Have you considered using video to promote your business? Perhaps the cost of making videos concerns you or you imagine you don’t have the right skills to produce an animation, slideshow, or mini-movie. Then again, you may not be sure whether video marketing is the right direction for your marketing campaign. These tips provide food for thought.
Benefits of promotional videos
Video is set to be the top marketing choice for promotional content. It can bring attention to your website or brand fast. Your potential clients are attracted to visual technology, and video reaches a broad audience and will help you establish trust with likely clients.
Even people with no movie-making experience can create a video with the technology available. Various video creation software is on the Internet, many of which are free, allow you to publish media to YouTube.
According to a recent report, 9% of small business owners use YouTube, so there’s plenty of room for you to make an impact. Also, YouTube gets over 30 million visitors a day and almost 5 billion videos are watched.
What Message do you want to send?
Consider the take-home message you wish to convey. You want to tell viewers about your business, but don’t just say “I make printer ink; buy some.” Explain people have problems finding high-quality ink at affordable prices and your company provides the solution.
Perhaps, you’re not sure what problem your business solves; you just know you offer a great product or service. If so, examine other companies in your niche. What’s available? How does your business differ? Highlight aspects of the service you offer or product qualities that make your business stand out.
You want viewers to know you as an expert in your industry too. Videos that show them how to overcome the difficulties they face, will help them and they will thank you for it. You’ll build a following of potential customers who see you as the go-to person in your chosen field.
Need to know which problems to solve? Look at your website. Comments and questions beneath posts, or on competitor’s sites and forums, can be the source for countless promotional videos.
Video quality
Viewers don’t like poor quality content, so the sound and pictures on your video must be excellent. People will judge the value of your business based on the impact of your marketing endeavours. However, this shouldn’t be a problem most smartphones have HD quality.
Pick the right tools
Examine the options video software has to offer. Some create whiteboard media plus animation and regular video while others aren’t as useful. Choose the right tools and your video will appear professional. Also, don’t forget you can make a simple HD video using your smartphone.
Remember people may watch your video on their small-screen phones, so make sure your content is easy to view. Avoid cluttering footage with random text when a few headlines and animation, plus your voice, will work. Some video editing software to use include:
- iMovie (Mac/iPhone)
- Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)
- Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Video length
Decide how long to make your video. Lengthy content may help when you have a large following. Initially, though, three to five-minutes are best. People are used to finding information fast, and your material is unlikely to attract customers if it’s long and no one knows you.
Video marketing is a powerful way to invest in your business and spread the message your company exists. Note the tips mentioned, and you will enjoy favourable results.
At Marketing Mavens, we host a weekly video. Check out our Maven Mondays.
