Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino know a thing or two about building a business. (Or four businesses, to be exact.) After launching natural deodorant company Schmidt’s Naturals in 2010, the couple has paired Jaime’s business know-how with Chris’s marketing savvy to build brands like Supermaker, Portland Made, and Color: all in the matter of a decade. Throughout the years, Jaime and Chris have always relied on video to differentiate themselves and bring their distinct brand voices to life.
“We use video for all of our businesses,” says Chris. “If you want to tell a story, it's the best medium out there, period.” Spend any amount of time on Supermaker’s socials, and it’s clear how skilled the pair are at melding produced video content with more accessible, iPhone-captured footage, a combination that’s helped the pair build a community of hands-on creators empowered to write their own rules for success.
“Video can be so evocative and so capable of capturing a moment,” says Chris. “It can just feel magical. And when you have that lightning in a bottle, anything is possible.” We caught up with the power couple to pick their brains about their out-of-the-box approach to video and hear the top five tips they have for entrepreneurs and creatives looking to start crafting videos of their own.
Chris and Jaime's five tips
1. Experiment, experiment, experiment
“One of the best pieces of advice I can give to a new brand is to try everything,” says Chris. Not only can casting a broad content net help get your brand in front of more eyeballs, but it can also help you define the approach that resonates most with your audience.
Trial and error is a necessary part of the brand exploration process. It’s also often the best strategy to nail down your point of view in a practical, iterative way while making oodles of content for your business in the process. “Try all sorts of different ads and approaches and then see how people respond,” Chris suggests. (Pro-tip: Vimeo Create makes it easy to start cranking out impactful, bite-size videos fast.)
2. Front-load your info
When ideating your video content, it’s important to remember that while you’re watching your content from beginning to end, you can’t guarantee your audience is doing the same. “It's important to realize that not every customer is going to watch your whole video,” reminds Chris. Facebook marks down a video view after just three seconds, while many pre-roll ads allow users to skip a video after five seconds. Chris reminds creators to take that short time frame into account so that even when watch time is short and sweet, your video’s core points don’t get lost in the online shuffle.
3. Stay scrappy
During the recession of 2008, Jaime launched her first company with the cash in her humble family bank account. “I had a couple of side hustles in the earliest years to help the business stay afloat,” she says. She credits her practical, frugal mindset and limited budget with the success of the company — which later sold to Unilever. “I want to remind entrepreneurs that you don't need a big investment. You don't need a ton of capital, or even a lot of hires, to take your business to the next level.”
Jaime suggests being brutally honest about what resources you need, especially when first starting out. “Really question whether you need to make some of the hires that you might think you do. Maybe you can get further without a C suite team.”
4. Let your people speak for themselves
While self-promotion is crucial to building your business, the creator couple also emphasizes the power of amplifying your customers’ voices to raise your brand profile. “It's just so much more authentic and it's so much more real,” says Chris. “We crave that.” Consider crafting testimonial videos that highlight glowing feedback and be sure to spotlight positive comments on your social and beyond. Utilizing UGC is an easy and inclusive way to help boost your brand’s bona fides, all while spotlighting the real people who love your company.
5. Control what you can, let go of the rest
Sometimes the universe makes decisions for you. (Hello, quarantine.) Jaime and Chris stress that while there are bound to be obstacles throughout the creative process, it’s important to concentrate on what you can change, and leave the rest behind. “It's really easy to get overwhelmed right now and to think about the what-ifs,” says Jaime. “When we focus on what's right in front of us, the things that we truly can get ahead of, that's where real growth and stability and peace of mind is going to come from.” It’s normal to be worried about the future — especially right now — but by pivoting what you can and letting the rest work itself out, you can set yourself up to find the hidden opportunities in those ever-changing plans.
Chris and Jaime's favorite video templates
Anyone who’s spent time in the marketing game will tell you: inventive ideas aren’t always easy to come by. Creators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners are often forced to wear multiple hats (or all the hats) just to keep their operation humming — which can sometimes be bad news for those creative juices.
But Jaime and Chris are experts in innovation, with a reputation for making gorgeous, engaging video that cuts through the noise. How? They’ve never stopped experimenting. “One of the best pieces of advice I can give to a brand testing out their advertising is to try everything,” says Chris. “Make as many videos as possible.” The couple suggests developing creative confidence by just trying something new, even if it isn’t a smashing success. “Just go with what feels good in the moment, and then later you can decide what works,” adds Chris.
Whether you’ve been toying with the idea of introducing video to your business strategy, or just want to shake up your current approach with product videos, here are three endlessly customizable Vimeo Create templates that Jaime and Chris use to promote their projects.
1. Show off your credentials
We all know the power of a strong personal bio when it comes to establishing confidence in your personal brand. Why not take that message to video? “Video is capable of doing so many things that words and illustrations and graphics just simply aren’t,” notes Chris. Whether you want to remind your existing client base you’ve got valuable insight or introduce yourself in a new space, it’s important to make sure your customers know they can trust you to give them the best information out there.
Show off your value with this video template.
2. Tease something big
While there’s nothing more exciting than crafting a product deep-dive when you’re stoked to launch something new, it’s often more powerful to give your audience a glimpse of your latest product without revealing the whole shebang. That way, you can give your audience a taste, then keep ‘em coming back for more.
Give your people something to look forward to with this template.
3. Consider your platform
Jaime and Chris know the power of using crafting video content specifically for social media — especially when you’re announcing something important. By optimizing the format and content of your videos for the social media platform you want your video to live on, you can make sure your message comes through loud and clear, no filter needed.
Perfect your social announcements with video.
