times.
“You may not see the biggest return right away, but in the long term, you will.” – Neil Patel
Video Options for Marketing During COVID-19:
Animated Videos
No need to gather a crew together, which means an A+ in social distancing. Animated video creation can be handled 100% online. Another benefit of animation is that the creators can get extremely specific with the flow of the video, since the content is being generated – not captured.
Testimonial Videos
How is your company handling COVID-19? Making a testimonial style video to let your audience know important updates and changes can bring community and function together. Showing leadership and transparency is what your audience needs right now and it will help reinforce your brand’s credibility. If you would like to have a little more formality to your video, this is the way to go. Here are the ways to capture this type of video (same as Internal Communication Videos):
- Use the camera on your phone or computer to record, make any small edits using built-in software on your phone or computer (like cutting out the section of your turning the camera on and off), and upload to your social platform of choice.
- If video quality is somewhat important, you could bring in a small video production crew (1-2 people) to record the video at a higher quality and have them edit it quickly/efficiently.
Live Streams
For more of an informal, “real-talk”, style video that allows your audience to receive your message in real time – live streaming is your top choice. With how often things are changing amid this time of crisis, live streaming could be the perfect way to quickly communicate to your audience in an authentic and compassionate way. Here is a list of some free live streaming sites:
- Social Media Live Streaming Apps:
- Facebook Live
- Facebook Live is easy to use, has the largest potential audience, real-time commenting, and simple, built-in analytics. A longer format is ok here.
- Instagram Live
- IG Live videos can put you at the top of the feed if you do a lot of them. It’s a visually focused medium with high engagement.
- Twitter Live via Periscope
- Twitter Live is good for short-form videos. The more eye-catching the better.
- TikTok
- There are 500 million users monthly on TikTok, which seems valid. However, we just saw this article pop up, which really isn’t cool: “TikTok Censored ‘Ugly, Poor, or Disabled’ People to Attract More Users”.
- Facebook Live
- Live Streaming Platforms:
- Twitch
- Twitch was originally for gamers to stream play but it’s moving into more varieties of entertainment. And it’s one of the “biggest cash cows in video history,” (SodaPDF).
- YouTube
- YouTube has created a page with COVID-19 updates on how they are handling the situation. Please note that YouTube Live Mobile is only free to users with over 1000 subscribers. Webcam and desktop versions are available.
- OBS Project
- With OBS you can stream from your computer while also capturing, rendering, and uploading video and data simultaneously. OBS can stream to many different platforms such as Twitch, Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook.
- Twitch
Technical Tips
Lighting
Here’s a quick tip on how to make sure you are as well lit as possible for your work from home videos. You don’t have to purchase any equipment, just use a nearby lamp, or position yourself near a window for natural lighting. It will do wonders to help your audience get the full message if the video is clear.
Audio
People can get past bad video quality, but bad audio is unforgivable. It immediately takes somebody out of the moment and ruins a video. We suggest using a boom mic or lavalier microphone to record your audio. If that’s not possible, at a minimum, make sure you’re in as quiet of a room as possible and that you’re as close to the camera (and therefore the microphone) as possible.
Graphics
One element that quickly add production value to even a webcam video is adding some graphic elements. There are free resources available online that you can use to add some wow factor, and therefore legitimacy.
Also, since graphics and animation are all done from home, this is something that could easily be sent to an editor or production company (like Push Focus) to add graphics professionally.
Budget Concerns
Is all of this overwhelming seeing as how you just got the word that your marketing budget was cut drastically? Don’t worry! If getting video started right this second isn’t in the cards, that is totally understandable. Instead, use this time to plan your video marketing strategy! That way, you can hit the ground running when things start to improve.
A Note From Push Focus:
As a Nashville video production company, our community has been through an EF-3 tornado leading into a global health and economic crisis, and times are tough. However, we are genuinely here to provide assistance to business owners and marketers in our city. If we can safely focus on the future, let’s give it a whirl. If you have an idea and could use our services, please let us know. We understand and are here to help if you need anything we can offer.
Email us at info@pushfocus.com or fill out our contact form.
