I am often asked many different questions by small business owners, startups, and entrepreneurs, and one which crops up more than most is ‘how can small businesses use video marketing?’. So, I’ve decided to dedicate a whole blog to answer this question to help boost your business with video.
Using my 20+ years of experience as a UK TV broadcaster and small business owner, I know the pitfalls you’re facing as you start out. Finding the right information is a challenge, and it can be overwhelming to know what is fact and what is simply someone preaching their opinion.
The greatest marketing plans take time to develop, and while this is true, there are ways you can obtain action today without having to get too strategic. You can worry about the other things later down the line, but to become established online today, you really need to use video as soon as possible.
Now, there are numerous types of videos for business, but I’m going to explain what the best ones are for small businesses to start using now. As your business develops, you can add, adapt or remove what isn’t working for you – that’s the greatest thing about owning your own business; you’re the one in control.
So, let’s look at the best video types to be using, how to use them, and some things to avoid.
Product Videos
Product videos can also be about services and tend to be featured on product pages of your website. You can also reverse this type of video for social media posts. Typically, product videos are short – a couple of minutes long at most. You really can communicate a lot in a short time while keeping consumers interested and preventing boredom or people clicking away.
Concentrate on the benefits of the product, and stay away from listing the features; nobody would want to read the features one by one on an instruction manual, nor do they want to listen to them being reeled off. Illustrate how the product can help the consumer; solve their problem, or make life easier.
So, how do product videos help a business? Well, in a number of ways. Firstly, by having a YouTube channel that is properly optimised can act as an excellent lead generator and create inbound leads that you’d just not get without video.
How do they help businesses? Optimised in the proper way, YouTube channels can act as an excellent lead generator, creating inbound leads. Your video has to run well on mobile devices, as in the past 2-years alone, there have been more than 50,000 hours of product review videos watched on YouTube through mobile devices. You can’t afford not to be part of this.
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Top Tips for Optimizing Video for Mobile:
- Keep it Short – 2-minutes or under
- Keep it Concise – if you can’t explain your message in one sentence, it’s not ready for mobile.
- Create Good Thumbnails – yes, mobile optimization begins before the video does.
- Hook People in 3-seconds – This is realistically the time consumers will spend deciding if your video is worth watching on their mobile device before scrolling.
- Add Text – Almost 70% of mobile users in public will watch videos on mute: text is vital.
It is predicted that by 2022, 82% of all internet traffic will come from mobile video, so you really need to get on board with this.
How-To Videos
According to Google statistics, some 86% of YouTube viewers use the platform to learn something new: here’s where ‘How to’ videos really excel. This type of video sits within the educational category and generally offers a step-by-step guide on how to accomplish a specific task.
Businesses use this video type in many ways, depending on their industry and whether they are selling products or services. A business that sells products may show how to assemble a product or offer hints and tricks that enable consumers to get the best from their purchase. This demonstrates that you genuinely care and is a great way to encourage repeat sales.
For a service-based business, tricks of the trade could be shared. For example, an accountant may show how to complete a tax return, a plumber may show how to fix washers, and a gardener could show how to optimize the life of certain plants for the season.
How-to and instructional videos are brilliant for communicating expertise, and with the content being genuinely of value, it is an excellent way to gain trust from potential consumers. If you consistently produce useful content, you’ll soon become regarded as the go-to expert in your field.
Thought Pieces
Commentary videos are the simplest form of video you can certainly create right now. Thought pieces include comments on developments in your particular niche and offer an expert insight into current affairs, trends, and your own sector. This type of video is best placed on sites like Linkedin and works well too on your business website, social media channels, and YouTube.
People love this type of content, where a point of view is offered that they may have missed, and facts are unearthed that are generally unknown. This is a great way of establishing authority. It will take time for momentum to build, and your audience will grow gradually – be consistent, be patient, and once you have that audience, they’re there to stay.
The trick to thought pieces is to keep them short, ideally 4-5-minutes long. Edit them harshly to trim out any waffle, and keep them punchy.
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To Round-Up
Of course, there are so many types of videos you can create for business, but this post is about the three types you can do today.
The key is to keep a presence in the online marketplace and remain memorable. If you don’t upload regularly, you’ll simply slip off the radar. Video is tremendously powerful placed on various platforms, even embedded into email, where it will result in a higher open rate than an email that contains just text.
Video can say so much and portray so much more information than realms of text. They’re easy to personalise and a fantastic way to build a rapport – this just isn’t the same if reading the written word.
To dive into more detail about how to create video for your business, do check out the other videos on our YouTube channel.
