17 Jul How to Grow Your Business with Video
Video is quickly becoming the dominant form of content online. Views, shares, and uploads of video are accelerating at a breakneck pace. Many forms of existing content, such as blog posts and how-to articles, are also pivoting to video rather than text-based formats.
People simply can’t get enough of video!
For business owners, video content can be a key part of their strategy to earn new customers and grow their company. Video marketing has started to offer incredible returns on investment for companies of all sizes. Adding a video to your website product pages can increase conversions by 80%! That’s probably why 83% of business owners say that video offers great ROI.
To help your company get started using video effectively and using it to grow your revenues, consider the following six helpful tips below. You’ll learn why video is such an important asset and how to use it in a way to maximize your positive results.
Start Simple With Slide Shows
Some business owners may think they don’t have the resources to even bother with video. These limited resources can include time, money, creativity or even patience.
What these entrepreneurs should realize is that video does not have to be a big-budget affair in order to be highly polished and visually appealing. In fact, you can start instantly making videos for free right now and have them ready to upload in seconds.
There are dozens upon dozens of free video makers online designed for this exact purpose. Many offer options for combining text and images to create a dynamic slideshow. These videos are nearly effortless to make, yet they are still immersive and look professional.
Great options to get started making your own slideshow style videos include Renderforest and Adobe Spark Video. Both are free with a registered account. They also utilize great-looking templates, so you don’t have to be Spielberg-level genius to create your first videos. Simply pick from the options, input your own text or photos, and let the program do the rest.
Examples of great text-based videos include:
Repurposing existing blogs or content pages as short videos
Creating a quick explainer to get people excited about what you have to offer
Revealing interesting information or “#MondayMotivation” style inspiration related to your area of business
Giving a “thank you” to your existing customers
Announcing big things on the way, such as a new product or event
Creating videos like these can get you in the habit of thinking visually, rather than textually, which can help you earn more views and raise interest in your business offerings.
Create Product Reviews or Descriptions of Your Core Services
Once you feel comfortable to start investing more into your video content, descriptive videos are the way to go. Short 1-2 minute videos giving an overview of the products or services you offer can significantly improve awareness and interest.
According to Hubspot, people who watch a video reviewing or explaining a product are 64% more likely to buy that product later on. Using an explainer video on your homepage can similarly double your conversion rate.
When reviewing products, stay focused on features and key selling points the consumer is most likely to care about. Think about it as a resource, not an ad. Do your best to compare this product to others, helping your customers get an idea of the range of options available to them.
For a great example, check out motorcycle accessory retailer RevZilla. Pages for products like this $300 backpack explain exactly what the product is supposed to be used for, what its most notable features are, and what separates it from other available options. After watching a video like that, someone may not only understand why they might want a $300 backpack but have a serious desire to buy one after realizing just how much it offers.
For service-oriented explainer videos, try to think of it as a presentation. You’re walking the visitor through what your service offers and how it benefits them. Many of these videos start off by revealing a specific pain point that the product solves before moving into key benefits or competitive differentiators.
If you need a way to warm up to this type of content, try doing it live. You can broadcast a Facebook Live post, for instance, where you have a Q&A with your audience or offer a live demonstration of what you do. Going through the motions in a low-stakes environment like this can give you an idea of what to do for a more polished version down the road.
Personify Your Brand Through Video Marketing Content
Video content isn’t just good for information — that’s why only a slim margin of movies are documentaries, after all! The rest aim to give viewers an emotional experience or to tell an engrossing story.
Video is particularly great at these emotion-focused concepts because it combines several of our senses at once. Through powerful images, mood-appropriate music, and clever editing techniques, you can communicate the soul of your brand in surprisingly subtle ways.
To see what we mean, take a look at this charming ad from the tourism board for the Faroe Islands. It manages to reveal many things that make the Faroe Islands and its people so special without ever stepping into outright advertisement. The subject is interesting, it’s well filmed, and something people can relate to instantly.
Videos like these are great for solidifying your branding and generating awareness from your audiences. Since people are able to remember 95% of what they see in a video — compared to just 10% of the text they read — videos like these help keep your business top-of-mind. That way, you earn more recommendations and sales while forging strong positive associations to your unique brand values and personality.
Use Video to Climb to the Top of Search Results
People love video, and search engines want to accommodate people. So, naturally, search engines now love video!
According to one study, you are 53 times more likely to show up as the first result on Google when you have a video embedded in your page. It ,therefore, makes a huge amount of sense to accompany each new page or blog you submit with a short, relevant video.
Make sure the video offers value to the audience and not just the search engine, though. “Tricky” practices like just shoehorning content into a poorly made video show up on Google’s behavioral data, and over time the algorithm will likely be refined to punish such habits.
So, create good videos that fit naturally within your content, and reap benefits from both audiences and the increase in traffic thanks to search engines.
Be Your Own Harshest Critic
Producing video can help you quickly stand out among your competitors, but that can mean “standing out” in a negative way if your quality is poor.
Here’s a few simple tips to help improve your video quality:
Use a tripod. Even smartphone cameras can look great when they have a stable mount.
Provide lots of light sources on your subject. Cameras look much less blurry when they’re focused on something bathed in light. Use floor lamps or professional lighting setups to get the look you need.
Be aware of your background. Modern cameras are so easy to use because they auto-focus, but this can mean focusing on the wrong subject if you have something distracting or more brightly lit in the background.
Have great sound quality. Poor sound can sometimes hurt a video worse than poor camera quality. Invest in a clippable mic or a directional make, and don’t film in locations with lots of background noise or echo.
Hire a Professional Agency
Shooting video yourself is a great first step in generating video assets for your company. However, you will face limitations of time, equipment, and expertise. As a result, you will experience inefficiencies.
You have to consider whether creating videos (and don’t forget the learning curve) is the best use of your time.
Video agencies have fully baked processes for generating ideas, storyboarding them, shooting the video, producing and editing for a truly professional look. Hiring a video agency will produce a higher-quality video with greater efficiencies. It will also allow you to stay focused on your own core skill sets that drive revenue for your business.
As the ROI for high-quality video continues to soar, hiring a video agency should be seen as a long-term investment in your company’s asset portfolio.
And if a video agency isn’t in your budget this year, there are lots of other resources available to help you learn how to create quality video content. You can get started with this enlightening Hubspot article or rely on communities like Facebook for Creators, for instance.
Be patient, experiment, and set lofty goals to improve your content over time. If you can do that while caring about your audience, you are setting the stage for your business’s video marketing success!