Video can be used so many ways in your marketing, and it is really easy to create one that looks like it was made by a professional. We have quite a few posts in the Marketing Rebel Insider’s Club (MRIC) on how to create and edit video. This post will tie them all together so you can see what they are and how they all tie together.
Types of videos:
There are 3 main types of video that marketers use:
- Slideshow videos: You use Powerpoint or another slide creation program and give your presentation using the slides as visual material. These are used a lot for video sales letters (VSL) and educational videos.
- Screencast videos: You use Camtasia (Screenflow if you are on a Mac) or one of the free alternatives. In the video you show your computer screen and explain what you are doing. This is used mostly for educational videos. This is the type of video we use most often for the content of the MRIC.
- Talking head videos: In this type of video you are on-screen talking about something. They are used for video sales letters when you want to make a personal connection with your viewer and also for interviews when there are no slides or computer demonstrations involved.
Most of the information in the MRIC relates to slideshow and screencast videos. Talking head videos are discussed in the videos about Google Hangouts.
Planning your video:
You save a lot of time overall and end up with a more coherent video if you plan it out in advance. This could be as simple as opening up a text program of some sort and creating an outline. A lot of people use mind maps, and some go so far as to use the mind map for the visual of their video.
Here is a post explaining how to create a mind map
Creating your video:
How to create a slideshow video:
We have 2 posts about creating slideshow videos. These start from scratch and show basic video creation. Later on there are other videos about how to “finish” your video and add some bling.
How to Easily Convert Articles to Video with Powerpoint and Camtasia shows you how to set up your slides and demonstrates an easy way to create a slideshow if you have a lot of text and don’t want to sit there and type it out on individual slides
How to create a video sales letter with Powerpoint and Camtasia shows you how to take a written sales letter and convert it to a video. It also shows how to use some cool transitions to add some interest to your slideshow.
How to create a screencast video:
Camtasia is the most-used program for this type of video creation. But, at about $300 it is a bit pricey, so I found some free alternatives. They are not as feature-rich as Camtasia, so if you can afford it you are better off sticking with Camtasia, but these others may fill the bill for simple videos.
Introduction to Camtasia: This video explains how to get started with Camtasia…how to create a video if you haven’t used the program before.
How to Create a Screen Capture Video Using Free Software This video shows how to create screencast videos using TipCam and Windows Movie Maker.
How to Create Quick Videos with Jing: Jing is a free software that allows you to create short screencast videos (under 5 minutes. This video shows how to use Jing.
How to create video with Google Hangouts:
Google hangouts has its ups and downs. It is convenient in that it automatically shares the video to your YouTube account. It is free. But, even after a couple of years, it is kind of hard to use. I was watching a hangout conducted by someone who has done hundreds of webinars and he was having difficulty getting the screen-share to work. If you are just talking to someone it is fairly easy, but switching to and using a powerpoint presentation is a bit tricky
The titles of these videos are self-explanatory:
Google Hangouts — Introduction and Getting Set Up
Google Plus: How to create and conduct a hangout
How to edit your video:
Unless you are incredibly well-organized and give a perfect presentation, you will probably want to edit your video. Camtasia is a very good tool for this, so we created videos showing how to edit using Camtasia. The current version is Camtasia 8, but there may be some who still use Camtasia 7, so we have videos for each:
How to Edit a Video with Camtasia 7
How to Edit a Video with Camtasia 8
How to brand your video and improve its flow:
In order to have a more professional-looking video (and for branding purposes) you will need to add intros and outtros. One easy way to do this is with title clips at the beginning or end. If you have several scenes (or places where there are obvious edits) you need to add elegant transitions, as well.
We have videos demonstrating this using Camtasia as well as 2 programs that are included on Windows machines:
How to Add Title Clips and Transitions to a Video Using Camtasia
How to Add Title Clips and Transitions to Videos Using Windows Movie Maker
How to Add Title Clips and Transitions to Videos Using Windows Live Movie Maker
How to create graphics for your video
If you are doing a slideshow video you will probably want to add graphics (actually, you could also do this with a screencast video). We will be doing a post detailing all the resources for creating graphics, but for now here are the main ones. When the graphics post comes out this section will be replaced by a link to the post:
How to Create Graphics with free/low cost software
DaFont: Free Handwriting Fonts
Adding Bling to your video:
Camtasia has some cool features that allow you to have stuff flying in and out and add sound effects. We have several videos that explain the basic concepts and show some simple applications, but with a little imagination you can do a lot more.
Camtasia Animations: Review of the Basics: This video introduces the basic concepts underlying how to add animations using Camtasia. The other videos assume you have watched this (or are already knowledgeable about the subject) so please watch this first.
Camtasia Animations: How to Create a Logo Reveal A logo reveal is simple to create but can be used as a flashy intro or outro…or can be used within a VSL to add interest. The basic concept can be used to reveal anything…not just your logo.
Working with Camtasia: Rectangle on Blurry Screen This is a way to highlight something on your screen, and is great when you are doing instructional videos.
We also have 3 videos that put several animations together to create flashier elements for your sales funnel (and your YouTube channel):
Camtasia Animations: How to Create a Squeeze Page Video
Camtasia Animations: How to create a call to action video
Camtasia Animations: Creating a YouTube Channel Trailer
Miscellaneous:
How to Synch Video with Camtasia: Sometimes you will record a video or have access to a video that someone else made where the audio and video don’t match. This video shows how to use Camtasia to synch the audio and video of any MP4 video. They don’t have to be ones you created.
Audacity — Audio recording and editing software: You may have the need to record an audio, so we are including this link, even though it is not for video software.
I hope this post helps you make better sense of the many posts about how to create and edit videos that are available to Marketing Rebel Club members.
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