Get Smart with SmartSimple’s Training

Videos

Introduction

• Want to make it even easier for your end users to experience your SmartSimple system?

• Why not make a training video?• Mark and Eric will walk you through the

process of creating, editing, and postinga training video for your system’send users.

Who are we?

• Mark BridgerWeb UI & Graphic DesignerVideo editing, look and feel of client instances, and marketing materials

• Eric LauerTechnical Community ManagerSupporting our community

Who are we?

• You can see our faces - and find out more about SmartSimple - on the wiki: http://wiki.smartsimple.com

YouTube

• On our official YouTube channel “SmartSimpleSoftware” http://www.youtube.com/user/smartsimplesoftware

you can watchvideos wehave created.

No need for notes

• You don't need to take notes, everything presented here will be available on our blog: http://smartsimplesaas.blogspot.ca/

• You can email info@smartsimple.com or

tweet us at @SmartSimpleSaaS if you want a copy of this slide deck.

Agenda

• Why should you create a video?• Types of Videos• What you will need• Technical Stuff• Conclusion• Question and Answer

Why should I create a video?

Why should I create a video?• Save time

– Reduce support calls and questions about your system

• Increase engagement with your community– Easily disseminate information, promote features and

functionality within your system

• Create a better user experience– Show people how to use the system, give them tips to save

time, and teach best practices

• Establish expertise in your market• Increase sales and improve SEO

– Search Engine Optimization, more web traffic

What types of videosmight I want to create?

Suggested Video Types

• Tutorials (How to)• Webinars (Demos)• Public Service Announcements • “Get to know us” (Company culture)• Testimonials

Tutorials (How to)

• Tutorial videos explain how you accomplish something in your system.

• Example: submit an application,create an email broadcast, etc.

• Benefits:– Simplifies difficult concepts.– Establishes your expertise and authority in

your market.– Easy way to drive SEO traffic

to your site via organic searches.

Tutorials (How to)

• http://youtu.be/wrXrzWA1_yc

Webinars (Demos)

• If you give demos or webinars for any aspect of your product/service, you can also record and post them for the benefit of your clients.

• Benefits:– Sharing the information you created increases

your reach and saves you time.– Can increase in sales.– Increases accessibility (videos can be

watched anywhere at any time).

Webinars (Demos)

• http://youtu.be/Pbl0vfd2P2s

Public Service Announcements

• If your organization takes a passionate stance on an issue, you may want tocreate a PSA. These videos evoke an emotional response through sight and sound.

• Benefits:– Effectively raises awareness and changes

attitudes toward an issue.– Often more effective than pamphlets

or brochures.

Public Service Announcements

• http://youtu.be/nl5gBJGnaXs

“Get to know us” (Company Culture)

• These videos are a great tool for showing off your company’s personality, revealing the philosophy and culture of your office, and explaining why your employees like working for you.

• This type of video:– Creates a personal connection with

your community.– Increases brand awareness.

“Get to know us” (Company Culture)

• http://youtu.be/9_mmwk8QyS0

Testimonials• Testimonials can range from clients who explain the

great working relationship they have with you, people demonstrating how you helped them achieve their goals, to people explaining how easy or great it is to use your product/service/system.

• This type of video:– Is powerful social proof of how effective your organization

and system are.– Can be very influential. People like to see the reviews and

endorsements of others. Example: Facebook likes, IMDB ratings,Google+, Metacritic, any vacation site.

What do I need?

What do I need to create a video?• Video capture software

to record your screen.

What do I need to create a video?• Video editing software

to edit and add callouts.

– $324 (Camtasia studio with SnagIt - $ easy to use) – $20 /month (Adobe Premier - more complicated)

– Both offer free trials

What do I need to create a video?• Condenser microphone for voice-overs.• Pop filter to eliminates the loud sound of

air when you pronounce a “p”.

– Mic $100+ pop– Pop Filter $10

What else might I want?

• HD Video Camera for recording people.• Tripod to avoid shaky camera footage.

– $300+ (Sony, JVC, Cannon)– Tripod $20+

Cost/Time?

• A few hours– To record and edit and upload.

• Under $500– Video record/edit software, microphone and

pop filter.

The Technical Stuff

Creating a script (The Plan)

• Before we create anything, we need to clearly define the goal (what we want to accomplish, including the target audience).

• Identify where clients are having issues. Example: Users seem confused about the support request procedure, so we will show them how.

Creating a script (The Plan)

• Identify features we want to promote. Example: We want more people to use our live chat.

• Now that we have defined our goal, target audience and what we want in our video, we can start writing the script.

Creating a script (The Plan)

• Sample script template.• Delineate what you will show and say

before you record.• Send to other stakeholders so they can

add their feedback prior to filmingand editing.

• Consider doing a table read.

Recording Video/Audio Tips

• For screen captures set your desktop to 1280x720 (Half HD) or 1920x1080 (full HD). This is the proper aspect ratio to play properly on YouTube or on an HDTV.

• Some video cameras like Sony create video files in a format (mts) that may not be natively supported. Depending on your editing software, you may need to convertthese into MP4s.

Recording Video/Audio Tips

• When recording a voice over, use an external condenser microphone and a pop filter to ensure quality.

• Keep your videos between 3 and 5 minutes long. The top 10 videos shared on YouTube average 4 minutes11 seconds (top 50 average 2:54).

Video and audio editing tips

• Create a test clip and import it into your editing software prior to capturing your final clip.

• Keep your audio on a separate track from your video, animations, and callouts. This makes it easy to eliminate any disfluencies (e.g. ums, ahs, and other ambient noises such as typing, clickingand paper shuffling).

Video and audio exporting tips

• MP4 (mpeg-4) format is preferred and the standard for sharing video online. It can also be played directly in HTML 5.

• Format H.264 (used by YouTube, Vimeo or iTUNES).

• Frame rate 30, Target bit rate 8, will yield great video with a size of about10 MB per minute.

Play video locally

• Play your exported video locally to spot any potential issues before uploading it to a sharing site.

• VLC media player is the best for watching video, it's free and can play everything.– http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

• On an android tablet, you may want MX player (free from Google Play).

Video sharing sites

• YouTube and Vimeo are the most popular video sharing sites that you can upload to.

• YouTube has the greater reach and audience potential.

Steps to upload video to YouTube1. Create a Google account for your

organization, and this will create your own channel.

2. Click the "upload" button to choose the video you want to upload.

3. Drag and drop the video to the screen.

YouTube privacy options

• Public– Everyone can view the video and search for it.

• Unlisted– Only people who have a link to the video can see or

search.

• Private– Only specific people can view the video.

• “Unlisted" is suggested until you areready to make it “Public".

Other YouTube suggestions

• Customize the look of your "channel" through the settings.

• Add links inside your video through the annotations.

• Create a thumbnail image for each video, as they look better than a screen grab.

• Add a title and description to helppeople find your videos.

Promote your video

• Use your website and social media.• Send SmartSimple a link to your video and

we can help promote it through our twitter feed (@SmartSimpleSaas).

The Conclusion

Conclusion

• For under $500 and a few hours, you can make your own videos. This will:– Save time– Increase engagement with your community– Create a better user experience– Establish expertise in your market– Increase sales and improve SEO

Where can I find this information?• All the information presented here will be

available on our blog: http://smartsimplesaas.blogspot.ca

• You can also email info@smartsimple.com or tweet @SmartSimpleSaaS to get a copy of this slide deck.

Questions & Answers

Email info@smartsimple.com to get a copy ofthis slide deck.

Thanks for your time and remember to send us links to your videos!