This guest post is from Nikki Katz, managing editor for the BlogWorld Blog. SmartBrief is proud to be a media sponsor of the upcoming BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2010 in Las Vegas, where you can learn more about video at the Digital Broadcasting Track.
Social Media is quickly become the easiest and fastest way to interact with people across the globe, but sometimes it’s difficult to add that personal touch. There’s only so much you can garner about a person from a Twitter avatar.
One way to add a little personality to your website, company or blog is to create a Web video series. By giving your audience a schedule of upcoming episodes, you’re keeping them interested in your content and looking forward to seeing more.
Here are some tips for setting up a Web video series on your site:
- Establish a theme: Wrap your Web video series around a theme. Possibilities include how-to videos, tips and tricks, or even news commentary. Choose a topic that works best for your audience.
- Assign a frequency: Determine how frequently you’d like to create and upload these videos. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Pick something reasonable for your time schedule and stick to it.
- Create an editorial calendar: Put together topic ideas for your series and add them to a calendar. Promote the calendar on your website so your readers know what’s coming up next.
- Make your first video your template: The first video in the series should serve as your template. After watching this video, your audience should know what to expect from future installments — everything from your personality to the length of the videos. Yes, you can deviate as needed, but set their expectations up front.
- Brand your videos: Add a logo or image to the beginning and ending of your video. That way, if other websites embed it, new readers know how to find you.
- Set up a page for the series: Create a page on your website or blog that links to and/or embeds each of your videos. Include the title of each episode and a brief description, so users can quickly choose the content they wish to watch. This is also a great place to include future topics from your editorial calendar.
With these tips, you should be able to quickly develop an established audience, eager to come back and see what you video topic you’re producing next.
Have you had success with creating video content and/or a video series? Tell us your story!
Image credit, Zeffss1, iStock Photo