6 Ways To Make Video Work For Your Business
“It’s estimated that by 2022, 82% of all internet traffic will be video based.”
So, if you haven’t yet experimented with video marketing in your business, now is a good time to start! We’ve written about the benefits of using video before (see here and here), and now in 2021, we can safely say that it has more potential than ever to help businesses grow their web traffic and reach new customers.
Video is more than just another marketing fad. With the world of lockdowns and social isolation that we’ve experienced since March 2020, video has given people a way to connect and provided much-needed interaction and entertainment. It can be used to inform, explain, teach and engage in a way that other types of media simply can’t compete with. Peoples’ growing familiarity with the video format and brands’ increasingly creative use of it means that there is a way for every business to find an approach that works for them.
In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the ways that brands can harness the power of video – whether they’re a small, local business with a small budget or a larger multinational with a bigger budget.
1. Product demonstration videos
Customers love to see product demonstrations! A short video showing off your product or service can give you an edge over the competition, and they help give customers confidence that the thing they are buying is the right choice for them. As well as promoting your business, product demonstrations have other benefits too – brands are seeing fewer product returns because customers know exactly what they are going to get when they make a purchase.
Keep your product demonstration videos short, under two minutes is ideal. But if your product or service is very complex then it can often be better to create several short videos or one longer tutorial to get the message across succinctly. And make sure you include a clear call to action at the end. Some social medial platforms like Facebook and Instagram, will let you link directly to the products mentioned in the video, so make sure you share your video widely.
2. Educational content
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. How-to videos and tutorials are a brilliant way to engage your audience on a deeper level, hold their attention and showcase your expertise and authority in a particular area.
These days, people turn to the internet (particularly YouTube!) when they want to learn anything from how to fix a leaking tap to play their favourite song on the guitar. There are educational videos out there for nearly every interest, so tap into what would add the most value to your customers and focus on that.
Educational content can be delivered through live recordings or via graphics and animations to convey a message in different ways. There’s no correct way of doing it, just focus on what will best serve your audience and your budget.
3. Explainer videos
94% of people asked in a survey said that they watch explainer videos to learn more about a product, with 84% saying that they were swayed to purchase after watching. Explainer videos are different from product demonstrations in that they often go into more detail about how a product or service can be used. They can be used to convey a lot of information in bite-sized chunks, normally around 2 minutes long.
Explainer videos work for a range of audiences and businesses, and you can make them as humorous or informative as you like depending on your audience. By combining voiceover, animations and images you can help your audience to understand exactly what it is you sell clearly and concisely.
4. Branded content and advertising
Gone are the days of having to buy video advertising space from a TV network. With social media, it’s never been easier for brands to publish their content in front of their target audience and engage directly with potential customers. Crafting a story around your brand is the key to making branded content work – you should always offer some value or entertainment rather than being purely focussed on sales.
The best videos connect with the audience through carefully considered storytelling, using a range of techniques. Whatever your aim, you should always communicate your values and keep you message clear and concise.
5. Testimonials
Adding user-generated content in the form of video testimonials to your website and social media accounts helps build trust and authenticity – two key factors that help you win sales! Listening to reviews from other happy customers is much more meaningful than reading them and can be the thing that tips the balance in turning a website visitor into a customer.
Getting customers to leave video testimonials might not be as difficult as you expect, particularly if you sell a produce that people get excited about.
6. Social Media
Half a billion people watch videos on social media every day, making it a brilliant platform to reach potential customers and build brand awareness. Social media videos can come in any format, from relaxed chats to big budget short films. They’re usually fun, playful, engaging, and designed to be shared.
Try to keep social content videos under 30 seconds and share them across all your channels to reach more people. Instagram and Facebook in particular prefer video content to any other type. Pay attention to aspects unique to social media, like muted auto play and video looping; you can use these tools to your advantage by playing with silent audio and creating seemingly endless loops.
Above are just some ideas to show how different types of video content can work for different types of businesses. There are others that we didn’t discuss – like virtual reality, augmented reality, customer support videos and more.
To dig deeper into deciding what type of video content would work best for your business, and how to go about making it, then join us for our our Video Marketing For Success workshop on 18th August 2021. Our Creative Director, Joey and Founder James will give you tools, inspiration and lots of ideas to help you find the approach that’s right for your business.
