Go! Digital Event - Seaside in the Square Special

We recently hosted our monthly Go! Digital marketing workshop at the Southampton Seaside in the Square event, in the shelter of Solent University. However, the drizzly weather did not put a dampener on proceedings as Nick Layton took to the stage to give a comprehensive overview of video marketing and how with such an array of technology at our disposal, everyone can utilise this medium to give their business a boost. 

When it comes to video, ‘Can’t’ doesn’t exist.  

Following a brief introduction that covered off the huge leaps in video technology, Nick was keen to emphasise the point, that there is no limit as to what creatives can go out and achieve when it comes to video. He showed some YouTube footage from the phenomenal Casey Neistat, giving an insight into what can be achieved, capturing video from a totally new perspective and discussing how there is a new generation of influencers and creatives making insightful and game-changing video content. 

There are a number of reasons why you should be including video in your marketing efforts such as increasing the likelihood of people visiting your website, buying a product and increasing dwell time on your website which can help improve your SEO. 

Planning and preparation before the shoot.

For those who attended the talk and were keen on the idea of adding video into their marketing mix, Nick emphasised the importance of planning, because when it comes to video, it is all about the prep. Before filming, you should think about whether you want to educate, demonstrate or help your audience or capture product reviews, and once you have a clear idea of the reason for filming, this will help guide the direction the video takes. 

Nick outlined all the key benefits of getting ready ahead of a video shoot, in order to make the actual process of filming stress-free and all the more enjoyable. By ensuring that all your equipment is up together, your communication channels are open with the shoot team, and by implementing a ‘shot list’, capturing video content should go without a hitch. 

Post-production 

A stage many people struggle with the when creating video content is post-production. Many smartphones come with inbuilt editing suites to help you get your videos ready for YouTube or for the ‘Gram, but Nick also ran through some of the tools available to help you prepare footage to present on your site or social media channels and some resources for music and still images. 

Once you have chosen a channel for your video content to be shared on, Nick gave the audience some pointers on maximising reach, click-throughs and views, as well as keeping tabs on the performance of the content. 

Out and about with the camera.

In an added twist to the morning's proceedings, Nick ran a small additional workshop for everyone where they headed out to the square to capture some footage and hypothetically promote Seaside in the Square. More importantly, it was an opportunity to discover just how easy it can be to go out to explore and capture footage with just a smartphone.

That’s all folks. 

Blue Frontier run free monthly Go! Digital Workshops for Southampton BID members covering all things digital. Keep an eye on our social media channels for the latest updates and upcoming events.