The filmmaking and video production industry growth outpace the overall economy. And it means that video production agencies have great prospects to generate high revenue.
But the problem is that competition within the industry remains rather intense. And small companies still face difficulties in getting new clients.
If you struggle to land new clients, read this article. Here you will find four tips on how to use social media and other technologies to effectively promote your video production business online.
Build your personal brand
Have you already started building your personal brand? If you not, you should fix it!
You are a talented person. You have a bright personality. So why don’t you use it to grow your video production business?
In the age of social media, you can become an influencer in video production and filmmaking and use your influence to your advantage. Build a strong personal brand, and people will want to use the services of your company just to meet you in person and talk to you.
Here are five steps you should take to build a powerful personal brand:
- Understand your value. Think about what exactly you can offer to your followers, what knowledge you can share, and what tips you can provide.
- Be honest and generous. Provide valuable information for free and don’t be afraid to express your opinion.
- Interact with your followers. Don’t ignore the comments and direct messages.
- Deliver on your value consistently. If you want to get results, you should publish fresh content on a daily basis.
- Get testimonials. Let your customers and people who know you well talk about your value.
Do you need some inspiration to start building your personal brand? Check out the Instagram profile of Briony Benjamin, an Australia-based influencer. It’s a great example of how video producers can build a strong brand using social media.
Screenshot source: https://www.instagram.com/briony_benjamin/
Showcase your works on social media platforms
If you don’t work on branding your personal brand, you still can use social media to get new clients. You can create an account for your video production and filmmaking business to get your works noticed.
Today, literally everyone uses social media. And whether you target small business owners, CEOs of big corporations, or startup representatives, you can reach them on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
If you want your prospective customers to discover your works, do the following:
- Create a business account on the chosen social media app. You will get access to statistics and will be able to track your results.
- Switch your account from “private” to “public”.
- Publish new content daily. It will help you to increase reach and engagement.
- Pay attention to the timing. Publish your posts early mornings and evenings, before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m.
- Research hashtags. Add from three to ten relevant hashtags to every post.
- Interact with your audience. Run polls, use quizzes, reply to comments, etc.
It’s highly recommended to publish the following types of content:
- The original videos
- Behind the scenes
- Personal posts and posts related to your business
Use freelance platforms
Have you just started your video production business and don’t know where to find the first clients? Sign up for freelance platforms. It’s a great place to showcase your works and land a job.
Let’s find out what steps you should take to get new clients for your video production business using popular freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr.
Upwork
If you decide to use Upwork, you should do the following:
- Create an Upwork profile.
- Write the overviews. Explain to your customers why they should choose you over your competitors.
- Provide brief company information.
- List the services you provide.
- List your skills.
- Add at least three recent works to your portfolio.
- You can wait till clients will find you. Or, you can bid on projects that currently available at Upwork.
- Find jobs using “Jobs search” tool.
Submit a proposal. Set the budget and deadline of the project.
Fiverr
While an Upwork profile looks more like a portfolio website, Fiverr looks more like a shopping platform. When you join Fiverr, you become a “seller”, and you need to offer your services in the form of premium, standard, and basic packages.
To sell your services on Fiverr, do the following:
- Create an offer. State what exactly you can offer to your client (e.g., “I can create 15-second brand video”, “I can edit 60-second commercial”)
- Create a few different packages and set the prices.
- Mention what is included in every package (e.g., video editing, scriptwriting, background music).
- Set the delivery time.
Write cold emails
Do you believe that sending cold emails is a waste of time? Well, if you send a random email to a random person, it will not help you to get new clients. But if you conduct a little research and create a personalized email, it’s highly likely that you will get the desired results.
Let’s consider an example to understand how to write cold emails in the right way.
Imagine that you live in Brooklyn and that you are interested in producing a promo video for a gym or athletic club. To find a prospective client, you open Google Maps and check out websites and social media accounts of the local gyms.
Let’s say you came across an Instagram account of Brooklyn Sports Club and noticed that the account lacks video content.
Here is an example of the email that you can send to the owner of the Brooklyn Sports Club.
Hi there!
“My name is Michael Black. I’m a video producer at X Company.
I really like the posts you share on Brooklyn Sports Club’s Instagram account. I believe that the only thing you need to boost the growth of your Instagram is high-quality video content.
I have a few video ideas that you can use to promote Brooklyn Sports Club online. And I would be happy to share these ideas with you!
If you have got interested, drop me a line.”
You can be sure that if you send cold emails like this one, you will get lots of new clients. Just keep in mind that if you are a non-native English speaker, you may need to get help from experts in business English translation such as TheWordPoint. You should polish every email to make sure that it will be interpreted in the right way.
In conclusion
If you want to get new clients, you should understand the business side of both the client-side and agency world. You should have a good idea of what needs your clients have and what values your video production company can provide.
And of course, you should use each and every marketing opportunity digital technologies provide. Start blogging on social media, showcase your works on freelance platforms, write cold emails – do everything to get your company noticed. And earlier or later you will achieve the desired result.
BIO:
Erica Sunarjo is a professional writer, translator, and editor with a Master’s degree in Marketing and Social Media. She writes thought-provoking articles for publications in a variety of media and is an active member of the translator community.