Ever thought to yourself, “If I’m such a great coach, how come I’m hardly making any money?” You’re certainly not the first coach out there scratching their head, wondering why their video marketing efforts are not paying off.
I have coached thousands of business owners just like you and have seen the same small things hold them back from success over and over again. They think they’re doing everything right, but just a couple of small tweaks to their strategy can make a huge impact and change everything. It’s the difference between getting 12 views on a video and getting hundreds or even thousands in the first week alone.
Just this morning, I had someone reach out to me. They have 20,000 subscribers, but every video that they put out just gets a handful of views. Within just a few minutes of evaluating their channel, I was able to see exactly what the problem was. Now that they know what to keep doing and what to stop doing, they’ll be able to implement these changes and hopefully see a huge difference in very little time.
So, in today’s video, I’m going to tell you what I told them, but before we get to that, I need to tell you what video marketing is not. It is not a commercial all about you and your business. It is not an opportunity for you to tell the world how fabulous you are and all of the reasons why someone should choose you to work with. Video marketing is a powerhouse tool, but like any tool, if you don’t use it right, you don’t end up with the right results. It’s like trying to cut a steak with a spoon.
So, what are these big mistakes? Let’s break it down.
Mistake number one:
A lack of objectives. What is your goal with this particular video? What are you doing? What are you trying to accomplish? What do you want the viewer to do after they view this video? Is it to build awareness of you and your service, is it to build a community, or is it to nurture the relationship with the viewer who’s already been following you for quite some time and get them to finally pull the trigger and take some action? Every video that you put out should have one clear objective, but only one. You can’t do two at the same time, so pick one objective and then build your entire video script around it.
Mistake number two:
Inconsistent publishing. This is like going to the gym once a month and then getting mad that you’re not getting ripped and you’re not losing weight. Video marketing is a long game, and sporadic posting just isn’t going to cut it.
This is part of the reason why I chose YouTube as my platform of choice. Posting once a week gives me amazing results, but I’m not too excited about other platforms where I have to post daily or even multiple times a day. That exhausts me just thinking about it, and if I don’t enjoy doing it, then I’m gonna find reasons not to do it and then suddenly I haven’t done it in several weeks. Once a week is something that I can get behind and I can commit to. We make time for the things that are important to us. Is it important to you to build your business to the first six figures, to multiple six figures, to seven figures? If it is, then publish consistently. The end.
Mistake number three:
Publishing low-quality content. Now, don’t misunderstand me when I say low quality. I do not mean that you need to go out and buy a $2,000 camera, and you need a very expensive microphone, and you need to do over-the-top video editing. That is not what I mean. But I do mean that you’re able to capture the viewer’s attention, you’re able to tell a good story, you’re able to get them to click on the video, and then keep watching it for a long time. They enjoy watching your videos, so they keep coming back over and over again, and they binge-watch your content.
All of those things have nothing to do with camera equipment or technology; it has everything to do with your expertise on camera, your camera presence. It’s not about the production value. There are plenty of people on YouTube that get millions of views, and they’re filming with their iPhone. So, don’t tell yourself that you would be better if only you had a much more expensive camera. That’s not the issue; you need to work on how you deliver the information once you are on camera.
Here are three things that you can do to start improving your videos right now.
Number one:
Look at the camera lens. You have to make eye contact with the camera lens. You can’t be looking at your face on the screen, and you can’t be reading your script from the teleprompter. This definitely takes practice, so the more often you make videos, the better you will get. But you know how weird it is for you as the viewer, right? Have you ever watched a video where the person was just kind of staring slightly off into the distance, and you’re kind of like, “Yoo-Hoo! I’m over here!” It’s very off-putting for the viewer. It’s weird. It makes them feel uncomfortable; they will leave the video, and they will probably never watch another video of yours again. You’ve taken a golden opportunity and flushed it down the toilet.
If you’re filming with your phone, the camera lens is right here. I know it’s weird, so look at where you would put your ear if you were talking on the phone. If you’re reading from a teleprompter, there are several apps that will allow you to put the script as close to the camera lens as possible. So, practice using some of those. You can also use software such as V Dot IO that will allow you to read from the teleprompter, and then later the artificial intelligence feature Avid changes where your eyes are looking. In fact, I did a whole video all about that, so I’ll link that up here if you want to watch that next. Coolest technology ever!
Number two:
Take out as many pauses as possible. People do not need to hear you take a giant long breath between sentences. When I’m filming my videos, here’s how I typically do it: I take a breath, I say the line, I wait at the end of the sentence, kind of like this. I just hold the pose, and then when I start speaking again, I’m able to cut it without a big jarring transition between it. You say your line, you just kind of sit there while you inhale, hold your hands in the same position they were at before, and then start talking again. And then when you edit, you just take out all of those pauses. It keeps the video moving along so much faster, and it really does a great job at helping to hold the viewer’s attention.
I’m gonna do this for the next 30 seconds before I ever start talking about anything of importance on this video—don’t do that! People do not have the attention span for that; maybe five years ago, that was the thing. We don’t do that on YouTube anymore, and if you continue to do it, you’re going to look at your analytics and see that you’re losing a huge amount of people in the first 30 seconds of your video. And you got to ask yourself why that is. It’s because they clicked, and you’re not talking about anything yet. Get to the point.
Number three:
Being too salesy. People do not come to YouTube to watch commercials. Let me ask you, when you watch videos, do you ever enjoy watching the commercials? When do you ever love watching the commercials? During the Super Bowl, and why do you love those commercials? Because they’re hilarious can do so. Unless you’re watching a video from Squatty Potty or Poo-Pourri or Lumi, the reason they get so many views is because they are very entertaining. They are hilarious, but if you’re making videos to talk about your coaching business, I’m gonna guess they’re probably not hilarious. So, if you make it a big old commercial all about you, you’re going to lose the viewer.
Don’t do that! You need to be delivering value from the minute your video starts until the minute the video ends. You do not need to tell the viewer why you are good at what you do; demonstrate that you are good at what you do—show, don’t tell.
Number four:
Not leveraging your analytics. You need to know what you’re doing well and what’s working to bring you new subscribers and new viewers. You also need to know what’s not working so well, what’s causing people to leave your videos and not come back. Tell me in the comments if you post YouTube videos: at the 30-second mark, do you know what your average audience retention is? Comment down below and tell me what it is, and if you don’t even know where to find it, tell me that too. Maybe I can make a future video talking all about the importance of your analytics and how to figure out what they are.
If you’ve been making these mistakes, the good news is they are all completely fixable. So, with a little bit of time and effort, you can completely overhaul your video marketing strategy unless you are making this big mistake—which is not having a niche. In this video next, I’m going to tell you all the reasons why you absolutely need to have a niche if you want video marketing to be a successful strategy for you too.
Ready to take your coaching business to the next level? Get my FREE resources to help you create a winning video strategy for your coaching brand. Whether you’re just getting started with video or looking to up your game, these resources will provide you with valuable tips, tricks, and insights to help you succeed.
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