Just Say It! Tips for Creating a Better Video Message

Are you still writing text emails with links and attachments? Seriously?

Nothing personal, but no one reads your emails, clicks on links, or downloads attachments. Especially nowadays, when remote communication and asynchronous communication channels are becoming vital workflows. Instead, why not send a video message via email to conveys your ideas in a more engaging way?

To help you along, we have gathered a few tips and tricks to help you optimize your video message.

So if you have a cover or a sticker on your webcam, now is the time to remove it and start recording!

A few things to consider when creating your personalized video message:

Enhancing Your Video Messages

• Lighting, sound and camera position – Informality is fine, but you need your audience to be able to see and hear you. Make sure you have enough lighting to be seen. Check your audio with a quick test run. And position your camera so you’re not looking down – nobody wants a double chin!
• Background – Your background is as important as your message. Make sure the background complements your message and is not distracting (e.g., try to avoid recording yourself with a TV behind you). Have a clear set with minimal items, add your company logo for a more official statement, or simply use your home environment for a personal touch. (Just be sure it’s not too cluttered, or too revealing. Some things are best kept to yourself.)
• Video thumbnail – Make sure your thumbnail is something flattering. Kaltura Pitch grabs the first frame of your video and sets it as the default thumbnail. Usually, that’s good enough, but best to check before sending. (This has happened to me several times and let’s just say I wished I could recall that video message…)
• Related content – To enrich your video message and further engage your audience, add related videos and files to your video message.
• Personal details – Make sure to complete your personal details including your name, title, and contact details, and add them to your video message. This will be your personal signature and a good opportunity to share your contact details, especially with new contacts or prospects.

Special features

• Saved messages – You can save a video message, grab its link, and share it anywhere. It is also possible to create custom links for specific channels and social networks (e.g. link for LinkedIn), that you can track the analytics for specifically. By the way, you can also modify your saved message AFTER it was already shared. Check out the video for more details.
• Video replies – Viewers can send a video reply to your message, which is much more compelling than just text. Try asking them to reply directly in your own video message. You’d be surprised how effective this can be!
• Disable messages – Did you send a video message and immediately regret it? Figure out days later than the video included wrong information? With Pitch, you can simply disable a video message even AFTER it was sent. (Note that this doesn’t make that terrible thumbnail disappear from the original email, though!)

Collaboration

• Teams – With this very powerful feature, you can create teams you can collaborate with within Pitch, to easily share videos, playlists, or files with your colleagues.
• MediaSpace channels – Once synced with Kaltura MediaSpace Video Portal, you can export specific channels into Pitch to easily share curated playlists and videos internally. This is a terrific way to manage and distribute official marketing and sales enablement resources.

And most importantly, don’t read from a script! Just be yourself, as personal as you can.

Happy Pitching!