harvard ilab: video for entrepreneurs

Video for Entrepreneurs

@eliseramsay @notalyce @jordanmunson

People care about people, not companies.

Video shows that your business = people

Video is about building trust.

Small budget

Lack of awareness

Hard to describe concept

Brand awareness and humanity

Understanding of product

Scalability of conversations

• Define your message and

audience

• Make some starter videos

• Use them effectively

You can do this!

Defining your message and audience

Do you care about “video hosting”?

Nah.

How do you make people care

about your company?

You help them solve a problem.

Mission-based marketing:

Wistia’s mission:

“To empower everybody to

get more out of video.”

We make plenty product-related videos to scale

communication, like in our documentation.

But our content about video production and marketing

is what really helps us build a new audience.

BambooHR makes HR software, but they create

content about leading more enjoyable lives,

in and out of the workplace.

B2C companies like GoPro, Nike, and Red Bull have

been creating “mission-based” content for ages.

Mission-based

content is…

• More useful

• More shareable

• More appealing

(to people who aren’t

already using your product.)

Making the darn videos!

• One story per video

• Anticipate common Qs,

fears, struggles

• Plan ahead!

Concepting

• Keep it conversational

• Stick to one message

• Read it out loud

Scripting

DIY Gear

• Your existing smartphone:

free!

• DIY lighting kit: $100

• Budget tripod: $30-100

• Separate iPhone for audio:

free!

Total: ~ $200

http://bit.ly/highrollervideo

http://bit.ly/DIYvideostudio

Amazon Gear lists! (Take a picture of this, yo)

High Roller:

DIY Budget:

Editing

• iMovie works just fine!

• Bridge clips with b-roll

• Use (legal, appropriate) music

• Be ruthless. Keep it short.

Using your videos effectively

Email SalesTutorials

Social SupportDemos

What to do right now

• Define your mission in 1

sentence

• Answer 3 FAQ with 3

videos

• Research other startup

videos

• Start with something small

& low-risk

It’s ok if you mess up.

Learn from data!

wistia.com/learning wistia.com/community

Hit us up:

Ok, bye!

@jordanmunson | @notalyce | @eliseramsay | help@wistia.com

Oh, and one more thing…