So, in one of my previous blogs I established that Vlogging was more powerful than blogging. But then I was thinking.. how do you create a successful vlog?

Vlogging is a fantastic tool for not only marketing your products but also some E-PR (electronic public relations), it allows you to maximise favourable mentions about your brand, company website etc… and potentially drive some traffic towards your website! It will also give you the opportunity to minimise your negative E-PR by monitoring and influencing conversations.

… If you get it right of course!

 (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick. 2012)

Firstly, Choosing the right platform

Before you get started.. you need to know WHERE to get started. The two most popular platforms to start creating your Vlog are : YouTube and Vimeo. But which one is best for you?

YouTube

Thinking about it…. What is YouTube?

So.. YouTube in general is a lot of things! But for your brand it could be the way to powerfully engage with your consumers. Over 72 hours of YouTube content is uploaded every minute, making it one of the most powerful and used websites on the internet. (Young. 2013)

You Tube Pros vs Cons
Most popular video sharing platform	Traffic cannibalisation – YouTube might advertise related videos, related to.. your competitors. Great. Thanks!
It’s free!	The quality of the content – so much is uploaded onto YouTube every hour, your video could be displayed next to anything – literally ANYTHING! Might not be the most professional outlook?
There are paid advertising solutions available	Competitive advertising – people are out to steal your consumers, bringing them to your YouTube channel could almost be handing them over on a plate

(King. 2014)

Vimeo 

Click on the image to watch a video about Vimeo and read how Vimeo works in detail.

Vimeo Pros Vs Cons
No annoying video advertisements!	Google Rumours – Speculations state that as Google owns YouTube it will remove start to remove videos from their results pages that aren’t hosted by YouTube
It’s not free but -Low cost business account	Limited Amount of uploads – no matter what type of account, you can’t just upload however many you want!
Quality of content & community	Less traffic than YouTube – traffic is on the increase but not at a competitive level with YouTube yet, meaning you won’t reach as many people as you possibly could.

(King. 2014)

 Although your company videos may not ‘go viral’ if you read at my blog about creating successful videos, you should be able to identify what components are needed to create a successful video in general before we move onto VLOGGING.

Vlogging, Blogging and Social Media in general, have an element of an online community. It is important to remember some of the fundamental differences for this type of marketing and E-PR, from what you may be used to in more traditional forms. Before we begin looking at what sort of things to blog about, take note of these considerations :

1. The audience is directly connected to your business. This is only really going to be seen by the people who want to see it, it is a directional form of communication.
2. The audience are connected to each other. Social networking allows for communication between users, or for example, individuals to post their own blogs about your brand and its products.. this could either be a good thing or a bad thing!
3. The audience has access to other information. Whatever you are talking about and claiming, make sure you have done your research first so you don’t get publicly challenged for all to see!
4. Audiences pull information. There are so many other Vlogs out there and options, it is not hard just to switch and look elsewhere. Their choices are endless!

(Ranchhod. 2002 in Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick. 2012)

In my opinion, for a small business, you are going to be able to reach a lot more people via a YouTube channel. (Because it has a much larger user base) So for the rest of this blog I will focus on Vlogging via YouTube. 

Although, the general principles are also applicable to other platforms.

Secondly, What to Vlog About

What can your business Vlog about?

1) Inform – Educate your audience, show why they need your product or service. Introduce scenarios where they need YOU.

2) Showcase – What better way to market your products and services than seeing them in action. More interesting than a photo and some writing, show your audience what they can do.

3) Interview – Try and interview influencers/experts in your industry and market. Look at hot topics, see whats trending and tell people what they want to know about.

4) Introduce – Introduce aspects of your business that differentiate you. Show them around a warehouse or ‘where the magic happens’. Introduce some of your employees so they can see the people behind you, put names to faces so your customers know who they’re dealing with.

(Flynn. 2015)

A lot of the large, well-established brands have YouTube Channels, these are just some examples of how they use their channel and what it is used for. (Click on the links to visit their channels directly)

TOPSHOP 

 Channel used for –

* Broadcasting fashion shows

* Showcasing new lines (like a virtual catalogue)

* Makeup masterclasses

* Behind the scenes

* Models / celebrities short broadcast messages

RIP CURL 

Channel used for –

* Highlights of surf competitions

* Showcasing products in action on the beach/surfing

* Mob-flash type advertising on the beach

* Behind the scenes of the T.V ads

* Top surfers footage & insights

Twitter 

Twitter for business (one of many Twitter Channels)

Channel used for –

* ‘How To’ tutorials for business features

* Success stories of Twitter in a marketing strategy

* Research Insights, Facts & Figures

HSBC 

Lisa Wood (head of marketing at HSBC) said this about incorporating YouTube into their digital marketing strategy –

(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick. 2012)

They are the big players though, most likely with huge marketing budgets to create sophisticated videos…. in addition to the fact they already have tons of fans.

Is your business not on this scale ? Do you not have thousands/millions to spend on marketing?

GOOD NEWS,  regardless of the size of your business – YouTube can still work for you!

Small Business – YouTube Success Story 

Have you ever heard of ‘Orabrush’? Regardless of whether you have or haven’t – A lot of people have.. via YouTube. Dr Robert Wagstaff invented the ‘Orabrush’ as a dental hygiene tool to help people conquer bad breath. However, when trying to market his product through traditional tools.. he failed. Collaborating with a marketing student then led to trying something new –  the creation of a YouTube channel. The results were AMAZING.  The channel has generated millions of views on YouTube, and 19% of those viewers have visited Orabrush’s website. Click here to take a look at their flourishing channel

The Orabrush channel has many types of videos including :

1. ‘How to’ .. test if you have bad breath.
2. Information about what causes bad breath
3. A comical series of bad breath scenarios
4. Customer reviews

Orabrush claim their success is primarily from their YouTube channel, which involves –

o Distributors from over 40 countries have inquired about stocking Orabrush
o Over 35 million YouTube channel views
o Over 116,000 YouTube subscribers
o Over 271,000 Facebook fans (driven mostly from YouTube)

(Sutton. 2011)

Click here to take a look at the story in more detail and read Adam Sutton’s analysis of their YouTube strategy tactics.

Convinced yet?

User Generated Content Takes A Starring Role

Recently the fashion industry has taken an interest in Vlogs created by fashion bloggers, brand loyalists etc Kulmala (2013) This could be because –

MarketingLand (2014)

Also Thakur (2013) claims user generated content is proved to influence consumer attitudes.

I follow a fashion blogger on Instagram, called Sarah Ashcroft. I regularly visit her YouTube channel when she posts things I like, and actually have bought a few of them!

So as a business it may be worth identifying the benefits of UCG and perhaps trying to get in contact with these bloggers/vloggers or send them your products in a hope your business is their next subject!

Ready to get started?

 

You may want to have a look at this article which a YouTube Marketing Guide  for some further clarification about how to get started

Use this check list to ensure you are developing and progressing yourself into a successful business Vlogger.

• What Content?

  – are you being helpful?

  – are you being unique?

  – are you telling interesting stories?

  – are you quoting experts?

  – are you keeping updated with trends?

• Who is the Target?

  – reaching those who are interested in similar content?

  – are you reaching out to influencers/promoters

  – are you getting personal exposure?

• Relationship advice?

  – are you building relationships

  – are you building a loyal audience

  – are you sharing other people’s content?

  – are you ENGAGING on social media?

• Your Search-ability ?

  – can you be found through the most relevant keywords?

• Looking good?

  – is your content original?

  – are your videos attractive enough to attract traffic?

• Getting Personal?

  – are you converting traffic into leads?

  – are you connecting with people ?

• Adoring Audience?

  – do you understand your audience?

  – are you meeting your audience’s needs?

• SHARE SHARE SHARE

  – are you maximising your channel as much as possible over all possible social media?

(Morrison. 2015)

 

I hope you have found this blog interesting and I wish you all the best with your business vlog!

 

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References

• Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. 2012, Digital marketing: strategy, implementation and practice, Pearson Education, Harlow.
• Flynn, S. (2015). What can your business Vlog about?. Available: http://www.smexperts.co.uk/video/business-vlog-about/. Last accessed 26th April 2015.
• King, K. (2014). Vimeo vs YouTube : which is best for business?.Available: http://sproutsocial.com/insights/youtube-vs-vimeo-business/. Last accessed 26th April 2015.
• Kulmala, M., Mesiranta, N. & Tuominen, P. 2013, “Organic and amplified eWOM in consumer fashion blogs”, Journal of fashion marketing and management, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 20-37.
• MarketingLand. (2014). Infographic: Using User Generated Content To Boost Sales. Available: http://marketingland.com/infographic-ugc-sales-85103. Last accessed 20th April 2015.
• Morrison, K. (2015). How To Promote your blog effectively. Available: http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/how-to-promote-your-blog-effectively-infographic/618939. Last accessed 26th April 2015.
• Sutton, A. (2011). HOW TO Inbound Marketing: Small business builds YouTube channel from the ground up, expands to 40 countries.Available: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/small-business-builds-youtube-channel. Last accessed 26th April 2015.
• Thakur, R., Summey, J.H. & Joby, J. (2013), “A perceptual approach to understanding user-generated media behavior”, The journal of consumer marketing, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 4-16.
• Young, S. (2013). The 2013 YouTube Marketing Guide. Available: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/2013-youtube-marketing-guide/. Last accessed 26th April 2015.