How to keep your wellness business on brand using video and audio

Most of us have a pretty good idea on how to keep on brand with our printed materials, with our social media and our websites. If we have our brand toolkit to hand, with logos and colours and fonts, we can easily create a beautiful visual brand for our wellness business. But how do we transfer this to video and audio? How can we keep and grow our brand when using a completely different medium?

Well, the starting point would be to expand our brand toolkits. We need to add a few more sections to build up our brands more fully. You might already have these or you might have thought about it. Whichever point you’re at, it’s worth going over and making sure everything is up to date.

Expand your brand toolkit – find your imagery

How much thought do you put into your brand imagery? Do your images on your print, website and social media look consistent? Do they balance with your brand colours? Do they help promote your brand?

You might have had some photography done in which case you have an idea of your brand style. If you rely on stock photography, be critical about which images you use. Make sure they are a good fit for your business, that they support your messages and are consistent.

If you take your own photos, think about the styling and your brand. Get ideas from social media, the internet, from promotional literature. Create a style so your photos have a consistent theme.

Build up a folder of images on your computer that are your brand and refer to them. You are better having a small selection of really good images than loads and loads that are just so so. When customers look at your images you want them to start to recognise your business. Now, if you have built a particular style for your images you can start to carry this over to your videos.

Using your brand in videos

First, have a think about yourself and how you look – can you wear your brand colours as a top or an accessory? Perhaps your uniform if you’re a therapist or fitness outfit if you’re a yoga or fitness instructor.

Think about your brand images and think about your video background and what you can use there to continue your brand. Are you minimalistic, cosy, very white, lots of colour? Will you be using part of your therapy rooms for showcase a product? Are you using the corner of your sofa? Sitting at a desk?

What can your customers see behind you? Can you use that space to build your brand – a picture, quote, logo in a frame, something personal you love?

If you’re doing a demonstration use your brand colours or colour palette in the objects you’re using – yoga mat, mixing bowl, towels.

You obviously don’t want to detract from what you are doing but if your video is two minutes long, your customers will be looking around the background as they listen to you and taking in the information, even if it’s subconsciously.

Expand your brand toolkit – find your voice

You already have a brand voice if you have a website and are using social media. Again, check this is consistent and speaks your brand.

We’ve discussed how your brand looks, now think about how your brand sounds – serious, fun, helpful, inspiring, kind?

Do you use particular words or phrases on your website or social media? Do they complement your message and how you want your customers to feel?

Do you naturally use those words and phrases when speaking? You need to feel comfortable saying them.

As with your images, keep a document of words and phrases to use to help you keep that consistency. Use a similar way of greeting and signing off so it becomes recognisable as you.

Using your brand in audio

If you’re promoting podcasts or selling a video, it’s always helpful for customers to hear a snippet so they can decide whether they want to buy – is it something that will be helpful, do they like the sound of your voice.

Audio is very powerful and memorable, and having sounds or music associated with your brand can really help it grow.

An audio snippet tends to be around 30 seconds to give potential customers a taster of what they’re buying.

How long should my video be?

Most people wonder just how long the perfect video should be and so much is written about it. Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter as we get busier and are bombarded with more and more information. Our time is precious and we don’t want to spend it watching something that doesn’t grab us immediately. Apparently there’s a big drop off after one minute so it seems that the shorter your video the better.

We’re not talking about your workshops and classes here, they are a completely different

ball game and depend on what you’re teaching and your customers. These are the videos you can use to entice your customers, the benefits of your products or services, how your products work, how you work. Short snappy videos that showcase you, your products or services and your brand.

For a long time the standard was 3 minutes but these days it’s recommended between 30 seconds and 120 seconds.

However, every video is different and every business is different. These numbers are a guide and the important thing you should be looking at is your content. Your video should be as long as it takes for you to get your point across. But no longer than two minutes!

What should I include in my video?

So, the video content is the important thing and you should ask yourself these questions before you start any video…

Who are you aiming your video at?

What is your message?

What are you looking to achieve?

Creating a video for the sake of it won’t help grow your business or your brand, you need to know why you are creating it and what you want to get out of it.

Why should I stop and watch your video?

What am I going to get out of it?

Make sure you introduce yourself as soon as possible and let customers know what your intentions are, that way if people skip ahead they’ll still understand what your video is about.

And finally

Expand your brand toolkit to include your images and your voice and keep these in mind when creating your videos. Keep your videos short and snappy, under two minutes, and use them to connect with your customers. Promote your products and services, answer questions, introduce yourself, answer questions. Using video and audio in your business will only help you grow your brand and become recognisable to your customers and potential customers.