Not everyone likes to stand in front of a camera.

Just because video surrounds us in our daily lives does not mean it is easy for an introvert to transform into a social media extrovert overnight.

The good news for camera shy marketers is that they don’t need to be the star of their own show. There are plenty of alternatives to ‘talking head’ or interview videos, and they can be just as effective. Any marketer worth their stripes will know that a broad range of content is key to really communicating with a target audience – and that means branching into all areas of video content marketing.

Here is a guide for going beyond talking head content and maximising the reach of your video strategy.

Start by understanding your audience.

Any guide to video marketing must begin with understanding your audience. You must design a customer persona for all your products, and then isolate content topics for each group. There is no point in producing marketing content if it is not directed at a target audience!

Explore alternate video types.

There are many video types that all offer something different. Consider making one of the following videos.

• PowerPoint
• Screencast
• A Photo Montage
• Animated Explainer Videos

At a time when diversity in content is more important than ever, why not incorporate all these types into your video marketing strategy?

Make use of Facebook Live.

If you want to make the most of Facebook’s multi-media resources, consider using Facebook Live. It is great for promotional events, one-time occasions, and behind the scenes footage. One of the most innovative aspects of Facebook Live is that no one person has to be the centre of attention. The un-curated nature of the environment is what draws people in.

Strive for continuity.

No matter what kind of format you decide to focus on, make sure there is continuity from one video to the next. For example, if you make animated explainer videos, make sure they are of roughly the same length. The same goes for PowerPoint and any other format you are working on.

While it is hard to give a prescription for all video content you produce, it is essential to ask yourself three questions:

1. Is it too long?
2. Can I add more colour?
3. Is it impactful?

Vine has long since left the video marketing space, but styles created on the platform remain quite popular today, including:

• Videos under 60 seconds.
• Plenty of bold colour and movement.
• A playful edge.
• Looping format once and a while.

A great example is Adobe, who periodically post looping videos of stunning, high-resolution images.

Focus on Explainer videos.

Explainer videos are the ideal way to communicate directly with your target audience. Instead of putting yourself in front of the camera and trying to explain complex topics to your audience, explainer videos let you present a package of curated eye-candy that gets the same point across – just better.

Explainer videos make a great video-compliment to existing blog posts, as Article-writing.co does on a regular basis. A short-video grabs the viewers’ attention and induces them to click-through to the blog to find out more.

Conclusion.

Consider this your guide to making the most out of video marketing. Talking head videos are limited by personality preferences and consumer fatigue, but as this guide describes, many alternative formats abound!