The merits of video content for your small business
I’ll try to keep this brief.
It’s no secret that a successful Web presence depends on the quality of the content representing your business. Assuming you can get a potential client to come to your site, you have a very limited amount of time to engage her curiosity and prevent her from immediately moving on to something else (like one of your competitors).
So what’s one of the most effective ways to engage a Web user? Video content. People love videos. Studies have shown that if a video is present on the page, it will be the first thing clicked.
That is your opportunity to convey your message to potential clients in a manner in which they will be engaged.
Video is also a very effective method of significantly boosting to your search engine rankings (SEO!). Google gives YouTube results priority in prime real estate on the first page of search results. And YouTube results have been shown to be more likely to get attention than websites ranking several places higher in results.
But what kind of video content could your business create? Effective marketing tells a story. Your business, your products/services, your employees — they all have a story. Tell it.
Video content for any business could be:
- The story of your business (the who, what, why, where and how). People love a business with a face and personality; they love having insight into the people behind the business and what inspires them to do what they do.
- Highlight a flagship product or service (and introduce a new product or service).
- Highlight a significant job or event that may be of interest to the community (as seen below).
- A how-to video. Some of the most searched for and watched videos on the Web are how-tos. Show off your expertise and gain credibility by offering some free advice or instruction. For example, a tow company can offer advice on what steps to take if you break down on the side of the road, or how to safely change a flat tire.
- Let your current clients tell their stories about working with you or your products (ask a few of your pleased clients if they would mind giving a testimonial on camera).
- Want to get a little more creative with some fictional narratives, “publicity stunts,” etc.? We can help with that, too.
Below are a couple examples of video content we produced for a local business, PhillyJunk.com. The first is an example of the type of content at the top of our list: The who, what, where, why and how. The second is an example of number three on our list: We highlighted a job that was both significant in scope for the company, and significant historically for the community.
It’s also worth mentioning that aside from filming the interviews, the company experienced no downtime to produce these videos. All b-roll footage was filmed and photographed documentary style (as it really happened on actual jobs). We also used a mixture of both stills and motion to produce these pieces. The stills are also available for other venues such as Facebook, PR and print materials.
The great thing about creating video content these days is it’s not just for the big boys anymore. Video content is affordable on even modest small business budgets. And our services range from fully producing content to providing training and consulting so you can produce the content yourself.
Let’s make some video content!
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