Why Video: Putting Your Face Out There

If you have a blog, chances are someone (or probably dozens of people) have asked you why you don’t do some video clips to ease up on those pesky words and make things more fun for your readers. (Look forward to our own Wicked Cool Wednesdays sometime soon.) I mean, the way the world is going, in 20 years nobody is actually going to read stuff. It’s just too labor intensive.
The Pros and Cons
There’s an upside and a downside to doing video. On one hand, watching video is a lot more fun than reading words. Additionally, videos usually involve some kind of visual, because just talking into the camera is considered boring (except the “Leave Britney alone” guy, he found a way to keep things fresh, but we don’t recommend that). These visual additions could range from a whiteboard on one end of the spectrum to involved flash animation on the other, but they all generally tend to make your presentation easier to understand.
The downside to doing video is the amount of preparation required. You’ll need a camera, but you already knew that. Also, unlike with a blog entry, you can’t just jot something down, get back to it, edit a little, post it, go back and fix it up while it’s live. With video, you have to prepare what you’re going to say ahead of time, in sync with your visual aid, and practice a little, to have even a chance of seeming professional.
And, of course, these things are linked. The more fun and engaging your video is, the more time you’ve probably spent on it. That said, posting video has another benefit — it puts your face out there for the world, creates a cult of personality, and makes your brand more easily recognizable.
It’s up to you to decide if video is worth the effort. It’s a very active way of doing things, which some people are uncomfortable with, preferring to lay low and update ye olde Facebook/blog/Twitter. But the payout could also be phenomenal.
The Only Rule
If you do decide to do video, make it look good. Blogs can be good or bad, but video exponentially raises the stakes. That is to say, bad videos tend to be really bad, and great videos tend to be really great. A mediocre blog will likely fly under the radar (let’s face it, most blogs are mediocre). But a bad video might actually turn customers off.
The last thing you want is your company video ending up as some type of internet meme example of poor taste. Trust us, nine times out of ten, that’s a bad situation.
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