Simple steps to becoming a video publisher

Written By Ezoic

As a digital publisher, implementing video content within your written content is becoming increasingly more important; according to research, ad spending is expected to show an annual growth rate of 10.97%, amounting to $210.20 billion in ad spending in the video advertising segment in 2023.

If you’re unsure how to begin, there are easy ways to begin a video series. Or, if you are concerned about being on camera, there are simple ways to create a profitable, faceless video channel.

There are many tools and techniques for creating profitable video content and a lot of choices to make along the way—you have to consider what content will be most effective as a video, how you would like to produce it, and what platform will best target your audience and earn you money.

How do I choose what video content to create?

Choosing the right video content to create depends on several factors, including your goals, target audience, and resources. There are five items to consider when determining what content would be most valuable to your audience and the most profitable for you.

1. Define your goals

First, you need to determine your goals. Are you trying to drive viewers to your written content? Are you trying to drive clicks on affiliate links and/or sales of an affiliate product? Are you trying to increase brand awareness? Are you simply looking for another revenue stream? By defining your goals, you’ll have a better game plan and direction for your videos.

2. Identify your target audience

Understanding your target audience is critical in creating content that resonates with them. Who do you want watching your videos—age group, interests, possibly even pay bracket, depending on the affiliate product you may be trying to sell. If you can cater your videos to your target audience, you’re more likely to get heightened engagement with your video.

3. Research your competitors

Look at what your competitors are doing and analyze what works and what doesn’t. Not only can you learn from their successes and failures, but you can find gaps in their content that you could potentially create content around. Additionally, you can ensure your content is different enough to stand out.

4. Brainstorm video ideas

With all of this in mind, begin brainstorming video content ideas. Are there emerging trends you can create content for that fit your target audience? What is popular in the industry you create content about and how can you make videos that are unique? Maybe you can create video content around parts of your niche that aren’t discussed greatly. Furthermore, how-to videos typically rank well. What can you explain, step-by-step, that isn’t a saturated topic?

5. Plan your content and stay niche

You’re not going to be able to fit everything about a topic in a single video. How can you break up your content into multiple videos, even a series? Short-form videos are performing the best right now, so if you can make videos that don’t span more than a few minutes, you’ll perform better. Ensure when you’re planning your video content that you stay focused on the specifics and don’t add any additional information that won’t aid in the goal of the video, whether that be to educate on a certain topic, sell an item, or show how to do something.

How do I produce my video?

There are a million ways to create video content, and which route you go all depends on your target audience and content selection. However, there are three steps in creating a video that almost everyone will have heard before.

1. Lights

You can have one of the nicest cameras around but if there is bad lighting, your video quality immediately goes down. Lighting options can be simple yet still effective. If you have a big window and a small budget, you can always start out by setting up your video space in front of the window and using natural light. Ring lights or LED light panels (they come in all sizes) are another easy way way to brighten up your face or video space without breaking the wallet. If you want to start getting more technical, umbrella and softbox lighting can give you a wider range of lighting options and more control over filtering the light.

Regardless of how you decide to light your video, there are three locations you will want to put a light. You don’t have to have a three-point set up lighting set up; you could do just one. The lights are listed in order of importance:

• Key light: in front of and to the right of the camera, the brightest light
• Fill light: in front of and to the left of the camera, not as bright
• Back light: just behind and to the right of where tehcamera is pointing

2. Camera

While lighting is maybe the most important element in videography, what camera you use makes a huge difference as well. Choosing a camera really depends on what your end game is.

If you’re going for a more homemade and easy solution, and believe your video content will still be well supported by it, the newer models of iPhones and Google Pixel have great cameras. If you’re doing educational videos sitting at a desk with some b-roll, there are plenty of webcams you can connect to your computer. Product features are usually best created with high-quality DSLR cameras, such as a Canon or Sony.

Alongside some of these solutions, you also need to consider what surface you will be using in your videos if you’re doing something like a product review, what microphone you need, if you will require a tripod, any props you will use in the video, and the background of your video.

3. Action! (and editing)

You’ve figured out who your target audience is, decided on your content, and invested in the equipment—it’s now time to record your video! Ensure you speak slowly and clearly, and it can be helpful to have notes up on your screen so you don’t ramble or forget where you’re going

After you’ve recorded your content, you’ll likely need to edit it. Two popular software programs for editing are either Adobe Premiere Pro or Apple Final Cut, though there are hundreds of programs you can choose from. You also will want to create an engaging thumbnail that will entice visitors to click on the video.

How do I choose a platform to host my videos?

After you’ve assembled your videos, it’s now time to make the important decision on where you should host your videos.

The most popular, by far, is YouTube. YouTube is popular because it has a large user base and is, after all, owned by Google. While YouTube does have the brand recognition, a major downside of only using YouTube for your videos content is that only 0.25% of all YouTube channels actually earn money. And if you are making money on YouTube, the platform keeps roughly 45% of the revenue.

A different route is Vimeo, though it doesn’t have nearly the reach as YouTube, but is more focused on delivering high-definition videos. It also is better suited for someone who is selling videos, like courses, because Vimeo is much more customizable and is easier to use behind paywalls.

Another option outside of YouTube is Humix. Humix allows users to upload videos—even import them from YouTube—to the network and optimize locations for the videos to show, based on the content. For publishers who don’t want to make their own videos, Humix’s AI autopopulates other opted-in publishers’ relevant videos onto predetermined pages; publishers with their own video content can enable settings that will allow other publishers in a similar niche to use their video on their site. This video sharing capability earns both publishers money without the need to market or create relationships with other publishers and increases traffic. Humix is also completely customizable to fit any website’s brand.

Start making video content today

As stated previously, video content popularity and demand is only increasing—especially when you consider the popularity of short-form video platforms like TikTok.

Missing out on the rise of video content would be a big mistake for publishers, especially when there are so many ways to go about creating videos that don’t require you be on camera and are easy to edit. Not everyone is going to be a video star but it’s proven that video keeps users on your website longer and 72% of people would rather watch a video to learn about a product or service.

You could be sitting on a gold mine of information just waiting to be made into easy-to-consume video content and with the ease at which creating video content as become, every publisher should give it a try.