Let’s Get Virtual

Kris Simmons, 6 STRONG MEDIA

For many of us, it feels like our businesses are frozen, and the uncertainty of how all this COVID-19 madness is going to shake out has us on the verge of a panic attack.

Not because we’re scared of catching the virus, but the fear about how everyone else’s panic is causing our businesses to come to a grinding halt.

For business leaders responsible for driving revenue for their companies and organizations, we’re in a special kind of hell right now.

But as Winston Churchill said – “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

Or, as Newton said – “An object at rest stays at rest, but an object in motion stays in motion.”

No matter how jacked up our businesses are right now, I think it’s important for us to stay in motion.

Do something, anything, to keep your customers/clients engaged with your brand, your cause, etc.

With that idea in mind, here are a few ways you can use video to keep things moving.

Turn Your Live Event into a Virtual Event

Have you cancelled a live event, or thinking about cancelling? Before you completely throw in the towel, consider adapting your live event to one you can broadcast via social media.

A simple option for this is to utilize tools (such as BeLive) that enable you to switch between the webcams of multiple presenters, award winners, etc., while delivering the content to your online audience live via Facebook.

Another more involved, but super cool, option is to recreate the event in a controlled setting, minus the audience. If available, you can still use the event venue to set up the stage, lights, podium, etc. and invite your local presenters to speak from the stage as if they were doing it to a live audience. This can also be set up in a warehouse or other makeshift location.

Turn Your Trade Show Booth into an Online Experience

Have you spent a ton of money designing, printing and producing your trade show booth, only to have that major conference or show cancelled? I’m thinking the answer to that is a resounding “yes!”

Instead of letting your display collect dust, and your investment go to waste, consider the following.

Set up your trade show booth in a warehouse or open area inside your business and capture video content that can be shared on your communication channels, i.e., website, social media and email newsletters. Check out how FlyWheel, a promotional products company, created a funny tutorial video (from their office) giving tips on how to successfully work your trade show booth.

Film the setup of your booth and edit together a time lapse video.

After the booth is setup, capture footage of the booth, any featured products/services, and create several 10- to 15-second social videos that highlight those features.

Using the trade show booth as a backdrop, capture quick interviews with your executives, sales reps, marketers, etc. that can be used to educate customers/clients about your company, products/services or programs. This footage can then be edited into multiple short video clips. If you want to create even more energy, put some “extras” in the background to emulate a live trade show environment.

Turn Existing Raw Footage Assets into Short Social Media Videos

If you’ve already produced a marketing video for your company, odds are good that you have a lot of raw footage that can be repurposed into multiple short videos for social media.

Think about ways to create short clips that focus solely on a particular process or product. Maybe it’s a clip that only features aerial shots of your plant. What about all the great interview sound bytes that weren’t used in the previous video? Isolate various sound bytes, and publish those as single videos. The options really are endless, and now would be a great time to create (and deliver) a stockpile of social video assets.

ABOUT

Kris Simmons is the Executive Producer and CEO for 6 STRONG MEDIA, an award-winning video production and motion graphic design agency based in Chattanooga, Tennessee with clients located throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. 6 STRONG MEDIA offers turn-key video solutions and production support services for corporate marketing, sales, training, education, meetings and events. Learn more at 6strongmedia.com.