Vlogging may be looked at as a juvenile thing. A YouTuber thing. A nonsense piece of content that’s full of shaky amateur camera work.
As a friend told me once, “who’s going to watch that?”
You might recognize some famous vloggers like Grace Helbig or Tyler Oakley and think it only works because they have a big following. Well, we all start from zero, that’s not the best reason to not using vlogging.
Or you may have no idea what I’m talking about. Let’s start there.
What is vlogging?
Vlogs are a self-made videos that delve into a someone’s personal life to give their audience a a more human connection. The quality isn’t always the best, but they are the most accessible for anyone to adapt and use. More importantly they can be used as brand boosters.
Besides the “juvenile” and seemingly useless face value that vlogs present, they are actually quite powerful personal brand builders for just about any type of online business.
While I can’t speak for big business and corporate America; small businesses, solopreneurs, online businesses, and online content creators can definitely use vlogging to reach more people and create more engagement within their social feed.
What’s even more important about vlogging as a viable traffic generating source is that anyone can just jump into and quickly separate themselves for the normal competition. Megan Pangan of GetInTheLab.me took a very obscure blog and through her unique vlogging style, not only created a popular and rising site, but also landed a guest speaker spot at the incredibly popular conference, Podcast Movement.
“Even if my products aren’t the best in show, people still invest in me because they care enough for the person behind the vlog. It just adds to a personal level of branding that you can’t get from just writing articles.” Megan said in response to vlogging.
The bottom line is if you can get your customers, audience and fans to care not only about the product your selling, but the person(s) behind it, you’ve got something that can affect more than just sales, you can affect their hearts.
Capture their hearts and you will gain a brand that can last through the changing times.
Here’s 7 ways to use vlogs to increase your reach, capture more leads and sell your brand
- Facebook Video is one of the best ways to reach your fan base. Why use that time to open up a dialogue just for those people. Give a trailer or “raw” sneak peak into what content you’ve published this week.
- Give your take on things. Everyone’s got an opinion. Perhaps your audience respects yours or is interested on your perspective of what’s going on in your niche. It’s a great way to stay connected with what’s relevant and establish your leadership in the space.
- “Go with me.” Take your audience and fans with you when you travel, go to conferences, on-location to relevant and interesting places. Allow your fans to live vicariously through you.
- Review your gear. If you’re like me, perhaps you have a slew of equipment that others may have questions on or are on the fence about purchasing. Help them out by showing how you use it. Like I always say, I’m not a expert in everything on the Canon 70D, but I am an expert in what I need it for. Also, as you start to build a following, companies will actually start to reach out to you and ask for your to test their product – usually with a pay incentive.
- Create the raw and unedited version of interviews. I love doing this when I get the chance. If you create content regularly, capturing a fun and loose interview with a thought leader in your niche mixes it up for you and your audience. Plus, if your guest feels up for it, they can share it with their audience. Double exposure.
- Live streaming apps are the new hot thing for 2015. Meerkat, Periscope, and Now Facebook Mentions are the strongest streaming contenders. Personally, I feel that Periscope and Mentions are ahead and are a great way to do any of the above I’ve already listed, but LIVE! It’s a whole dynamic and still needs to explored, but I can tell you this from experience that using these mediums is definitely the most exciting and evoke a more powerful level of awareness between creator and viewer.
Vlogging for your business and other video content marketing strategies are readily accessible ways to activate the human side of your business, have fun and generate more leads. In 2015 and beyond, video is something we’ll all need to embrace as a means of marketing.
Image Credit: Gratisography