Marketing campaigns have changed drastically in the past few years. Conversation-like PR campaigns have made it practically mandatory for business owners to have a virtual face-to-face with their audience, whether through a TV appearance or a YouTube promotional video.
Related: Lights, Camera, Action!
You are the image of your brand, so use these four suggestions to best handle your time to shine.
1. Know your audience. As an entrepreneur, you invest the time necessary learning as much as possible about existing and potential customers but the web has made market segmentation more complex. Don't assume your on-air audience is the same as your current or potential clients. On a morning show, your audience will be mostly female between the ages of 25 and 50, whereas YouTube is visited more often by minority males under the age of 25.
Google is everyone’s best friend, so research the show or platform and adjust what you have to say accordingly.
2. Be innovative. To make your appearance worth watching, don't rehash what is already saturating TV shows and social media. Come up with something people have not seen or heard anywhere else. People tend to listen to TV more than they actually watch it. If you capture their attention, you will convert those listeners into viewers who may very well follow your call to action.
Sound your calls to action sparingly and judiciously to avoid sounding like a late-night marketer.
Related: 10 Tips for Getting Your Business on Reality TV
3. Time matters. While daily shows will spend three to eight minutes on a segment, a viral-hopeful video should not exceed two minutes and 30 seconds. Practice your timing beforehand with the goal, if at all possible, of covering three main talking points. Always start with the strongest information. Speak at a moderate pace, smile a lot and convey energy and passion to the host and viewers.
Don't waste time introducing yourself. Remind the producer to promote your information during the interview or at the bottom the screen. That should include your name, title, website and/or Twitter handle, and the name of your brand.
4. Dress to impress. This does not mean pull out a red-carpet dress! While bright colors are attractive to viewers, stripes may scramble on camera. Anticipate the extra pounds the lens adds. Avoid wearing sleeveless shirts. Television studios will be always be chilly for the sake of the equipment, so dress warmly enough to survive your segment without trembling lips and a shaky voice.
Too much jewelry is definitely not a good idea. It may clink or distract viewers. Unless you’re selling jewelry, keep the focus on you and what you have to say, not your bracelets.
Your first time in front of a camera can be an intimidating but, with practice, confidence and a knowledgeable tone, your message will get through, your brand will shine and you will enjoy the personal satisfaction only the camera can give.
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