Interest piqued by last week’s post on why you should consider adding videos to your author marketing strategy? Suh-weet. Today’s post is for you! (For the video-phobes, it’s okay. Simply put, not every marketing strategy is for everybody. In which case, see you next week!)
Today I’d like to offer some ideas for videos you might create to support your author platform. And I’m sure I’m just barely touching the tip of the proverbial ice berg, so if you have more ideas to add, throw ‘em at me in the comments!
Welcome video: This is something I’ve seen on a lot of author websites. Consider creating a welcome video for your home page or your “About Me” page with a brief intro of yourself. Be witty, be fun, be you.
- Why I wrote this book: It’s always fun to hear why authors wrote their book, and this is a great idea regardless of whether you’re published.
- Character spotlights: Author Katie Ganshert did something really neat around the release of her second book, Wishing on Willows. She created short videos talking about her main characters. It was a fun glimpse into who her story revolved around.
- Setting spotlights: In the same vein, author and MBT Skills Coach Beth Vogt created videos around the release of her book, Wish You Were Here, about the various settings in her book. In fact, she filmed the videos on location!
- Book banter: Do you review books? Consider doing video reviews. You can post them on your website, yes, but did you know Amazon.com also allows video reviews?
- Answer reader questions: If you’re a published author or a blogger with a steady readership, consider asking your readers to send in questions…then answer the questions on video.
- Behind-the-scenes: We all know writers are a bit wacky, right? Why not give us a peek into the “behind-the-scenes” of your story. Show us your writing space or your tell us about a funny research trip experience.
- Join forces: Google Hangout, Skype and other programs make it super simple to connect with others via video-call…and it’s possible to record your calls. So, why not interview a fellow author? Or host a panel? Or simply find a fun and engaging friend, join forces and entertain your viewers.
Again, these are just a few ideas to get you started. The goal is simply to engage with your readers. Now, a few tips:
- Don’t worry about having perfect lighting, perfect hair, perfect everything. Just be you.
- That said, if you can avoid a glare from windows, that’s great.
- Stay brief. This is a biggie. I’ll be honest and say most of the time, if a vlog stretches longer than five minutes, I don’t make it through it. I’ve seen some articles recommend staying within 2-3 minutes. I’m sure there are caveats to that depending on the purpose of your video, but for the most part, people tend to have short attention spans. Often they’re checking out your blog on the go, maybe even on their phones. So, brief is generally better.
- If possible, position your web cam slightly above eye level. It’s much more flattering than looking down at the camera!
- Start a YouTube channel. (Or Vimeo, if you prefer.) That way all your videos are in one place. YouTube makes it incredibly easy to share your videos across a variety of social media platforms.
- Remember to look at your web cam. It’s tempting to watch yourself talk on the screen. 🙂
- If vlogging, include some notes below your video for anyone who may not be able to watch your video.
I hope you find this helpful! If you’re interested in hearing more about creating videos or even the specifics of things like starting a YouTube channel, posting a video to YouTube, embedding video html, please feel free to let me know and I’ll cover it in a future One Thing Marketing post. Just leave a comment below or shoot me an email.
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Melissa Tagg is a former reporter turned romantic comedy author. Her debut novel, Made to Last, releases from Bethany House in September 2013. In addition to her nonprofit day job, she’s also the marketing/events coordinator for My Book Therapy. Connect with Melissa at www.melissatagg.com and on Facebook and Twitter (@Melissa_Tagg).