The ONE strategy that transformed my business

There’s one aspect of my own marketing strategy that I still believe has helped my business grow faster than I could have ever imagined, and that’s video. Video boomed in 2020, as we were all forced to work and communicate from home. But did your business take advantage of that boom, and has it remained a consistent part of your strategy? Well, on today’s episode, we’re going to look at why videos work so well for me and my business, how I use it, and then how you can also implement it in your business as well.

Hi, my name is Jordan McFadyen. Welcome to the Marketing Mindset podcast. This podcast is a challenge to both you and I, for us both to really reassess our marketing strategies and share some new thoughts and new ideas on how we can all move away from random acts of marketing, and start helping you to build a more long-term marketing strategy.

And today we’re discussing video, in particular online video, and how we use it to actually market our business. Now, the reason I got thinking about this was because I recently read a report from a company called Wistia. Now, Wistia is kind of like YouTube. You can upload and host videos. It’s more for businesses to be able to host videos on their website. They give some fantastic statistics around the video usage and how people use your videos, and you can put calls to action and things in there. It’s a great company that’s worth checking out if video is a big part of your marketing strategy.

But they ran a report that had a look at how video had performed for businesses over the past year. And there’s some really interesting stats. It got me thinking around, A, how many businesses are starting to utilise video. And then it got me reflecting on how I’ve been able to use video in my own business, and how I do credit that to a lot of the success that we’ve had. Because I think that the video work that we do is different from other competing agencies and companies that are in our space. And I think that would be the same for a lot of different industries and a lot of different businesses as well.

So what this report found is that videos about products, educational videos, and webinars, they all earned the most engagement and return on investment, according to the businesses that were surveyed. And that’s what businesses focused on creating in 2022. Now, as part of the survey as well, 69% of businesses said that they were most likely or very likely to actually try and make more videos this year, in 2023, than what they did in 2022. Which makes me think that the competition is going to continue to boom. So if you’re not in the video space or the video world right now, this is your chance to get in there now and start to make a name for yourself.

The other one that I thought was fascinating from this report is about the platforms that worked best for businesses to actually distribute their videos. And I was surprised. The results came out saying that LinkedIn and YouTube for businesses was noted that that was where they got the best results. When they put videos on LinkedIn and on YouTube, that was where they were getting the best return on investment, which is incredible. They’re saying they have got much fewer results from Meta, so it’s Facebook and Instagram. And a lot of customers also obviously starting to experiment with more content for places like TikTok as well. But that’s quite surprising: LinkedIn and YouTube being the places to distribute their videos to be able to get a really good return on investment.

And with high demand for video content, it was interesting as well about what’s actually stopping businesses from making more videos. And I was surprised to see it wasn’t actually anything to do with cost, or production costs that’s involved. It’s more saying that 64% of companies say that time is their biggest barrier. And also team size: they don’t have the team available to do it. 45% of people saying that team size was their biggest barrier, more than money, than cost and budget. And I think that’s quite true.

If we think about it for me and my strategy, I still use a pretty simple setup, even now. So, for example, we’ve got a microphone here for this podcast. I shoot all our videos that we do in-house just using an iPhone. We have a very simple lighting setup, literally just one simple light that we use, and then we just use natural light in our offices here. And whenever we do want to do more of a polished video, we’ll actually get a videographer in. So I’d say I kind of agree with the survey as well, that time can be one of those biggest barriers.

But first, before I get into that, I will just go into how I’ve been able to use video in Done By Nine’s strategy. So, with the history of Done By Nine, if we go back, we kicked off as a very small business, literally just me as a freelancer, back just before COVID. So this is going back March 2020. And this is how I was able to use video. I literally decided to use video right from the get-go. When we started the business, I thought this was one medium that I could really take and really start to grow and use. And I do think it’s had such a great impact on my business.

When we first started, I really focused on trying to get guest spots into webinars. And this was around the time with COVID where we were all starting to work from home, and everyone was needing to adapt their businesses. And so there were a lot of webinars, and a lot of large organisations were hosting webinars to try share expertise, to help businesses and business owners adapt to the new working-from-home change that we’re all going through. So I pitched and got invited on to as many webinars as I could. And this was a good form of video to really get us out there. This was across Zoom and other platforms that you run on webinars.

The good thing about this, and people still use this now, long-form video can still be really effective. Webinars and long-form informational workshop-style videos can be really good. They’re easy to do. Everyone knows how to use Zoom. Pretty much all computers have got some form of camera on them. Otherwise, you can use a mobile phone camera, which is what I’m shooting our podcast on here today. It’s easy to set up. And really, the only time required is to actually create that content around your actual workshop.

So I think it’s really interesting for us to try and challenge ourselves to think: is there some sort of webinar or workshop content that you can create? Are there some simple slides that you could make to help get your content across to your audience as well? And that can be a great way to get started in video, and start getting confident in front of a camera and talking to people. And we are. We’re all getting much more confident on cameras anyway, because we do use Zoom and Google Hangouts much more often than what we did. So the confidence barrier is definitely getting broken. It’s more, how can you use these different platforms to actually get some of that informational content in front of people? So that’s how I started, with the webinars.

And then in the background, what I really decided to do was also start to record videos. So again, if we go back to COVID times in March 2020, the dreaded year, we’re all working from home, all trying to adapt. What I did was, and I still do now, is we find backgrounds. So like the background with me today. But at home, I just found a plain white wall and set myself up, usually in front of a large window. For example, I’ve got a large window in front of me here today as well, which gives us a lot of natural light. And then hit record with a bit of content.

Informational content was what I found would work best for my audience. And it was a great way for me to show credibility, to start building trust, and to show my experience in digital marketing. And that’s how I kind of kicked off with the content and the background. So while doing the webinars and everything like that, I was really trying to do as much informational content as possible around different topics, around digital marketing. And then what I’d do is we’d edit them into small clips, and I’d then share them on social media. We’d even use the same clips to create ad campaigns, just so we could show our expertise, show that authority.

And then I’d actually have a look at the stats and see what type of topics people would watch more. Were there certain topics and certain styles of video that people liked better than others? And literally, the aim of the game was consistency: trying to just keep it consistent, trying to challenge myself to keep coming up with new, different content ideas based on what people actually wanted, and what people actually enjoyed watching, and where I could see that engagement was nice and high as well.

And also, one of the biggest differences for me was, and still is actually today, having videos on our website. And we’ve still got videos now. If you go to our website, donebynine.com, you’re going to see right below, you’ll see some videos which shows me. And it shows me kind of in front of the brand. And what I’m trying to do is create some credibility, but also try and show that we’re human, show that you’re going to be dealing with a team of experienced people. And it just builds that credibility and that familiarity with your audience as well.

So putting videos on my website, I still think, has been one of the biggest differentiators for us, especially in our industry. But there’s a lot of industries that could do with this as well. And again, the video that I started with on my website was just shot on a mobile phone. And it really did. It got me into a good spot where we could start building it from there. It was only literally about a year ago that we actually invested in transferring our videos to more professionally shot videos, with mics and lights and things like that. So in those early days, it was more just around those real simple mobile phone videos.

And I still think, and this goes back to the survey, my biggest barrier then, and to be honest, probably still now, is time. Time to get a camera set up. Time to get everything ready to go. Time to get it recorded. Time to edit it. So instead, what I do, and this is a tip you can take away if you think that time is going to be your biggest barrier, is literally batch record. So when I do these podcasts, or when I do any type of video, we try and batch record as many pieces of content at any one time. It means you’ve just got to spend a bit more time kind of creating those ideas, getting ready to go.

Sometimes if I’m going to do multiple videos in a day, I’ll even take it to the point where I’ll bring some extra shirts into work, so I can get changed in between shots. Literally, if you can batch record, you can be able to do multiple videos all with the same setup. Because time and setting up everything can obviously take a lot of time. So that would be my top tip if time is your biggest barrier: either having a setup where you can always have a tripod ready with your camera ready to go, or being able to batch record and do everything literally in one go.

And what I’ve found is that by incorporating video into my strategy, it has been an absolute game changer. It’s helped us increase our engagement, and our time on site and on our website as well. Because obviously videos, as I mentioned before, are really engaging. It’s an engaging medium that can capture your audience’s attention. It conveys your brand message really effectively. It’s a great way to show your values, and to show your brand’s tone of voice, and to really make it like a familiar brand that people feel connected to at the end of the day.

I also find that they’re really versatile. We use our videos on our website. We use them on social media, ad campaigns. Quite a few of the times, it’s the same video that we’re using across multiple different platforms. Because at the end of the day, most clients, most customers aren’t going to see every variation of that video. And if they are, they’re probably a massive super fan anyway.

And they’ve also been a massive help with our sales process. When I jump onto a discovery call with a new client, they already feel like that they have a connection with us. And honestly, you can tell the difference when you jump onto a sales call. The prospective client, they feel just a bit warmer to you. They feel much more receptive. And it’s much more easier to be able to strengthen that connection at the end of the day as well.

What we also do is we also present our client strategies and our plans and our proposals either across a Zoom video with our clients, but also we record sales presentations and proposals using Loom. So instead of just sending off a PDF and expecting that the client is going to read everything, we present it with a video. And again, it just gives you that connection without having to organise a time to meet with that person again. And it just kind of helps with both the sales process, but also with the client delivery for us as well.

So going back to yourself, what ideas can you use to be able to use video in your own strategy? So here’s some ideas, real quick ones. Product demos: videos that you can create that actually showcase your products or your services in action. Customer testimonials. This one’s gold. If you’ve got testimonials, or you’ve got customers that are willing to go on camera for you, use it. Videos can be used to share the customer stories, and these can be really powerful in building trust and credibility with new potential customers. And it helps with your overall SEO strategy, and showing Google and showing customers that you are a trustworthy, credible organisation.

Creating how-to videos: demonstrate how people can actually do certain things. This is the type of video that I like to share quite a bit, is how to use digital marketing, different techniques and digital marketing strategies. And these can be really powerful. Showing brand videos: videos that help you create your brand and your brand awareness, and convey your brand values. We do this with our team. We try and get the team involved. We do different series, like behind-the-scenes videos. We do lessons that we’ve learned since beginning our time at the company, and things like that. We try and share those brand values and that identity as much as we can through brand videos.

Explainer videos. So even take the time to take someone through and explain a complex concept, or show how your product or your service is actually working, or show how your value proposition of your service actually works. So explainer videos can also be really helpful.

But all I will say is that video, again, has been an absolute game changer for us as a business. So I would wholeheartedly say, if you’re not using video enough in your strategy right now, even if it’s not putting some videos on your website or getting your face seen a bit more on social media, I honestly think that you need to sit down with your team and start thinking about how you can incorporate video more as part of your overall strategy.

And look, if you want to chat around any video ideas, or learn more about how I’ve been able to use video on my business, please get in touch. jordan@donebynine.com is my email address. If you’ve got an idea of a topic that you want to see on this podcast, please send me an email with those ideas as well. And look, if you have enjoyed today’s podcast, it’s got you thinking about videos, please consider hitting that follow button or giving us a star rating. It is the best way for you to support me, support Done By Nine, and it helps us to create more valuable content for you at the end of the day as well.

And if you’re looking for the rest of our podcast and any of our blogs and articles, you can find all of that at donebynine.com, where you can also find the contact form to chat with me or the rest of the team as well. But again, I sincerely hope that you’ve got some value out of today’s video. And I sincerely hope as well that you can actually start to think about how you can incorporate video more as part of your marketing strategy. And we’ll see you on the next episode of the Marketing Mindset podcast.