A Vlog: what is it and how to make one?

Creating a vlog can help you make your brand more visible and reach new audiences.  In the age of influencers, Youtubers and Tiktokeurs, publishing a video blog has become a tool that may seem essential for brands that want to win against the competition.

However, vlogging is not for everyone. In some cases, creating a vlog will be the miracle recipe that will make your marketing explode… in others, a complete waste of time.

A Vlog, what is it?

A vlog is a video blog. It is therefore a practice of regularly sharing video content with your audience on a platform like YouTube.

The word “vlog” comes from the contraction between “video” and “blog”. It is therefore the regular publication of videos – often in the form of a kind of diary documenting the daily life of the author.

Vlogging is one of the favorite formats of influencers, on platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion or TikTok. These videos are often monetized through product placements. 

For brands, a vlog can make it possible to promote their products, but also to present a more human face and create a lasting relationship with their customers – for example by sharing videos of the life of the company. 

A vlog will often be complementary to a classic blog, either by alternating videos and articles, or by using the videos to illustrate different points presented in writing. 

To go further – discover everything you need to know to create your own blog and write quality articles:

  • The guide to blogging: how to make your blog successful

Is creating a Vlog worth it? Advantages and disadvantages.

A vlog is not for everyone.

A vlog allows you to create a loyal audience by sharing your daily life or the daily life of your business. YouTube is full of success stories – from small vloggers to internationally acclaimed influencers.

And yet, we advise you not to go headlong. Creating and maintaining a vlog is a lot of work, as you will need to post videos regularly, at least once a week.

Before you start, ask yourself if a vlog is really for you. 

To do this, ask yourself if your existing marketing campaigns are not already enough to achieve your goals. Additionally, the usefulness of a video blog will depend on your business model

If you are an individual entrepreneur, looking to monetize your blog (for example by selling beauty products, travel tips, etc.) a vlog will be a powerful tool that will allow you to maintain regular contact with your audience. 

Conversely, if you have a more traditional business (for example, which sells SaaS software), marketing campaigns such as emailing, SEO or SEA will often be more profitable and more effective.

To go further – discover everything you need to know about digital marketing tools and techniques:

How to create your Vlog

1 – Determine your niche and choose your topic

To stand out from other content creators, you will need to find your niche and take advantage of your expertise.

On platforms like YouTube or TikTok, the competition is fierce… so it’s not enough to launch a vlog and hope that your audience will form on its own. In order to stand out, you will therefore need to find a specific niche, which brings real added value to your audience. 

If you’re vlogging for your business, choosing a theme for your videos shouldn’t be too difficult. You will generally choose a subject that corresponds to the products/services you offer. For example: if you have a travel agency, you will be able to offer videos with the 10 best things to do in the travel destinations you offer; if you sell SaaS software that enables online text translation, you can make inventive videos on the etymology of words, etc. 

But if you don’t offer products other than your vlog and your goal is to become an influencer, you’ll need to think more deeply about what you’re going to choose. Here are some points to consider:

  • ✨ Go for a topic that you are passionate about. This is probably the most important advice: choose a subject that interests you and that you know. It’s both about making videos on a topic in which you have real expertise and which interests you enough to allow you to produce videos regularly without too much effort. 
  • 👩‍👩‍👦‍👦 Identify your target audience. Before you start, ask yourself what audience you want to address (beginners in the field, specialists, a young audience or not, etc.). Try to focus on an audience that you know and who looks a bit like you (nothing more embarrassing than a 40-year-old marketer looking to embrace TikTok’s new codes and look hip). 
  • 🔎 Analyze your competitors. In order to be able to stand out from them, spend time understanding your competitors’ strategy: what is the content of their videos, how often do they publish them, what is their positioning on social networks, etc. Also try to identify how they monetize their vlog: advertising, sponsored content, direct sales, etc. 

Basically, being a vlogger is like being a blogger…the same tips apply either way. 

To go further – find out everything you need to know before simply creating a blog with WordPress:

  • Create a WordPress blog in 5 simple steps

2 – Set up your technical infrastructure

In a second step, you will need to gather all the equipment (and expertise) necessary for the production of your videos. 

Nowadays, filming a video, editing it and uploading it to the internet is greatly simplified by the many tools (often free) at your disposal. That said, you have to be careful not to take the easy way out. Filming a poor quality video with your phone or your webcam will not convince anyone… especially since you will find powerful cameras for a reasonable budget if you look a little!

Here are the elements needed to create your vlog:

  • 📺 Create your YouTube channel. The first thing to do before creating your videos will be to choose a platform (YouTube, TikTok or other) and create an account. If you don’t already use the platform regularly, take the time to find out how it works, read tutorials, and watch how other vloggers do it. Also note that if TikTok is very popular, the short format is also limiting – for a real vlog, YouTube will generally remain the reference.
  • 📹 Invest in quality equipment. Depending on your budget and the type of videos you want to make, consider getting some or all of the following equipment: a good camcorder, a stabilizer tripod, a quality microphone, lights for illumination. 
  • 🎞️ Opt for editing software. It is also very important to choose an editing software. There are several free ones, but the best ones are paid like Premiere or Final Cut. 

If you have never created/edited videos in the past, do not hesitate to take a training course to get up to speed. Even if the training is paid, this investment will be profitable in the long term and will allow you to become a better videographer!

If this is not already the case, we also advise you to create a website. Even if you post all of your content to YouTube, it’s important to have a space of your own that will allow you to host your content without being dependent on another company. 

To go further – find out everything you need to know to easily create a website with WordPress for free:

  • How to Create a Free WordPress Site

3 – Share your videos with your audience

To be successful as a vlogger, it’s not enough to create videos, you also have to share them with your audience. 

Here, the marketing strategies used by vloggers do not deviate so much from classic web marketing. In addition to the tools specific to the platforms where you will publish your content, here are some good practices to put in place:

  • 📽️ Embed your videos on your website. A website allows you to have better control over your content and to monetize it more easily. Indeed, on your website, you can choose to insert advertisements, lead magnets and even sell products directly. A website will also allow you to work on your SEO and be visible on the Google search engine (and others).
  • 📧 Launch a newsletter. A regular newsletter remains one of the best ways to maintain lasting contact with your audience. Thanks to software like Sendinblue, you can easily and free of charge get started and create a newsletter that you can even automate if you wish. In addition, you can analyze the success of your campaigns in real time.
  • 📱 Share your videos on social networks. Of course, social networks are essential for vloggers who want to succeed. But there is no point in creating an account on all the available platforms. So be content with the platforms you already know and which are used by the audience you are targeting (TikTok for Generation Z, LinkedIn for B2B, etc.).
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