If you’ve ever thought “I’d like to use video on my site, but I’m not sure what to do” , then this is the post for you. We’ve got 12 ideas to get your creative juices flowing . Traditionally you think of video for advertising purposes, but these 12 go beyond that and can really super-charge your website.
The truth today is that most business totally under-use video to market themselves. If you do just one of the 12 points we list below, you will already be way ahead of 99% of businesses online. Implement a few of these ideas and your business can really stand out in a crowded online space.
The great thing about commercial video is how immediate it is and how you can really show your business personality. You can be serious, fun, zany or anything in between. The point is this: customers get to see, hear and feel your message and this goes a long way to helping them connect with you and you’re offering.
So without any further ado, here are 12 ways you can use video to market your business online.
Branding/ business identity
Tell the world who you are and what you do. Talk about your business, your history, your values and what customers can expect from you. You can really impart your companies vision and personality. It can work well whether you are a sole trader or big business.
About us
Use short videos for each key staff member so clients can better connect with them. It’s a great way to differentiate your site where nearly everyone else out there will just use photos instead.
Events
Video your awards night or gala ball and show the world how you do it right. This can be a really fun video that celebrates your business and shows you letting the hair down a bit.
It can also help establish business credibility by displaying events or seminars you run.
Testimonials & reviews
Real stories from real customers can be very inspiring for new and potential customers. These can be very simple but are extremely powerful.
Product demonstrations
Use videos to show how your products, equipment or other items work. Nothing beats a video to clearly show people how to use your products.
eLearning / education
This is a great way to help educate customers whilst also positioning yourself as an expert in your field. These can help generate new clients – especially if what you are providing offers real value. They can be offered for free or as paid eLearning courses, depending on what you are trying to do.
FAQ Videos
Often on most sites, these pages are dry and boring. Doing them via video makes it easier for the customer to consume, plus it gives your customer yet another chance to see and hear from you.
Screen-casting is good option to show steps that must be taken on a computer to complete a task, use software or to buy your product. You can easily record the steps whilst explaining what you are doing. It’s simple and generates great, useful content. If you ever have a process in your business, screen cast it. Having business processes documented this way makes your business more valuable if you ever decide to sell.
Training / Inductions
These videos are particularly good to offer consistent and repeatable information for people in your business or for people using your products. It is similar to #6. You do it once and do it well, and you not only have great video content, but also a valuable asset for your business.
Internal communication
If you have a lot of people in your business, talking to them directly via video is very personable and effective. It’s a great chance to have some fun too.
Social responsibility
Show the world how you give back. If you are doing true good in the world, let me people know about it.
Live blogging
Live blogging via social media sites – these are raw, unscripted and a very popular way to connect with your audience.
Social media
Smaller snippets from any of the areas mentioned above can be used to create unique content for social sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Social media is a hungry beast that needs constant feeding, so it’s good to both create new content , but also recycle by generating snippets like this. It extends the usefulness of any video content that you may have.
So there it is, 12 ways you can start implementing video into your business marketing mix.
As we mentioned earlier, just doing one of these will help enormously. You just have to get in the game and straight away you’re ahead of most others online.
xxx All is Light Team