Video marketing is currently the big thing in online marketing with Comscore revealing recently that it can lead to a 40% increase in sales. This explosion in online video viewing is partly due to increasing broadband speeds and mobile video technology and highlights the ever-changing way that people consume media. Whatever the reasons, many businesses are waking up to the fact that they need to start making videos to keep up with their competitors and to reach their customers. But what are the different ways of using video to promote your business?
Here are 10 ways that video marketing can boost your profile and bring more business your way:
1. Get introduced with a Video Profile
A good way to start is to have a simple video on your homepage that gives an overview of your business. It could be based around an interview with the owner or a member of staff but it should show your business operating. This is a good chance to tell visitors to your website why they should choose your business.
2. Use video testimonials to better relate to customers
We all value other peoples’ opinions, so why not make it easier for your customers by putting video testimonials from past clients on your website?
3. Engage quickly with a product demo video
Tell your customers about a new product or service and show them as well. No amount of text will ever compare to seeing a product in action. No matter how eloquently you articulate your customers’ pain – and your product’s ability to ease that pain – a picture is worth a thousand words. A moving picture is worth even more than that.
4. Build trust with insights into your key people
It has been proven that people prefer to do business with people they know and trust. Letting your customers see you in a video will not only personalise your website, but it will mean that customers are more likely to buy from you. This achieves what marketers are always telling us: “Be more human!”
5. Solve customer problems with video tutorials and how-to videos
Videos that teach and inform are very popular, and are a great way to drive customers to your website when they search for solutions to their problems. This makes the video creator a trusted authority for the viewer – even if that only happens on a subconscious level. They are more likely to share your videos with friends and colleagues, and more likely to return to your company when they finally are ready to make a purchase.
6. Demonstrate success with case study videos
Here’s where you demonstrate how you helped customers in the past and gone the extra mile to solve their problem. This will give potential customers the confidence that you know what you’re doing.
7. Provide a friendly face with post-sale support videos
Save your own time and money by answering FAQs on a video instead of wasting time telling a hundred customers the same thing.
8. Increase brand awareness by going viral
A viral video is a video that people voluntarily send on to their friends, unintentionally spreading your message for you. A great low-cost way of raising your profile and driving traffic to your website. Don’t worry, you’re not competing with Pepsi and Coca Cola, for a viral video to be successful for a local company, it might only mean 100 or even 1000 views.
9. Show off your facilities in action with a video tour
Impress viewers and show off your high-tech premises and specialised gadgetry.
10. Sell complex products/services with explainer videos
Here you have a chance to go into detail about some of your best selling products/services or a new one that you are trying to push.
Online video can stimulate your potential customers or clients to learn more about your products and services before they buy.
Smart small business owners are embracing the fact that video is the one of the most effective marketing formats on the web, and will learn quickly how many ways there are to leverage video to their advantage.
Other video styles for software companies
Software companies should also check out examples of explainer videos and software video tutorials as other great ways to get the best out of video.
We hope these ideas have helped you think about your video strategy, but every business is different and if you are wondering how video could work for you feel free to get in touch. Subscribe to our RSS and follow us on Twitter for more on Video Marketing, Video SEO and latest developments in the online video space.