How I create 20 videos a day without breaking a sweat (Interview with Vidsaga)
1. How did you start creating videos and what is your hack for creating 20 videos a day?
I joined Hippo Video in 2017, we were just a video creation platform back then. Being a video company, we weren’t creating any videos for our marketing activities.
I thought we should shatter that camera inhibition and start creating videos. My colleague and I thought of recording short and crisp explainer videos (1 to 2 mins long) from our phone and publish it on YouTube. So, we kick-started by recording and publishing 4 videos every month and made them as a series of episodes. We used a tripod and a lavalier mic (from Amazon) and used OnePlus/iPhone to record our videos.
As I said earlier, I wanted to prove video creation is easy and fun, which didn’t depend on costly cameras and studio setup.
I was hesitant about facing the camera only until we got started. After that, there was no looking back. The confidence eventually built up and I started to experiment with different types of videos.
I own branding at Hippo Video. As a branding initiative, I reach out to the world’s top sales leaders and influencers to do webinars and podcasts with us (remember my love to connect with people?). It’s not easy to get a response from the influencers, given their crazy schedule.
I was thinking of a way to stand out from their inbox clutter, hence decided to send personalized video emails to 20 sales leaders and surprisingly managed to get 12 positive responses out of it.
Had I sent a plain text email, they might not have cared to respond. The extra effort that you put in the form of a video pays big time.
Post this we did webinars with all 12 sales leaders and got a hefty number of leads. Remember it was all because of a single personalized video that I sent them.
Videos build trust.
Here’s my hack to record 20 videos straight without sweating about it.
Forget about memorizing the script.
There are two types of videos sales/marketers record daily.
1. Stand and speak videos facing a tripod camera
2. Webcam videos
For the 1st type, you can ask your colleague to show the script so you can read it. This way, you will be less conscious of what you are going to say next. Let the script in front of you help you do the talking, and you can focus on your expressions & body language.
For webcam videos, use a screen prompter. I use the screen prompter in Hippo Video to read the script from the screen as I record the video.
That’s it!
You can’t be the Jack of all trades. It’s a myth. Don’t try to excel at something which you are not good at. You can use shortcuts like this to make your job better & productive. Not everyone can be a pro at speaking on videos. Learn to embrace your flaws.
2. What are some video content distribution tactics that Marketers could adopt?
I use videos mainly for prospecting and social. Other than that, I use videos for internal communication with peers.
When it comes to prospecting, I send personalized video emails to reach out to influencers, webinar invites, event invites, and cold emails.
Video is the number one thing LinkedIn is pushing right now in the feed. The sort of reach and engagement is definitely higher from a content perspective. Whenever I send a LinkedIn message or an email, I include a video in that.
If you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors, video is the key.
3.Tell us about your life journey? Sanjana Murali
Right from my childhood, I had a strong affinity for reading and writing. I always wanted to choose a career that has got something to do with writing. My love for reading led to an exploration journey and a thirst to learn more. I yearned to connect with people and assimilate the knowledge that could not only help me develop professionally but also personally.
I dirtied my hands around the networking sites and I was intrigued by the vast opportunities online marketing was providing.
That set me off to explore this field further. Since writing comes naturally to me, I thought why not begin my feat as a writer. That’s how I started as a content writer in the marketing field.
4. What prompted you to join Hippo Video?
I was working for Zarget (acquired by Freshworks) in the year 2017. As Zarget had to exit, I was looking for better opportunities where I can showcase my creative marketing skills, learn, and grow.
I found Hippo Video was the right fit for me to explore video marketing. Everything about Hippo Video was exciting and I joined them immediately.
B2B SaaS video platforms were emerging in India when I joined Hippo Video. I realized early on that videos are going to be the game-changer in marketing. People believed creating videos was expensive, time-consuming, and needed a lot of effort.
I realized I could change that notion by working for Hippo Video. I wanted to prove video is just another channel in marketing and that anybody can nail it. That’s what prompted me to join Hippo Video.
5. What advice you would like to give to video marketers who want to create video content and generate leads?
Consumption of visual content is increasing every day. Whenever you run a campaign, make sure you add a video. You will be hesitant to get started with videos.
That’s expected. But you will eventually come out of that inhibition and start creating videos.
You might not be confident enough or you care too much about how you look, but trust me it doesn’t matter at all. Just get started and you will naturally catch up with the flow.
Originally published at https://www.vidsaga.com on November 25, 2019.
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