Sky Kennedy, Video Storyteller and Content Creator at Studio Sky, joins us to talk about her expertise— video! Inspired to become part of the cyber world after her work with Cylance, Sky loves teaching the cybersecurity industry about the amazing stories we can tell through videos. Whether you’re a one-person cyber marketing team on a shoestring budget or a corporate marketer looking for your next project, Sky shares the tips and tools marketers need to use video content to connect with their audience.

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Sky’s history and background in cyber with Cylance

[05:52] Video projects at Cylance and their influence on Sky’s work today

[08:50] Customer testimonials and the value of emotional connection in video

[17:09] DIY video content ideas for low budget marketers

[24:53] Video marketing budget breakdowns for cybersecurity teams

In your opinion, what makes a good customer testimonial video?

Testimonials can feel repetitive and disingenuous when customers repeat what a company already says about themselves. “You’ve got a great cybersecurity solution,” is nice to hear, but Sky believes that the value of a good testimonial is in the connection a customer feels to the organization. When a customer is willing to explain how the organization helped them behind-the-scenes, connected with them after their product was purchased, and solved their problems beyond the surface-level solution, that creates a testimonial that makes an impact.

“The best testimonials, in my opinion, are about how the company and the product and the people are really there for the customer, which engages the whole emotional side.”

What important aspects of video storytelling are critical to making sure your message gets across?

When cybersecurity professionals tell Sky, “I want a video,” the unfortunate reality is that they rarely know what kind of video content they’re looking for. Sky believes in upfront input and understanding with all of her clients. She goes in depth, asks a lot of questions about what they’re looking for, and guides them every step of the way to ensure success. The end goal is to show off the value of this company, of the products and solutions they create, but Sky understands that she needs to know their value inside and out in order to showcase it.

“I’ve created a list of questions about what a customer wants, what their expectations are, how much they want to spend on the project, and what their timeline is all about. I cover the whole issue of what their expectation is for this particular video that we're going to create.” 

Can you share some DIY tools for marketers making video content on a shoestring budget?

We’ve interviewed some one-person marketing teams on the podcast before, so we wanted to ask Sky about what low budget video marketing might look like. Sky explained that the videos filmed on smartphones and edited on simple applications can still make an incredible impact. Numerous commercials, viral videos, and even Oscar-nominated films have used smartphone cameras. What matters more is the value of the content from a messaging standpoint. Use your small budget to show off how much you love your organization, not how much you love your new camera.

“My whole goal is to not use cameras. Not because I don't like video cameras, but I am not a camera technician. Cameras cost a lot of money, and they take a lot of effort and energy to learn how to use them.”

What advice do you have for marketers struggling to convince leadership to allocate a part of their budget to video? 

While small teams with meager budgets might have to make something out of nothing, marketers with larger teams and larger budgets have to make value out of their video investment. Sky encouraged us to consider how much content can come from just one video. A couple of minutes of well-planned video content can be broken up, edited, and used in many ways. It’s never just a video. Instead, it’s numerous marketing assets and an invaluable look at the behind-the-scenes of what your organization does and how you can differentiate yourselves from your cybersecurity competitors.

“We can take that video, we can cut it up, and we can use it in a variety of different ways. So, that $5,000 investment, when we amortize over 20 or 30 elements that we're using it in, ends up being only a couple hundred dollars per element.”

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Links:

Spend some time with our guest Sky Kennedy on LinkedIn and on her website, or shoot her an email at SkyKennedy@StudioSkyVideo.com

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