Video content is perhaps the biggest key for promotion on social media right now. Since I engaged in an active video content strategy just a few months ago I have not only doubled my followers but been recognized by fans all over the globe, even one who stopped me in the bathroom in London asking, “Aren’t you the guy who knows all about Youtube?” Weird bathroom stories aside – video content has rapidly proved to me to be the most significant way to rapidly boost your brand. It has high engagement, it gives people a reason to stay on your page and it also motivates them to come back to your page if it is high quality enough. That’s a tricky fucking thing. Or at least it sounds like it. When it comes down to it though – creating video content is not only easy, but it can be very fun. It’s the kind of thing you can use to elevate your friends and create something meaningful to help everyone go out and grow.
Now this is just the beginning. Video content matters because it gets high engagement, however I think it would be remiss to suggest that is the only reason as to why it’s so effective. I think it’s important remember that video content allows for much more creativity than many other forms of social media content. Not only does it allow for more creativity though but it is also significantly easier than other approaches. Where you definitely have to frame photos and come up with good graphics for static content, with videos I have seen a lot of success just by literally talking into the camera about the type of content that I write about here. That’s not a hard thing to do. I know people who tried to do a similar thing to me but they overthought it and never got started because they set the barrier too high. Don’t set your personal barrier high, just start doing it and you are going to find success coming to you naturally. It’s weird how that works.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that it doesn’t matter if you are just using a cell phone camera. As long as you are filming this shit on a phone newer than 2015 or so it’s going to be fine. Don’t try and start by getting great material. Similarly, don’t worry too much about editing – maybe add a filter or whatever to spice it up and experiment, but don’t worry if you’re making a dumb face for a frame or you mispeak a bit. People like content that is natural. Look at the biggest entertainer of the modern age, Pewdepie, he just talks at you while playing video games. It’s not complicated. In fact its pretty straightforward. You are just going to put unneeded pressure on yourself if you set a high bar and that’s going to generate stress. Instead realize that since you can likely film whatever you need on your cell phone then there are a lot of very simple content ideas right in front of you.
The sheer amount you need to generate can be intimidating until you think about implementing a real and forward thinking strategy. You need to, for example, update your Instagram story daily and I recommend most bands try to get at least 5 pieces of video content a week. But that’s actually not that hard, just divide it up. If you do one mini video at rehearsal per week you’re already making a good start. If on top of this everyone in your band does a video a week, and remember they only need to be a minute long, then you are going to find that it’s surprisingly easy. You just need to build a habit of it, but building habits is simple, just repeat it. Once you start doing that and realize that each band member investing 20 minutes a month is going to get you a ton of content then you will start to see your band hinting at some long term social media success. You can share these videos between platforms too – so why not start today?
So how do you come up with ideas for this? There’s a lot of competition and you don’t want to feel like you are just screaming into the void. That’s basically useless. Well the quality barrier for that is super low since it disappears after 24 hours, so even just a cute little video of your cat is going to get more traction. Similarly if you want to figure out your piece of video content for the day then all you need to do is just turn on your camera for a few seconds while you’re bullshitting with your friends in rehearsal. Hell – even if you are having a fun conversation with someone cool from the scene I’m sure you can come up with some content right then and there. Remember, tagging other people in Instagram posts is also useful because it helps you gain some of their followers too. Kevin Smith frequently reminds us that we are all content creators and the more content that we put out in the world the better off we are going to end up being.
This stuff can be hard to get into the swing of doing, but I think once you commence the whole process falls into place naturally. I know that you don’t want to hear this and that frequently it is a bit of a nightmare, but such is the struggle. Continuing the ever flowing hustle is how you differentiate yourself for movers and shakers. If a booking agent sees how hard you are working online then they will know that you are going to be someone who works hard on the road. If you just dick around and post once every couple weeks no one will care. Think about this, step back and evaluate and then you will find the sort of long term and meaningful success you desire.
