Videos can be a really key component in helping you market your products and services. They are highly digestible and engaging making them easy to consume and a popular medium of communication for businesses of all shapes and sizes, just think about your own purchasing experiences. If you go to an exhibit or event, you’ll see sales videos at most of the stands. Signing up to a new gym? There’ll likely be a video showcasing the equipment and facilities you’ll have access to.
These kinds of videos are usually professionally shot and edited, but they don’t all have to be like that. There’s a place in the world for video content that you produce yourself – particularly when you’re just starting out.
Let’s delve into the different types of videos and what you can produce on a low budget.
Vlogs
We’ve all heard of blogs, yes? Well, vlogs are blogs…but in video form! These are generally expected to be a little ‘rough around the edges’ and that’s fine, this is because it’s about the content not the style. You will likely have expertise that others don’t and therefore, they just want you to educate them about a particular topic, or, you may be showing your audience the ‘behind the scenes’ of your business. They are raw, largely unpolished videos that enable you to talk directly to your audience. The quality of production is less important.
Product Demos
If you sell products, it’s a great idea to show them off. You could set up an area in your warehouse, office or home where you film ‘product of the week’, explaining what it is, what it does, and any features and benefits. This is quick-win, informative content that you can push out on social media at relatively low cost.
Customer Testimonials
We all know that saying great things about your company is one thing, but having others say great things is another altogether. Google reviews, Checkatrade reviews and other forms of customer validation all carry a huge amount of weight when it comes to choosing a supplier. But if you can grab these reviews on camera, their impact dramatically increases. As such, when you are out with customers or they are at your premises, ask them if they wouldn’t mind doing 20-30 seconds on film to help boost your credibility. It doesn’t need to be long, a 2-3 sentence glowing review can work wonders.
Explainer / Demo Videos / Product Reviews
In short, explainer videos tend to explain something about your business in a quick and simple way. This could be about your product or service, your industry, how you work as a company etc. A demo video is similar in that it explains something quickly and easily to your audience but tends to be more hands on. When we think of demo videos, product demos tend to spring to mind, but there’s other demo videos you can do to help market yourself. If you’re an engineer or plumber for example, you know how to bleed a radiator or disconnect one for decorating purposes – but a lot of the public don’t know how to do these things.
These two minor jobs are not your primary revenue source, and in fact, it’s quite likely that you don’t want to waste your time doing them. So use this to your advantage and get someone to film you doing and explaining these jobs. Post these short DIY videos to YouTube and your other other social platforms to educate and inform. People that search and view the videos may not need your services at that point, but they may in the future, and people will buy from those who they know and trust. It’s stealth marketing – you’re not directly selling but you are marketing your expertise in a way that benefits the customer.
Recruitment Videos
For companies that are looking to recruit more members of staff, creating short videos that help potential new recruits know more about the business can be really instrumental in attracting the best candidates. This could be a short video of the owner talking about the culture of the business and what makes great team members. It could be a handful of employees giving short testimonials about what it’s like to work at the company and the things they like the most. It could even be a nicely designed PowerPoint converted into a video showing all of the benefits and perks of working at your company. There are endless possibilities that you can capture and create easily.
Common Myths or Pitfall Videos
There are certain industries where assumptions and myths are more common, which can result in a bad experience for you and your customer. If you are a builder for example, why not create a short video on the 5 most common issues that arise during an extension project so that customers know to look out for them. This also shows that you have experience and that you have the customer’s best interests at heart.
If there are particular myths around your industry, why not create a short video that focuses on these and ‘bust’ them on camera, so clients feel more informed and trusting towards you. These could also take the form of an FAQs video – whatever questions you get asked the most, make a video of them and send it to clients, saves you repeating yourself every time!
Timelapse Videos
These are great for the construction industry, tree surgeons, event stand builders, the list goes on. They help to show the whole process and excellent workmanship that goes into this type of service. You can also do this if you are a graphic designer, videographer, animator or another creative service. This serves to illustrate (no pun intended) to potential clients just how long some of these processes take, therefore helping to showcase your skills and justify your fees.
Presentations
Many people use presenting to public audiences as a great way to showcase expertise and credibility, and therefore attract more clients. Next time you are presenting, why not film it (or at least record the audio) and add the footage to a PowerPoint. Other than PowerPoint, there are other great bits of software on the market to help you create this in a more slick way.
Funny Videos
Maybe your brand has a strong personality with a sense of humour used to attract the types of clients you want. As such, why not think of some videos that are a bit of fun and post them across social media. If you’re lucky, they will be picked up and shared, and that in turn might just get you more customers through more exposure.
Good Cause Videos
These are great for local businesses who really invest in their communities through a variety of mechanisms – whether that be by sponsoring a local football team, running a local half marathon, doing volunteering, providing products or services for free, being environmentally sustainable, working with schools or other ways, you should be capturing this on video and telling your local market how you are working to make the community a better place. When people are looking for a supplier, choosing one that makes their community better is always a differentiating factor so make sure to promote this heavily.
What do you need?
So it’s all well and good telling you about the types of DIY videos you can make to promote your business but how do you make them and what do you need? We tell you everything you need to know in the video topic in our Branding and Marketing module.
