Article Contributed by Kate Wilson
Today, it’s cheap and accessible to film something and throw it on the web, with a chance it will become viral and be viewed by millions. The benefits of a business creating and uploading such a video are obvious; a popular video online can drive thousands of new customers to a business, as well as maintain the interest of current customers.
Of course, a video can only go viral if it’s entertaining in some way, whether it’s side-splittingly funny or extremely informative. Typically, viral videos either teach viewers something interesting in an engaging way or they make them laugh. Since most businesses aren’t in the comedic realm, businesses can most prudently expect growth out of videos that inform in some way.
Here are methods you can use to help your business grow with video.
- Customer Testimonials
Consumer confidence is a big part of driving sales. If consumers have no confidence or are somewhat wary of doing business with you, then it’s not realistic to expect growth. Customer testimonials will convince consumers someone just like them is so passionate about your business that they agreed to talk about it. These videos usually range from 15 seconds to a minute and are typically inserted into commercials or used as a standalone on YouTube or in social media marketing. Here’s an example of a customer testimonial for Verizon Fios.
- Video Case Study
Customer testimonials are useful, but some will still be wary of them, since they’ll be assuming that the customers are actually actors being paid to spew compliments. Even if that’s not the case, it’s tough convincing them otherwise.
Something more objective and inarguable is a video case study, which shows through objective data the benefits of your product or service. Often video case studies feature a narrator and a customer voice visually demonstrating the “problem, solution, benefit” order of events found in traditional case studies. Here’s a video case study for Nike’s Considered Design initiative to learn from.
- Product Demonstrations
Showcasing your products via video, like CJ Pony Parts does here with its sound clips and installation guides for 2015 Mustang exhaust parts, has a number of benefits.
First, it provides interested consumers with a chance to see their product in action from the convenience of home. Also, it can bring in new customers who stumble across the video by searching for the product or service name via YouTube or Google. Since they’re searching for it in the first place, there’s a decent chance they may end up a customer if the video is informative.
- Corporate Overview
A corporate overview can serve as a very informative piece of content that can help a variety of people, from interested investors to potential future employees. It can provide either of them a better understanding of the business by teaching about company history, key products and figures and other data that paints a favorable picture of wanting to do business in some capacity. Here Thomson Reuters offers an example of a polished corporate overview video.
- Troubleshooting Videos
It’s easy to find troubleshooting videos that have hundreds of thousands or even millions of plays on YouTube. This is because when people need an answer to a question or want to learn some sort of process step-by-step in today’s day and age, they consult a search engine or YouTube.
By publishing videos that somehow answer a question or provide a helpful step-by-step overview of a process relevant to your business, you have the potential to bring in new customers, who will be impressed and confident in your knowledge and abilities in that particular field, consequently resulting in consumer confidence in your business. Here’s an example of Car and Driver Magazine utilizing a troubleshooting video to increase visibility for their brand.
Videos like the types above can result in enormous growth for any business type. There are few modern strategies that raise awareness of a business as quickly and effective as creating a successful video for your brand.