How do I create video to communicate with my customers?

- [Ashley Kennedy] Setting up your business with a solid video marketing plan is important, both during normal times, and during a crisis as well. But during a crisis in particular, video gives you that extra personal connection that lets you show your humanity, demonstrate your commitment, and appeal to people in genuine ways. Don't just press Record and post your video, though. Spend time to thoughtfully plan everything out so it will resonate with the right people in the right ways during this uncertain time. Now, first up, nail down your messaging. Video is an ideal way to communicate not only information, but also emotion, and above all, show compassion. No matter how inconvenienced or devastated your business has become as a result of the crisis, show empathy and concern for the victims. Talk about how you're giving back. Demonstrate unity around the idea that we're in this together. You'll also need to communicate a few central messages about your business' space within the crisis. Things like, where exactly is your business at right now with all that's going on? What alternative practices do you have in place? How can people connect with you? Do you have any announcements or specials that you need to discuss? Delivering solid core messages and deciding how video will communicate these messages will help you establish a healthy virtual presence during the crisis and beyond. A few tips here. Don't overload one video with too many points. Instead, create different videos to explore separate points, and then release them strategically. Also, always remain sensitive to the crisis. Never go for the hard sell. Instead, find ways to provide value to your viewers. Just think, helping over selling. Offering your audience thoughtful communication and useful content will establish you as a thoughtful and empathetic leader, and will bolster your brand identity. Then move on to research. Starting with audience research. You probably already know a lot about your target audience, but realize that if you're primarily a brick and mortar space that relies on in-person interaction, you may need to appeal to your virtual audience a little differently. You'll need to find out what resonates with this audience. Can you show behind the scenes footage of how you're adapting your usual practices? Can you create trainings or tutorials to serve your audience? Can you interview people at the company to talk about crisis management? There are many creative ways to use video to connect to online audiences, so again, find ways that resonate with your audience. Also, research how other businesses and competitors are using video to communicate during the crisis. See what is and isn't resonating, and use that as inspiration for how you can adapt that for your own audience. Next, plan your video by structuring it and developing the substance. For some of you this means scripting everything out from start to finish. Others may be more comfortable with sketching out basic bullet points for a more spontaneous approach. Generally though, I recommend against totally winging it. You can usually tell when people are searching for the next thing they want to say. It's much cleaner and clearer if you rely on a basic structure laid upon a foundation of strong messaging. And this is especially true when you're communicating during a crisis. People look to well-spoken leaders with clear themes and helpful, unifying language. So spend the time constructing a solid, carefully planned video blueprint. One video planning tool I often use is the two-column script. Where the left column describes what we hear, and the right column describes what we see through the entire video. So if you have some basic editing skills, this can be a nice way to plan out how you'll add each element. For more information on using this organizational tool and lots more, check out my Making Video series of courses. Finally, it's time to record the video. Now, although some of you may have more sophisticated camera and production equipment, many of you will shoot the video with your phones, and that's totally fine. Phone cameras are perfect for online video. Even so, there are a few things you can do that will really help your audience's viewing experience. Things like investing in an affordable case or hub and tripod so that you can mount the phone camera and set up solid shots. Also, getting an external mic or lavalier that plugs right into your phone to capture higher quality audio. And taking the time to ensure your shots are well-composed and properly lit. Also, tapping into useful tools like teleprompter apps will really help you out during the production process. The process of recording high-quality phone video is a big topic, but we have a lot of courses that cover this in detail. I'd recommend watching Creating Online Video with the iPhone as well as my Making Video series in our library. During all of this, just continue to be the inspiring business leader you already are. People will recognize you as a leader if you present your business as a calm, clear, forward-thinking, problem-solving presence.