The Claymanite: Do You YouTube?

While young adults may be watching silly stunts or nonsensical gibberish on YouTube, there actually is a potential for YouTube to be a great marketing platform. With just over five years under its belt, YouTube is the second largest search engine, according to ComScore. If people see a video they find amusing or worth their time, YouTube has them engaged. What about videos that are work-related? Even the people who watch the quirky videos enjoy ones that are professionally done and videos created for marketing purposes should be no exception. In fact, these types of videos should be taken as seriously as any other kind of marketing your company invests in.

So if you know that professional quality is important, it's essential to approach videos for YouTube professionally.

You wouldn't send out someone who knows very little about sales on a sales call, so why would you have someone who knows little about videography shoot a video? Although your top salesperson may be great at selling, he or she most likely does not have the same skills and knowledge as a professional videographer. In order to make a video look professional, it needs to be filmed and created by a professional. Just because you have a camcorder that worked great for your niece's recent wedding ceremony doesn't mean that creating a high-quality video will be a piece of cake.

A 30 second how-to video may seem like a simple project. In reality, there is much more that goes into that short 30 second clip. Here are some areas that need to be focused on to create a professional video.

1. The Message - Just like an ad, you need to think about what kind of message you want to get across. A script or even a storyboard should be written so that the narrator or model knows what to do or say. A storyboard is especially helpful because it visually tells the story of your video panel by panel. It tells who or what should be in the frame, what the narrator or models should be saying, and where the video camera should be. For example, should the camera zoom in at a certain point, zoom out, or move around with the model in a specific scene?

2. Lighting/Sound - Have you ever seen the low-quality type of commercials for local carpet companies or car lots? Unless appropriate lighting, microphones and cameras are taken into account, your video could look like those commercials. The little microphone on the camcorders sold at electronic stores will not do the job for a professional video. No matter how great a video camera is, it most likely will not be able to capture a video in a way that looks professional. In order for a video to look professional, lighting, sound, and the quality of the camera are extremely important.

3. Editing - During the actual filming process, chances are there are going to be numerous cuts. How do all the good takes get formed into one to make the video flow and how do all the bad takes get removed? The answer: Editing software. Professional videographers use editing software to make all the takes flow as if there is only one take throughout the shooting process. Editing software is also used to sharpen the audio. If there is just a narrator instead of models talking in to the video, editing software allows the videographer to add the narrator's voice, or the voice over.

4. Monitoring - Once the video is complete, your website as well as YouTube is a great place to house the video. Once a YouTube channel is created, it should be monitored and updated frequently, as summarized in the previous story. One of the best things about YouTube is the interaction feature. If someone comments on a video or asks questions, you have a chance to interact with that person and hopefully find new business.

Just like all the marketing initiatives that involve time and money, so do videos. If a company wants to be perceived as having quality products and credibility in its field, videos should be shot professionally and carefully.