There are numerous ways to use videos to market your product or service, and not all of them are expensive or time consuming. Here are the top eight ways for small businesses to use video marketing.
There are umpteen ways to use video for business, ranging from stylish, high-priced ad crusade commercials to complex landing page pieces designed to pull someone into a purchase. What are the best types of video for Small Business owners that can be created cost-effectively and presented quickly and produce leads? Here are the Elite Eight.
Intro Commercial
Well-known and often underused, the video Intro to the Business is a short, 5 minute or less (2-3 works well) homepage introduction that tells who you are, what you do and why customers should care. This can be done using a narrative in a commercial loaded with lots of movement shots of the shop floor, the office, and products; a talking head of the CEO to a blank camera; or use the third party perspective of a genuine video interview. Production costs can range from FREE (CEO riffing into a webcam) through a few hundred dollars to thousands for a videographer shot advertisement. Google doesn't care; either will index well given the appropriate keyword tags. The question you have to answer is, what is going to be instantly informational, interesting, and referable (as in Re-tweeted).
Product Demonstration
Specific to demonstrable product or services, especially ones that move, like machinery, toys, electronic devices, and, considering the medium, software. These again should not run on too long but may be longer than an introductory commercial. A software-based demo may take up to 8 minutes, but you should be able to say it in less time than that. When it comes to demos, in some cases less is more. Most often either a narrative led demo showing only merchandise or a spokesperson paced demo (think QVC or Home Shopping Channel) works the best. Just make sure to show the BEST features of your product and lay out consistently (3x) how this resolves an issue for your prospects
Technical Skills
This is very similar to a product demo and works best for manufacturers, specifically those in developed countries, trying to demonstrate their superior technology will actually cost less money or offer better quality product for a prospect engaging them with an arrangement for ongoing services. Machine shops and laser houses prefer this stuff, showing automated machinery cutting steel while a dude with a hardhat and safety specs manages the process. This can run 5-10 minutes max. The key here is, making sure that your capability really is something memorable and that your video captures its originality.
Company Spotlights
This is more of a tug on the heartstrings video that spotlights either what your company has accomplished that is remarkable or what your staff members have done for your company. If it's about the company, it MUST be verified by 3rd party reference, as in an accolade won from a renowned registrar (Best in Class, Malcolm Baldridge quality), a status attained (ISO 9001 certification, etc.) or a cat saved from a tree on the news. When discussing employees, the old Employee of the Month style heading adds a nice human factor and speaks to what your company values in its people, and that can make a big difference to customers with the same value system. For these types of videos, keep them short (2-4 minutes) and keep them recent, specifically for the employee notoriety videos. An Employee of the Month surmises that next month, we'll see a new one.
Video Landing Page Combination
I could write pages on this one and to be truthful, I ain't an expert at it, but I am sure you've encountered pages that have these videos. These are purposed to be hands-free on the part of the vendor of a product or service, which implies, don't call me, take the steps explained on the video. That means enter your email address to get something for FREE for permission to advertise to you, or sign up for the thing (whatever it is) immediately! Just like text-only sales landing pages, these are long-form videos, with Squeeze Pages (get the email address) videos varying from 3-7 minutes, and Sales Pages running all the way up to 30 minutes (that is too long in my opinion, with 10-12 being adequate). The most important stuff here: curb options to only this with no other on-page distractions and make several calls to action to the viewer.