You know you want to create more video content for your business or organization. There’s just one problem:
What should you actually make?
Search for how to come up with video ideas, and you’ll find no shortage of lists offering dozens of things you could capture. But you probably don’t need 50 ideas. That’s overwhelming.
You only need one good idea that’s relevant to your audience and worth their time.
If you’ve already thought about who you’re trying to reach, where you can reach them, and what you want them to do, you’ve built the foundation. Now you need to decide what you actually have to show, teach, or say.
The good news is that you have more video content ideas than you realize.
Start With What You Already Have
You don’t need to invent something clever every time you want to create a video.
Look at what’s already happening inside your business or organization.
What are you working on?
What do you know that your audience would find useful?
What questions do customers or clients ask you all the time?
Who are the people behind your organization?
What stories demonstrate the value of what you do?
Those questions can lead to a lot of potential video content. I generally start with these four categories:
Show something. Teach something. Introduce someone. Build trust.
Show Something
Sometimes the simplest video idea is right in front of you.
Show people what you do.
If you make a physical product, show part of the process. If you’re working on an interesting project, take people behind the scenes. If you’re hosting an event, capture what’s happening. If you’ve just completed something you’re proud of, show the result.
You can host the video and walk people through what they’re seeing, or let the visuals tell the story. Sometimes the work is the story itself.
And don’t assume something is too ordinary just because you see it every day. A process that’s routine to you may be completely new to someone outside your business.
Teach Something
You have expertise that can be valuable to your audience.
Use it.
Video gives you an opportunity to position yourself or someone within your organization as a subject-matter expert. Share what you’re seeing in your industry. Explain why something matters. Break down a complicated topic. Offer perspective on a trend or change that affects your audience.
A financial professional might explain what changing interest rates mean for their clients. Someone at a technology company could break down an emerging trend and what businesses should know about it. A healthcare professional might explain the thinking behind a new approach or treatment.
The goal isn’t to prove how much you know. It’s to make your expertise useful to the people you’re trying to reach.
You don’t need to teach everything you know.
Teach one useful thing at a time.
Introduce Someone
People connect with people.
Video gives your audience an opportunity to meet the individuals behind your business or organization.
Introduce yourself or an employee. Ask someone why they do what they do. Let a subject-matter expert explain something they’re passionate about. Show what a person’s role actually looks like.
This can be especially powerful in industries where customers have a lot of choices.
Take real estate, for example. There are plenty of brokers who can share beautiful photos and videos of a property. But no one else brings your exact combination of personality, expertise, and approach to the job.
You are what sets you apart.
Video gives prospective clients a chance to see that. They can hear how you communicate, get a feel for your personality, and learn something from your expertise before they’ve ever met you.
The same principle applies well beyond real estate. If relationships are an important part of your business, don’t only show people what you do. Show them who they’ll be doing it with. And maybe most importantly, why you do it.
Build Trust
Some of the most effective things you can say about your business are things you don’t say yourself.
Let your customers or clients tell the story.
A testimonial can show what it was like to work with you, what problem you helped solve, or why someone would recommend your business.
But trust-building content isn’t limited to testimonials.
Showing your process can build trust. Answering a difficult question honestly can build trust. Introducing the people who will actually work with a customer can build trust.
Ask yourself what someone might need to see or understand before they would feel comfortable taking the next step with you.
There’s probably a video idea in the answer.
One Video = One Idea
Once you start brainstorming, you may run into the opposite problem: suddenly you have so much to say.
That’s when I use one of my simplest rules for creating short-form video content:
One video = one idea.
Let’s say you’re an estate planning attorney and want to create a video about wills.
“Wills” isn’t one video idea. It’s a subject.
You could create one video explaining why someone might need a will. Another could address a common misconception about wills. Another could answer a question about when someone should update one.
Instead of trying to cram all of that into one video, choose one idea and give it room to breathe.
A focused video is easier to create. It’s also easier for your audience to understand.
And if you come up with another great point while you’re shooting? Don’t squeeze it in.
You just found your next video.
Keep the Idea Simple and Consumable
Especially when you’re creating short-form content, resist the urge to explain everything.
You know far more about your business than your audience needs to know in a single video.
Ask yourself: What’s the one thing I want someone to take away from this?
Then build around it.
That doesn’t mean your content needs to be simplistic. Complex businesses can still communicate one clear idea at a time.
In fact, breaking a complicated subject into smaller, useful pieces can give you an entire series of videos instead of one overloaded one.
Don’t Overthink a Good Idea
When I worked in television, I was very active on social media. There were posts I was convinced would be a grand slam—maybe even go viral—that completely flatlined.
Other times, I’d have an idea and question whether it was even worth posting. Those were sometimes the ones that took off.
The lesson I learned: have a plan, but don’t assume you can predict what your audience will respond to.
If an idea fits your audience, your goals and what you want to communicate, don’t talk yourself out of creating it because you’re not convinced it’s going to be a hit.
Make it. Put it out there. See what happens. Then learn from it.
Turn the Idea Into a Plan
Once you’ve chosen your idea, do some preparation before you hit record.
What that looks like depends on the video.
If you’re showcasing something, make a simple list of the shots you know you’ll need.
If you’re speaking directly to the camera, jot down your main talking points or create a short outline.
If you’re interviewing an employee, customer, or client, prepare a few questions that will help you get the story you’re looking for.
You don’t need to overproduce it.
You just want to know what you’re trying to capture before you start.
For more tips on taking your idea from planning through shooting and editing, check out our guide to creating better video content for your business.
You Probably Already Know What to Make
Finding video content ideas for your business doesn’t have to mean sitting in a conference room trying to brainstorm something creative.
Pay attention to what’s already around you.
Show something you’re doing.
Teach something you know.
Introduce someone worth knowing.
Share something that builds trust.
Then choose one idea and stay focused on it.
You don’t need 50 video ideas today.
You need one that’s worth making.
Have a video idea but need help bringing it to life? Contact us to talk about your project. We’d love to help you turn that idea into video content that connects with the people you’re trying to reach.