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This article is meant to help people understand how they can prepare and distribute their own press release without hiring a PR firm, which in the current market might not be worth it.
Creating and distributing a video press release is a great way to get your company’s name out there. There are many ways to create and distribute a video press release, but the best way is to use social media. Read more in detail here: how to create a website with your phone.
A video press release is a corporate statement sent to the press in a video format rather than a typical textual one (through a news wire, digital targeting, or email). These films may then be used as a standalone press release or as a multimedia component in a typical textual news release.
When Should a Company Use a Video Press Release?
Video pieces get 1,200 percent more shares on average than text-only material. As a result, video press releases may and should be utilized anytime a firm wishes to boost its chances of interaction and media attention across several platforms. As an extra bonus, this method may help you establish a stronger track record with your target audience, increasing the chances that future press releases will be picked up.
Another reason firms employ video press releases is because the format makes it simpler to reach media contacts who might be interested in covering the news with a video for their audiences. For example, a business could wish to send a press release to a local television station. By integrating a video, the corporation is providing material to the news station in a manner that can be presented as-is in a broadcast segment, saving the local station the time and effort of developing it.
On Twitter, another business wants to target social media influencers. Because videos generate more interaction than text-only tweets, the company’s PR agency or owner may add a video of the company’s news story as a multimedia part of a written press release or as a stand-alone press release.
1. Select a Video Press Release Type
Video press releases, like textual press releases, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you want to include the video as part of a written press release rather than releasing it as standalone news, the style you pick should compliment rather than replicate the content already covered in your text.
The following are some examples of video press releases:
Interviews
A firm representative answers questions for the benefit of the audience in this sort of video. A personal touch from a key spokesperson in your firm is required for various sorts of press releases. Mergers and acquisitions, new partnerships, and crisis communication news releases all entail scenarios that may cause anxiety among certain stakeholders.
An executive reassuring consumers that their information would never be stolen again as a result of new security measures the firm is adopting will likely assuage customers’ anxieties more effectively than a written statement that may be read in whatever tone the reader chooses. Similarly, a positive toned interview with leaders from both merging firms outlining how employment will and will not be impacted by the merger eliminates the unknown aspects that might make a merger an anxiety-inducing experience for the two merging companies’ employees.
Demonstrations or Product Tours
A product tour begins by posing an issue that the target reader of a company is likely to have, and then illustrates how the product can solve that problem. A product update or product launch press release is often accompanied with a product tour video release. It’s an excellent choice for more sophisticated items, such as marketing or accounting software, that would be difficult to convey only via written language. A cheerful, friendly, down-to-earth tone to the video presentation may also be utilized to highlight the competence of company personnel and make the employee and the product look more accessible.
Testimonials
A customer testimonial is a description of someone’s experience with a company’s products or services by someone who has utilized the company’s products or services. A client testimonial may assist a journalist fill in the gaps in their article by providing a fresh viewpoint (someone outside of the company). It gives prospective clients a sneak peak at what they might expect if they decide to buy from the brand. While a company might just provide a written statement from a client, a video provides extra information via body language, voice, and tone, enhancing the testimonial’s trustworthiness.
Sneak Previews
Sneak peeks are behind-the-scenes videos that generate interest by providing a sneak preview of a new product, future event, or company launch, for example. It conveys a sense of sincerity and anticipation for the approaching news. Including extra interactive methods for people to remain up to speed on the unfolding story is a terrific way to keep the excitement going. You may achieve this by providing a hashtag in your video that viewers can use to learn more about it.
Description of the Business
A Description of the Business video often replaces a press release boilerplate and includes the information traditionally provided in the boilerplate. This information includes the company’s mission statement, time in business, overview of products or services, and company awards won. It should also include a way people can learn more about the business, like a website URL. By showcasing a company’s CEO or C-suite employee talking about the business, the company can better showcase the passion and expertise behind the brand.
Videos that are interactive
The interactive video is a cutting-edge option given by certain press release production and distribution businesses like Business Wire. This might take a variety of forms. It might be a static picture that encourages users to participate by opening videos connected to the image’s topic. Similarly, films may elicit the same kind of involvement in order to understand more about the subject portrayed. These forms of interactive material are perfect for product debuts, product updates, event announcements, and company launches where readers may learn about new ideas.
Overall, additional options to monitor reader interactions and acquire insights into their preferences and interests for future campaign promotion and retargeting are among the advantages of interactive video content. Furthermore, higher interaction generally translates to more views of press releases: according to LinkedIn, interactive content may boost page views by up to 400%.
2. Create a press release
You may make your own video press release using a mobile device or a professional video production tools, or hire a press release agency to do it for you. A microphone, high-quality video recorder, suitable lighting, transitional or background music (optional), a backdrop, a tripod, and video editing tools are required if you wish to make your own press release using a professional video production toolkit.
Here’s a closer look at some of the ways you might make your video press release:
Option 1: Using Professional Production Equipment in-House
Professional production equipment may cost tens of thousands of dollars, which is well above the budgets of most small enterprises. However, there are intermediate production equipment sets available that may keep expenses around $2,000 while still producing high-quality films. A high-quality DSLR video recorder, a lapel microphone (for individual speakers), a hanging microphone (for several speakers in one video shot), a lighting kit, a background kit, a tripod, and editing software are all required to make a high-quality video.
Here’s a quick rundown of what you should know about each:
- Choose a DSLR video recorder as your video recorder. These cameras capture higher-quality photos and videos than your usual iPhone camera. You also have greater control over lighting settings, ensuring that your video does not have strange tints or a gloomy viewing experience. Consider the Canon EOS Rebel T7i video camera.
- Microphones: Most recorders have the ability to capture both visuals and sound. They do, however, often collect background noise in inconvenient ways. You’ll need to acquire a second microphone to remove the surrounding noise and concentrate on a clean, sharp sound for your speakers. For the creation of a press release video, there are two kinds of microphones that might be used. A hanging microphone as well as a lapel microphone. When there is a group of persons speaking in your film, a lapel microphone is fastened to the collar of one speaker, while a hanging microphone is beneficial. The Rode RodeLink FM Wireless Microphone is a nice example of a lapel microphone, whereas the Rode VideoMic Go is a good example of a hanging microphone.
- Lighting and backdrop: Your video lighting must be incredibly constant for the greatest effects. The simplest approach to do this is to avoid mixing natural and artificial light and, if artificial light is used, to use the same kinds of bulbs throughout. So, if you want to utilize purely natural light, make sure there’s enough of it so you don’t have to use artificial light to augment it. A lighting kit, such as the Neewer Illumination and Backdrop kit, may provide consistent artificial lighting. This package also includes a backdrop, commonly known as a green screen, which enables you to use different backdrops in the video editing process.
- Tripod: A tripod enables you to mount the camera on a stable foundation and record from there, reducing shaky footage that may make your video appear amateurish. The Manfrotto Video Tripod is an example of a popular high-quality tripod for video filming.
- Background music (optional): Background music may be utilized to provide the perfect ambiance for your message or to move between scenes in your video. Always make sure you’re using music that you own the rights to, is royalty-free, or is in the public domain. You may get royalty-free music for your video on websites like Freestockmusic.com, AudioMicro.com, and RoyaltyFreeMusic.com.
- Editing software may range from the most basic to the most complex. Advanced video editing software might have a steep learning curve before you can effectively edit your video. Individual licenses for editing tools like Adobe Premiere Pro start at $250 per year. While it is sophisticated and hence requires some understanding, it is not impossible to learn via YouTube tutorials. However, if you want to generate a video fast without a steep learning curve in the editing process, editing tools such as Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Camtasia, or ScreenFlow may be the way to go.
Option 2: Use a Press Release Service to Outsource
Some press release distribution companies also provide video creation and editing services for targeted audiences before distributing your news release. This sort of service, which will prepare and disseminate your video press release for you, will cost between $1,000 and $3,800.
30 Second Video Marketing, for example, is largely a video press release creation and distribution firm, with plans beginning at $1,275. They start by creating a 30 to 90 second high-quality HD movie (up to 1080 pixels) with your brand and message. Your video press release is then sent to over 300,000 journalists who have signed up for the program, as well as targeted newspaper, TV, radio, and social media websites. They will also create your press release material for a predetermined cost if your video press release is just a part of a written news release.
Option 3: Using a Mobile Device to Record Yourself
Before we go into how to make this work, it’s important to note that this isn’t a smart idea since journalists need professionally generated material for their articles (unless it is a home video, feel-good story they are running). You want to give high-quality material that journalists can utilize straight away in their stories. This demonstrates to journalists that your organization is a professional entity worthy of their attention. A mobile device typically lacks the professional appearance required to communicate this message.
If you insist on utilizing a mobile device, such as an iPhone, here are some suggestions:
- To begin, make sure your video is stable by using a tripod. A choppy video will make your release seem amateurish rather than professional.
- Second, shoot your movie in horizontal mode so that it adapts to the size of the viewer’s screen. Then, to produce a crisp viewing experience, utilize natural lighting (a lot of it). Set up a lot of lighting around the area where you’re recording if you can’t utilize a lot of natural light.
- Finally, instead of relying only on the speakers on your mobile device, utilize a microphone to filter out any unwanted sounds.
3. Publish Your Video Press Release on the Internet
YouTube and Vimeo are the major two video hosting services nowadays. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, as well as distinct pricing points. When you host on YouTube, you have access to a massive audience on the world’s second-largest search engine. Vimeo, on the other hand, has a smaller viewership but a higher-quality audience and viewing experience.
YouTube
Because YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google and the second-most visited site after Google, it is an excellent choice for putting your press release video. YouTube is an excellent site to use if you want your video to be seen and found. The greatest part is that publishing your video on YouTube is completely free. You can also quickly optimize your video so that your target audience can find it.
Creating an account with YouTube Studio, pressing the “Create” button, and choosing your video are all it takes to upload a video to YouTube. Here’s a little video from Google (YouTube’s parent company) that walks you through the process:
You can rename your video file to include a keyword your target audience is likely to use to find similar content, use your keyword in your video title (in a natural, not forced way), use keywords in your video description, tag your video with keywords your target audience is likely to use in search, and categorize your video based on topic to optimize your video for free during the uploading process. Read HubSpot’s guide to optimizing your video for YouTube to discover more about how to reach your target audience with your video.
Vimeo
Vimeo, which is second only to YouTube as the most popular video hosting site, provides a cleaner, more professional video hosting experience. Audiences may watch videos uploaded there without being interrupted by advertisements of any type.
While Vimeo provides a more professional audience and presentation, the downside is that Vimeo’s audience is far smaller. While YouTube has a monthly viewership of 2 billion people, Vimeo has a monthly audience of 714 million people. Vimeo’s viewership is still more professional than YouTube’s, thanks to higher-quality video watching experiences.
It’s simple to make or upload a bespoke video. You can produce a personalized film for your company with your logo, message, and call to action for as little as $50 per month (they do offer lower options). You may even have their expert crew look at your film for suggestions on how to enhance it. You may submit your pre-produced video by selecting “New Video,” then “Upload” from the upper right-hand corner of their webpage, in addition to utilizing their video editing tools and video templates to create a personalized video.
Example of a Vimeo customisable video template: COVID-19
4. Make a video press release and distribute it.
You have the option of sending your video press release by email, automatic distribution, or both. You may hand-pick and customise a pitch to a journalist by manually sending your press release. With a press release service, you may send your press release to a large number of journalists and influencers. We encourage utilizing both methods of issuing a press release since each has its own set of advantages.
Manually sending a press release
Manually sending your press release entails sending it to journalists by email, along with a description of why your story will be relevant to your audience and information on how they may reach you if they have any questions. Manually distributing your press release enables you to target certain journalists with whom you’ve previously established a rapport and who you know would be interested in covering your story.
Read our tutorial on how to send a press release to discover how to send a press release by email, including how to identify the correct media professionals to pitch, how to get their contact information, and how to pitch them. Instead of attaching a video to an email, upload your film on your own website and offer a URL where email recipients may see it if you prefer to distribute your video release manually by email. Your movie will not load up your recipient’s email with big files if you do this.
Using a Distribution Service that is Automated
Uploading your press release to a distribution software, selecting your targeting options, and paying the software to distribute your press release to your target audience across hundreds or thousands of outlets instantly is what sending your press release automatically via a distribution service entails. While you won’t be able to choose which journalists get your release, you will be able to guarantee that it reaches a wide number of journalists who are interested in reporting articles about your news subject.
However, before you use a distribution service, you must first choose which one is best for you. You have a plethora of options when it comes to press release services. Read our 2020 buyer’s guide for press release distribution services for assistance in selecting a provider that meets your small business’s goals and budget.
As you consider your options, keep the following in mind: When selecting and utilizing an automated service to send a video-only or video-included news release, keep the following in mind:
- Options for video attachment and embedding: Some distribution systems give you the choice of attaching or embedding your video. If you want your press release to be distributed throughout broadcast, you can simply attach your video to it and send it to newsrooms, since broadcasters will be able to play it without having to include it in your textual press release.
- Some press release distribution firms only include free video attachments or embedding in their most costly plans. Others, regardless of the package you pick, require an additional cost for video embedding or attachments (up to $300 per asset).
- Availability of video performance tracking: Confirm that the press release distribution provider you chose provides detailed reporting that includes parameters related to video consumption and interaction. Video downloads, plays, views, and view times are examples of such measures.
Pro tip: To evaluate their video performance reporting options, most press release distribution firms include sample press release performance monitoring reports. While many companies provide these samples on their websites, you may also call a representative and request one.
5 Best Practices for Video Press Releases
Stick to a newsworthy, not an advertorial viewpoint when creating a video press release for the greatest results. Tell your tale in language that your target audience will understand, and record many takes of each scene in your video press release so you can edit it for the best quality and clarity.
Here are five additional ideal practices for video press releases:
1. Give your video an ad-free vibe.
The goal of a press release should not be to sell, but to offer journalists with a quality, newsworthy story to cover. To do so, it should address your audience’s issues and provide a solution to the question “why should I care?” from the standpoint of your target audience.
After you’ve determined why your audience should be interested, the release should expand on that point. To add more information to your response to this question, create a video press release. If your video is part of a written press release, it should go into more depth about that aspect without duplicating what you’ve previously said in the remainder of the press release. For example, you could have many responses to the question “why should my audience care?” Your video may provide a more detailed solution to that query than your textual press release.
2. Tell Your Target Audience a Story
The purpose of your video press release is to convey a narrative to and about your target audience. The emphasis of the tale should be on the impact of your news item on the lives of your target audience members. It shouldn’t only be a message directed at your intended audience.
This entails using pictures and information that are relevant to and representative of your target audience. Include a visual showing the facts that are about or directly effect your target audience if you are giving data to back up your arguments. If you’re depicting someone utilizing (and so benefitting from) community business services, make sure they’re from your target demographic.
If you’re announcing the launch of a new real estate agent office in a new town, for example, provide home market information from the area. Use the data to convey the narrative of how your firm addresses an issue that your local target audience is experiencing right now. Showcase how your organization will provide a new service in the region by addressing a market gap that adversely effects your target audience members to make it noteworthy.
Then relate the tale of how you helped a family or person in your target market address that challenge. You might shoot a high-quality house tour with a family from your target market—including individuals who share your target market’s demographics and interests—and illustrate their journey from searching for a new home to moving into their new dream home.
You may end your film with photographs of additional people of your target demographic who you’ve serviced. This manner, you can communicate the tale of your target market’s issue and your solution while also making target audience viewers feel like they are a part of your organization.
3. Include a Variety of Visual & Interactive Assets for Journalists
Make it simple for all sorts of journalists to run with your story. Include a range of visual and interactive elements from which they may chose while investigating and presenting your narrative to their readers, viewers, or listeners in order to do this.
A short video, a still image of how your business is affecting your target audience, a graph of the statistics surrounding your story, hashtags people can use to follow the story, and the handles of industry influencers who are involved in your video might be helpful to a journalist interested in publishing your story on a news site and on social media. They may mix and match these aspects to create an interesting tale for their audience on any platform.
Consider yourself a journalist, and give the pieces that a journalist would use to show your video or the information it contains across several media.
4. Take many shots of each scene in your video.
To create a high-quality video, make sure that each scene is of professional quality and provides the viewer with the necessary information or overview to completely grasp the material. Take many shots of each moment while you’re shooting.
For example, shoot each photo in close-up and from a distance. That way, if you see your viewers require a close-up photo of your product for more information while discussing a complicated topic when editing your video, you may utilize your close-up shot. These decisions might be the difference between a video that is interesting and consuming and one that is clicked off within a few seconds.
5. If at all possible, include your video in a published press release.
If you’re sending a press release to a news wire or posting it on your website, use the video embed code to include your video. This eliminates the need for journalists, influencers, and other readers to click away from your press release to watch the video.
This means they’re more likely to read your whole message—your entire explanation of why your target audience (and journalists’ target audiences) should care about your news story. Because they are staying to hear your complete case, the extra time they spend reading and engaging with your press release might spell the difference between receiving press coverage and not receiving press coverage.
Examples of Video Press Releases
Business Wire provides an example of a Garmin video press release.
Two films are included in Garmin’s news release. Journalists may grab both videos and post them to their preferred coverage platform. The first video displays Garmin’s target demographic (young, athletic folks) utilizing their new product to fix an issue in their life, specifically their watch running out of battery power while on an outdoor excursion. It demonstrates how their new solar energy watch enables athletes to spend more time outdoors, unplugged.
The second video in this release is an interview with different corporate stakeholders who were involved in the development of the new watch and its technologies. Garmin product managers and marketing managers talk about how the watch’s unique solar-powered technology was developed and tested in the interview.
Garmin staff respond to questions such as what’s new with the new Garmin watch, why it’s remarkable, who it serves, and why it’s revolutionary. All of these responses are interesting aspects for journalists to investigate, and they may then use excerpts from the video to provide well-rounded coverage to their readers. When a new stakeholder talks on camera, their name and title are overlay so journalists may credit quotes correctly.
These two movies do not repeat material, but rather add to it. They do it by presenting the watch from two perspectives: the individuals who developed the technology underlying the new watch and the consumers who will benefit from the product’s debut. The two films assist writers build a well-rounded narrative with diverse views for their readers by being complimentary and not repetitious.
2. The US Department of Energy Unveils a Quantum Internet Blueprint
Example of a multimedia news release from the US Department of Energy containing video
“A system to communicate using quantum physics represents one of the most crucial technical frontiers of the twenty-first century,” according to a press statement from the US Department of Energy. The Deputy Director of Research at Firmilab and Senior Scientist at Chicago Quantum Exchange break down a tremendously complicated idea into layman’s terms in order to explain what this new technology might entail for the average customer in the video supplied.
This is an excellent example of a press release that, rather than tediously delivering a long explanation of a complicated idea in prose, shows the reader how a complex concept might effect them via explanation and graphics. By showing rather of explaining, readers can better comprehend the immensity and awe of this incredibly complicated technology and how it may alter their lives, resulting in reader buy-in and a want to keep reading and learning more.
Then, the U.S. Department of Energy offers journalists every type of media imaginable to tell the story in a way their audiences will embrace. A folder is provided with audio recordings, more videos, an image gallery, a Q&A (interview), brochures, and a full report of the developments. There is even an opportunity to watch the live stream of the event that launched the blueprint. In the end, each media asset contributes to a whole story of how this technology is being developed and where it is heading. In addition, the variety of media assets provided gives journalists all the tools they need to cover the story on any platform—from print and broadcast to digital outlets.
The Advantages of Using a Video Press Release
Video press releases may give companies a greater engagement rate, more touchpoints to gain conversions, richer performance monitoring, the opportunity to earn coverage on a number of channels, and more interaction across devices, whether added to a text-based news release or as a stand-alone press release. Here’s how to do it:
Increased Participation
We now know that video offers Increased Participation rates than other types of media. Consider these statistics:
- After two minutes, 60% of individuals will quit viewing a video, but just 5% would stop after one minute. A text-based piece, on the other hand, takes the typical reader only 37 seconds to read. Longer interaction periods indicate a greater understanding of your marketing message.
- While just 20% of visitors will read text on a website, 80% will view a video on the same page.
- Websites with video content are 50 times more likely to get organic search traffic. This implies that journalists that incorporate your video in their story coverage are more likely to drive traffic to your article.
According to these figures, articles with video get more traffic, have lower bounce rates, earn more watch time, and receive more social media shares than those without video. This implies that if you want your narrative to reach your target audience, be digested by its members, and be shared with a larger audience, video is a terrific tool to help you achieve those objectives.
Increased Touchpoints & Conversions
For leads to become customers, it takes an average of seven interactions with your brand. When you include additional touchpoints in your press release (for example, by including video in the text), you reduce the time it takes for readers to convert since they don’t have to wait to interact with your brand again.
But there’s more: video is not just another way to encourage readers to convert, but it’s also one of the most successful media types for doing so. According to 70% of marketers, video outperforms other media types in terms of conversions. They also discovered that replacing graphics with video raised conversion rates by 12.62 percent on average. On the consumer side, 50% of internet shoppers look for a product video before making a purchase.
Improved Performance Monitoring
Including a video in your press release gives you extra options for tracking reader engagement and interest in your article. While a text-based press release can provide you with information such as click rates, bounce rates, and even time on page, a video can provide you with information such as download rates, play rates, and the content that people are watching when they continue to watch your video versus when they stop watching.
These additional trackable data give you a better knowledge of your reader. For instance, knowing when individuals quit watching your video material vs when they keep watching might provide you information into which portions of your news item your readers found most intriguing. If your viewers quit watching your video at specific points, it’s probable that the material has lost its appeal. Clearly, having additional data to monitor allows you to have a better insight of your press release reader’s preferences. These findings may subsequently be utilized to improve retargeting and press release distribution efforts.
Earned Media Coverage on a Wide Range of Platforms
While textual material is readily available for use on websites and social media, certain sources want more. Even on sources where text-based press releases are acceptable, video-based stories are more enthusiastically received than text-based articles alone.
Local news organizations, for example, need visual material to publish on a visual medium. Providing a video aids newscasters in putting together a well-rounded narrative that they can present rather than merely repeat. For mobile channels like news apps, we’ve previously explained why video is a better match than text. Video is increasingly popular on social media: four of the top six video consumption channels are social media sites. Even in email, using the term “video” in the subject line boosts open rates by 19%. Clearly, video is adaptable, allowing your narrative to be shared across several platforms.
Accessibility on a Wider Range of Devices
Every year, mobile video consumption increases by 100% on average. Furthermore, customers are 1.5 times more likely to view a video on a mobile device than on a desktop computer, and 68 percent prefer to learn about a new product or service launch via video. Finally, 92 percent of those who see a mobile video will tell someone they know about it.
Consumers are increasingly using video to learn about company products, and they are doing it on mobile devices more than on any other platform, according to these figures. Furthermore, they are sharing sponsored mobile films with those who share their interests. This implies that a video press release is more likely to attract a mobile audience, which will help you reach more of your target audience via more shares.
Conclusion
Higher news story engagement, coverage across a range of media types, quicker lead-to-conversion timelines, and the opportunity to measure viewer interaction are all benefits of video press releases. As a result, they’re becoming a more common technique for raising brand recognition.
Consider PRWeb if you’re a small firm wanting to disseminate a video press release on a shoestring budget. You can get free video embedding in your written press release, editorial proofreading and feedback so you can distribute with confidence, press release placement on PRWeb’s news wire, the ability to target your press release by industry, and press release syndication to over 1,200 websites starting at $289 per release. To discover more about PRWeb, go here.
Visit PRWeb to learn more.
The “how to create a website quickly” is the process of creating, publishing, and distributing a video press release.
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