Vlogging for Business: Drive Growth Through Visual Storytelling

If you were to look for information on a specific subject or do some research on something that really matters to you, what would you find more interesting?

A blog? An 1800-word, essay-style piece that you're reading now.  

Or….

A vlog? An engaging piece of video content that serves the same purpose, gets the point across more quickly, and might even leave you with a few laughs. 

According to Business Wire by 2026 the digital video advertising space is expected to value $155.18 billion.

65% of Internet users worldwide watched some type of video-on-demand including both, short-term and long-term content.

Taking the statistics above into consideration, I would say that the answer to my question is “A vlog”, am I right?

I personally prefer video content over written content, especially user-generated video content such as selfie videos. And there are several reasons I have that preference.

Amongst those reasons are:

• Video is a lot more entertaining
• I retain information a lot more if I hear it and see it
• I can relate a lot more to video because, most times, another human is engaging with me as the viewer 

I’m pretty sure many of you feel the same way about video content.

As a matter of fact, I can positively say that almost 100% of you would say you prefer video.

Why am I so sure?

Well, being a content marketer I’m always looking to stay up to date with the current trends. I want to know what people are looking for and how my audience wants to absorb the information.

For the most part, we all have at least a general idea of whom we want to target or whom we think we are targeting with our business. At first glance, we may cover broader groups like “men over 40” or “single moms under 35”. While those categories are relevant, it is when you start to break it down even further that you get to see exactly who is responding to your content and how they like it.

Demographic information like lifestyle and interest, age, and location also play a significant role. You can use the Google Analytics tool to really break down your audience into demographics to pinpoint where your focus needs to be. So if you realize that your audience is mainly people under 35 and they prefer vlogs, you should give them more vlog content. You could create a YouTube channel and give them more engaging content. 

It’s not enough to understand what their likes and interests are but most importantly understand how they consume information.

During the past few years and specifically during the last few months, I noticed a trend in vlogging. All of a sudden, everyone was talking about including video as part of their content strategy.

I even heard someone say 2019 was “the year of video.” 

Taking all of this into consideration, recently, I wrote a different blog on 4 of the most effective content types to engage with your audience, and guess what? Video is one of those 4 most engaging content types.

In this blog, I will talk about three specific things about vlogging:

• The definition of vlogging
• Reasons why you should start vlogging
• Vlogging tips to consider for you to create amazing video content if you’re just starting

So, first things first.

What is vlogging and how does it work?

A vlog is literally a blog in the form of a video, when we talk about a blog we are talking about written content. However, when we talk about a vlog, we are talking about audiovisual content.

When people talk about vlogging or video bloggers, they usually refer to the type of vlog where people (mostly influencers such as Youtube content creators) post videos of themselves talking to the camera on a regular basis; they usually do it on a daily basis.

The best thing to help you record high-quality content is obviously a professional camera (a popular choice would be a Sony video camera) and professional video editing software. But if you’re just starting, you can use your phone. Last-generation phones come equipped with high-end cameras, so they will do just fine.

There are two techniques that people use to vlog:

• The talking head technique: The talking head technique is a video where you put the camera on a tripod to help the video stay steady throughout the recording.

For this technique, you don’t necessarily have to have a tripod, you can use anything that helps you stabilize the camera really. Here are some weird but useful things you can use: a standing fan, a pile of books, a table, a bench, or literally anything that has the right height and is steady enough to hold a camera or phone. So you can get creative here!

While the talking head technique is one we have seen survive throughout the decades on our local news channels and talk show interviews, it might not be the best route for the vlog. There are a few limitations that come with it. For example, if you have a lot of content to share, you’ll start to find it difficult to keep your audience’s attention. 

Try techniques like tilting and panning or varying the distance between the speaker and the camera throughout the vlog. A lot of talking head videos overlook these simple tricks and miss out on watch time and engagement. 

Another way to get over this hurdle is by using more than one camera when shooting. With multiple cameras, you can get the same shot from different perspectives, and this can break up the monotony of a simple talking-head video.

A lot of creativity goes into video production today. And with millions of interactive video content available online and multiple social media platforms dedicated to video content, it’s too easy for your audience to find a more engaging video if you don’t hit the mark.

• The “follow me around” technique: This technique refers to when the vlogger holds a vlogging camera with his/her hands and films clips throughout a specific period of time (a day, a trip, an event, etc.).

This is a technique that I personally feel is a lot more empathetic with people. It makes you more human, and it shows your audience that you’re just like everyone else.

Most of the vlogs I’ve seen are more about a person talking about themselves, their journey in life, or a particular topic on which they’re subject matter experts.

Today, I’ll focus on talking about the business side of vlogging and why business owners should start vlogging to engage with their audience and connect with them in a much deeper way.

So, if you’re a business owner and are looking for ways to connect with your target audience.

Here are the top 5 reasons why vlogging helps business growth:

1. Video is the next top-performing marketing tool

It was way before 2017 that businesses started using video as a marketing strategy, with a total of 63% of businesses using it by that year. 

Not surprisingly enough by 2018 that percentage had risen to 81%. This year 86% of businesses use video as part of their marketing mix.

And marketers are not just using it more they are using it more purposefully than ever before. 

Why? 

According to Hubspot, 83% of marketers affirm that video marketing gives them a higher ROI.

Isn’t high ROI what every business is looking to achieve?

Now, these statistics are great, but they also represent a challenge. This means that everyone is doing it and if you’re going to start vlogging, you’re going to have a lot of competition.

And looking at the statistics, this trend will only keep going up.

2. Statistics prove that video is a thriving, growing industry

It seems like the market is going crazy about video content. Almost every page of the internet, website, social media channel, or blog page has some sort of video.

The market is desperate for video content. Did you know that 88% of consumers stated that they want to see more videos from their favorite brands in 2023?

Besides that, 99% of marketers and businesses that are currently using video marketing and vlogs are planning to continue vlogging in the year ahead.

And, 79% of the marketers that hadn’t been using video in the previous year said that they would start vlogging this year.

This trend has been going up since 2016/2017. In 2017 34% of marketers used video. In 2018 65% and you see the numbers now. An increasingly growing trend!

In 2020 a staggering 96% of marketers who use video wanted to either maintain or increase their video marketing spend. Take a moment to consider this. If 91% of video marketers report that they are happy with their return on investment from using videos in marketing, this is the best time to carve out space for yourself. 

Have you ever noticed that when video content for a search topic is available, it appears higher on the search engine result page than a written blog version of the same content would? Video is an excellent marketing channel that you can also take advantage of.

3. Video is rather effortless

I’m not saying that creating video content is easy. It actually takes a bit of work, especially during the post-production stage and video editing.

It’ll probably take you a bit of time the first few times, but once you get in the rhythm, you’ll see it won’t take you that long.

In my experience, writing an 1800-word blog post usually takes me about 3 hours if I’m not interrupted and on full focus mode. If not, it’ll probably take me 4-5 hours, and that is without doing the proofreading.

Ask me how long it took me to make my LinkedIn video.

About 5 minutes. Yes, I know it wasn’t the best video ever. It doesn’t have the best editing, and it’s a short 1-minute video, but still, I felt it was a lot more effortless than writing a blog or a piece of written content.

4. SEO loves video

Why do all of us create content? Why is everyone so obsessed with creating engaging content for their audience?

Well, it’s because we all want to attract traffic and visitors to our site. As content marketers, we know that one of the best ways of doing that is by creating useful content for our audience and optimizing it to rank on page 1 of Google or any other search engine.

SEO best practices are always changing. Why? Because consumers are always changing their behavior. Now, people are making search queries that include the word “video” or “tutorial” in it.

It all comes back to customer experience. The reason people are including “video” or “tutorial” in their search terms nowadays is that videos are more relatable. Think about it. It’s way easier for someone to follow along with a “How-to” video over reading through paragraph after paragraph of the text, providing even the best descriptions.

Your audience gets so much control when you use video content. They have the option to pause the video and come back to it later. And they can rewind and slow down different parts of it to get a better understanding of what you're doing in the case of a demonstration.

62% of Google’s universal searches include video content.

So, if you want to rank on page #1 of search engines, you better start producing video content and not just written content.

Include closed captioning on your videos. The easiest way to do it is by creating an STR file. You can upload this STR file to several platforms like LinkedIn, and it’ll immediately make the closed captioning for you.

Here are the steps you can follow to create an STR file.

1. Upload video to YouTube
2. Go to your video and under settings select "transcriptions"
3. Follow the instructions and you'll be taken to a writing space. You'll have to transcribe your video manually.
   Important: Each transcription line must be short. (No more than 6 words per line) This is the format that you need to upload on YouTube.
4. After the transcription is done, download the video to an STR format
5. Download it to "NotePad" on your computer

Once you have your STR file on Notepad, you must save it.

1. Open your STR file on "NotePad"
2. Once on NotePad, save it in this format
3. Video offers you a chance to be authentic and connect with your audience.

As if all of the above reasons aren’t enough to convince you, maybe this one will.

So far, we know that a proper content marketing strategy, vlogs, and video content help businesses:

• Attract more visitors
• Boosts search ratings
• Better results

Statistics prove that the use of vlogging will continue to go up. However, the most important reason for me is that videos are highly engaging to your audience. It is much easier to make a personal connection with a brand or a business that actually puts a face upfront. This way, people feel like an actual human is talking to them and not just a computer.

The last thing you want to do is make your audience feel like they’re just “food,” and you’re the vulture that is looking for deceiving ways to attract them.

You want to build a connection. When you develop a relationship with your customers, they start to trust you more. Video content allows your audience to see you as a human being who is just like them and not just some big company that’s just focused on profits. 

Take advantage of video content to complete that person-to-person connection with your customers. When your customers feel like they can relate to you, they’re more likely to recommend you to others.

Go ahead and create vlogs and actually care for your audience and future clients. Give them resourceful information through your content, and you’ll see how your business will grow in popularity and brand advocacy.

Vlogging tips to consider for you to create amazing video content:

• Look at the camera at all times and make eye contact. It helps build a deeper connection with the people watching.
• Use captions in your videos. It helps people feel more engaged and pay more attention to what you’re talking about.
• Don’t fluff, get straight to the point.
• Prepare a script before you record and practice, especially if you’re going to be talking for a long time.
• If you talk about someone else in the business, tag them on your video.
• Stay consistent. If you’re going to begin a vlog, keep it consistent and post regularly with a content marketing strategy as a backbone.
• Interact with your audience; always lead with a question.
• Measure and analyze your performance. Look at what’s missing. Check what the competition is doing and stay up to date with current trends, then make the proper adjustments.

Vlogging shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. As you can see, vlog and video consumption is a growing trend.

Consumers are looking for brands and businesses that use video as a tool to communicate and interact with them. We’re about to enter 2023, so if you want to grow your business and you haven’t started vlogging, now is the time.

Share your thoughts with me in a comment or connect with me and our team. We’ll be happy to address any doubts about vlogging and video content you may have.

The experts here at gardenpatch are happy to set up a time to chat. Schedule a free consultation with one of our growth specialists at your convenience.

See you around!

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