5 Tips for Using Video in Your Public Relations Strategy

[ This is a post from our sponsor, RendrFX, an Erie-based video production startup that’s creating a faster, more affordable and efficient platform for high quality video creation. ]

The basic concept of public relations is to communicate with the public and media. As someone in public relations, it’s your role is to find ways to effectively communicate, maintain a positive image and create a relationship with your audience. Traditionally, these tasks have been completed by utilizing things like press releases, newsletters, newspaper articles, staging public appearances and writing articles on your website or blog. But is it enough?

Video has become the most effective way to communicate in today’s informational world. Video alone can communicate a message, evoke emotion, create a frenzy and bring people together. Let’s look at a few ways to effectively bring video into your PR strategy:

1. Brand Your Videos

Branding is one of the most important fundamentals of creation recognition. It is important to make sure all of your PR and content videos are branded with your companies logo. Just as video empowers your social following to share your content, branding your messages ensures your brand is carried along with each share and comment.

Here are a couple of ways you can add your brand to your videos:

1. Create a logo intro or outro containing your video’s message.

2. Add your logo to a lower or upper third, to carry your brand along the entire video.

3. If you’re creating a video with company employees, have each employee wear a branded company shirt to further showcase your brand.

4. If you’re at an event or tradeshow your company is attending or sponsoring, film some interview clips in front of the banner featuring your logo. You could also record some footage of interaction and engagement at your booth.

2. Repurpose Content Into Video

Consistency in your messaging is important. Showing your content in a new way is also important. Have you thought about repurposing your content (or older content) into a video to renew interest or gain attention?

Ideas for repurposing your content into video:

1. Further promote your latest blog post as a video. Pull out highlights or key statistics and create a text only video to share your idea. Post on social media and link back to your blog.

2. Use images found in your blog post and put them in a slideshow video to grab a user’s attention.

3. Take a short video of yourself recapping your latest message. Share some thoughts on the topic and ensure you are putting your logo on the video to create authority on the topic.

4. Create a video series of news features and highlights of your company’s history and share on social media.

3. Create An Emotional Connection with Testimonials

If you want to evoke emotion, testimonials are the way to go. Testimonials are great to use on your website, including in press releases, boosting morale, sharing on social media, adding to your company’s e-news campaigns, adding to your website and more. Written testimonials and pictures are great, but think of the emotional connection your can create when you add video to the equation.

4. Create Shareable Content

The power of social media is enormous. With over 8 billion average daily video views on Facebook alone, the time is upon us to create more video messaging. Video is an easy way for an individual to understand your message. Using text alone leaves your message open to interpretation. With video, you can clearly communicate your ideas, products, services, etc.

How do you get people to share your video:

1. Create emotion. When you make an emotional connection, even anger and fear, you are more likely to share.

2. Eliminate the fancy camera work. No need for perfect edits, camera pans or zooms here.

3. Be honest. Honestly is relatable.

4. Create a message that is unforgettable.

5. Video Converts

People prefer to watch a video over reading an article or social post. Video helps build brand trust and provide an education. With video, you can create quick company growth and drive sales.

Video Statistics (according to insivia):

• Including video in an email leads to a whopping 200-300% increase in click-through rate.

• 90% of user say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision process.

• 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week.

We’ve established how video is essential, but how can you quickly create videos to share your message? Easy…with RendrFX. The RendrFX plug and play motion graphics maker features hundreds of motion graphics templates. Simply choose a template, insert your message and graphics (or choose from our over half a million stock media assets), and you’ll quickly have a video ready for sharing on your website and social media.

Want to get started? Sign up for a Small & Medium Business Annual Plan with RendrFX and receive your first month free! Use code “CREATEVIDEO” at checkout.

Lisa Van Riper is the digital marketing and sales manager at RendrFX.