Dominating with Video in 2021 with Thibaut Machet, the CEO at PlayPlay

Welcome to the Marketing Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Shane Barker. On this episode, I continue my conversation with Thibaut Machet, the CEO and co-founder of PlayPlay. For those joining our conversations for the first time, I’ll give you a quick recap of what we discussed in the previous episodes.

Thibaut, an expert in video content creation and content marketing, shared his journey growing PlayPlay. He talked about challenges they encountered and lessons that anyone looking to grow a tech startup can apply. In the second episode, Thibaut shared his tips on how to make perfect videos that stand out.

In this episode, Thibaut and I dive into the video marketing trends that are dominating right now, along with some cool features you can leverage from PlayPlay when making your own videos. Let’s get started.

So I want to talk with you a little bit about the video trends that will dominate in 2021. I think a lot of the fundamentals will stay the same—things like emotion, a good storyline, and compelling, engaging content. What’s your take? How do you think COVID-19 affected video production? Did it have a positive or negative impact? What did you guys see during this past year while we’ve all been in lockdown?

Well, and that’s what’s awesome—it’s becoming easier and easier. I mean, obviously, PlayPlay is an example of that. Like now, it’s stupid easy. You can literally, you know, have video templates, they can jump up, and they can upload their own content and be able to customize that. You know, back in the day, you’d have to, you know, hire a whole production team and do this and that, and it was very expensive.

And I—even clients I work with today—I’m like, “Hey, video doesn’t need to be crazy.” You don’t need to buy a $10,000 camera. You don’t need to hire a $20,000 crew that comes in and does makeup and all that stuff. People are looking for stuff that’s more down-to-earth, right? Where you’re like, if you’re just kind of involved in the conversation that people are having—not in a situation where it’s like they look like they’re almost uncomfortable and nervous or whatever it is. It’s like just two people talking. So I love that.

So what advice would you have for people that are looking to get started with video marketing in 2021? I mean, obviously other than use PlayPlay—because it’s super easy to use—but what other advice would you have?

That’s the thing I said. What I always tell people—you just got to start. I think your first video is going to suck. It just is. And your second one’s going to get better, your third one’s going to get better, and by your 20th, you’re going to sound like a professional, and everybody’s going to love you.

I joke around with my clients and say, “You know, the person who started their YouTube channel—I can guarantee you their first video was terrible, right?” The person I wrote my blog post about when I first started—his first article was absolutely terrible, right? But over time, it gets better. You learn. There are certain things that just happen.

And just getting started with video, I think, is the natural next step.

So what cool features are you guys working on over at PlayPlay? I know you guys just had—just recently, I think you did a thing where you can transform your podcast into a social video, which I thought was really cool. I’m gonna have my team give that a try. Obviously, we’re excited to give that a try.

But what other stuff are you guys working on? Anything you can share? I know you can’t tell us everything. I’m sure there’s some secret stuff you guys are working on. But what are some good things—some cool features—you’re working on feature-wise?

Well, and that’s been your goal from the beginning—just to make it super simplistic and easy. Because it comes down to timelines, to being able to get content up, right? And so it’s always that, and you’re being the example with Euro sports. It’s like, hey, nobody cares about the goals that happen tonight in two days, right? Because there are more goals that happen the next day and the next day. It’s like, how do you get that up—and being that foundation of what you guys have created—that’s awesome.

And on that note, Thibaut, allow me to pause our conversation for a minute to talk to our listeners.

Contact my team and me if you need help skyrocketing your digital marketing growth. We provide services including influencer marketing, content marketing, online PR, SEO, and more. We offer both consultation and fully managed services, and you can find out more about them at ShaneBarker.com—that’s S, H, A, N, E, B, A, R, K, E, R.com—and now back to Thibaut as we get into another fun part of our conversation.

So this has been awesome, man. I have a few other questions for you, and this is more on the personal side of things I always like to find out about—you know, the companies that people are building.

And then I also like to get a little more, a little bit more about the individual as well.

So if there was no—this is, let’s say there’s no COVID out there, right? We’re all safe, and everything’s fine, right?

If you could travel to one place in the world for free, where would you go? Where is your—
Is there one spot that you and your wife—or just you by yourself? I don’t know if you need a vacation. Where would you want to go?

All right, awesome. That’s your—I’ve had, I’ve had other guests. Tell me about Japan. Japan is my mom’s been to Japan. I’ve never been to Japan, so I might—that might be in my top 10. Now I might have to move that up the rankings a little bit. So what about…

Yeah, I definitely will. I definitely will. If you could choose a superpower, what would your superpower be? What would be, you know, what would be that thing that you wish you could do—other than get your kids to sleep every time you ask them to sleep, or brush their teeth when you want a better brush. What would it be? What would the superpower be?

I like that. I like that. I know when I had—you know, my company is not as big as it was before, when I had 130 employees—but I know that that was like, I would blink and I’m like, it would be a month later. I blink again. It was three months later. I’m like, What is going on right now? It’s just—it was going so fast.

So what about—tell us about, like, your favorite book or favorite podcast that you listen to that has helped shape your career or your personality? Is there anything that you’re like, Oh, I love this book, or this podcast is something I listen to all the time?

I think what we’ll do is we’ll probably put that book—we’ll put the link in the presentation or from the podcast—so that way people can take a look at it. I actually am going to read it myself too. I do this mainly to hear what books are good and that I should be reading. So it’s always kind of personal for me. That’ll be a book I’ll have to check out, for sure.

So, SIBO, this was awesome, man. Thank you so much for jumping on the podcast today. We were excited to have you on today. I know you’ve been extremely busy. Business has been going well. Congratulations on your growth.

And if anybody wants to get in contact with you, how can they get in contact with you? Tell us a little bit about you, obviously, and then where they can obviously get in contact in regards to PlayPlay as well.

That’s awesome. Hey, you guys, and if you’re listening to this podcast and you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe.

See, but once again, thank you so much for being on the podcast, my friend. Continued success, and we’re going to continue to monitor your journey and being successful with PlayPlay. So congratulations again, my friend.

Thank you so much, my friend. Bye.

Thanks, Thibaut. It’s been a fun and educational conversation, and I’m sure our listeners now know more about the trends dominating video and how they can leverage it.

To our listeners, thanks for joining us for this informative journey, and I hope there’s a lot you’ve taken away from it. On the next episode, I will host another intriguing guest, so stay tuned to the Marketing Growth Podcast.