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My advice to every business, large or small is have at least one video on a dedicated business YouTube channel - if you don't you could be missing out on views and visits via the worlds 2nd largest search engine. Use the same key words as you use to optimise your website and your video WILL appear in searches.
It's a no-brainer!!
There is one fantastic way to produce a video that promotes your product or service without going to the expense of commissioning an all-singing, all-dancing promotional video; a video case study or testimonial video by your client saying how good you are. It's a brilliant soft sell - so your best clients do the selling for you.
They are simple to produce - with a small amount of time and skill you could create your own on an ipad or iphone 4/5. In it's most simplest form interview your best client/s and ask them to share the why, the what and the how they use your services. Ask them to say why they would recommend you to other people in their sector.
Don't appear in the video yourself - film interview style like you see on TV news then edit out the questions so all the best bits are on the film.
If you want to go a stage further you might be better off employing the services of a video professional who will film the interview more professionally for you and take some video footage of your product in use at the company - associating you with their brand - so you can bring the case study to life with images
Here is an example we produced for our own video production services:
Quite simply, more decision-making executives (c-suite) are waking up to business video because we (business video producers) are making life easier for executives by distilling key messages and information into a carefully crafted few minutes.
Instead of having to wade through lengthy documents or numerous pages of a website they can watch a short video that gives them the executive summary - the highlights and key points.
So, if your target audience is business owners and director level executives it is crucially important to employ a video company who understand how to communicate your messages effectively.
As a producer it's my role to take the time to understand your business and the issues you face that you can address using a video. It is then up to me to identify the key messages and create a narrative that represents the spirit or essence of your company and attracts your clients to you.
After all, your time is best spent using your expertise to run the business - to do what I do best I need to gain your trust and be given the space and resources to to make a short informative and engaging film.
More often than not I receive a phone call or email asking me to quote for producing a video to promote a companies products - a sales video. After we have discussed the viewing behaviour & preferences as above we are commissioned to make a film with a more gently promotional message - no hard selling.
The video will often be the first thing potential clients see so the information has to be about who you are and why you do what you do. If they like what they see they are more likely to spend time reading more detailed information on your website.
So think of a promotional video as an executive summary - with the benefit of case study testimonials - something like this...
If a picture paints a 1000 words, just how many words are contained in a video that actually has 25 frames (different pictures) in every second of film - 30 in the USA
Video has a language of its own that is made up of 3 elements:
The words you hear
Your interpretation of the pictures you see
The unspoken moods or emotions you feel through non-verbal communication - the wink of an eye, a smile, negative body language, a false smile that is only seen in the mouth but not in the eyes.
Today I was sent a video to comment on. I'm assuming that the idea of the video is to promote a company who designs and creates domestic interiors - kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms etc. What I see on viewing the film is one minute of nicely shot images filmed in a showroom and set to music.
It's not that it's bad - there are some smiling faces of staff and customers and a range of images that suggests the calibre of client they are targeting - all set to some happy music.
My point is that this could be so much more. It's 2 dimensional because the first element - words - is missing entirely. There is no narrative, no story to hook me in and carry me along. I don't feel that I know who the company are or whether they really do a good job - anyone can hire actresses or models to smile in front of some nice shiny products.
With little additional effort a short clip from a senior representative of the company or a respected figure talking about the products might give the viewer an insight into the 'why' behind the company - it's culture and ethos.
Two or three short clips from customers would tell me how much they like doing business with that company and why they chose to buy from them.
I always try to include client testimonials in a promotional film. The viewer can see that they are genuine interviews and are likely to trust the content - a great soft sell for your business.
Here's a short film we produced for AEG at Taste of Christmas that follows these principals - resulting in an easy to watch film that doesn't feel like a sales message
Creating engaging communications for internal use is vital if you need to keep staff and colleagues up to date on company news, incentives and relevant information such as sector trends and training issues.
In this case study Amplifon UK CEO Steve Fleming explains the benefits to Amplifon in using video for all their major internal communications. He also describes how his relationship with New Edge, as long-standing business video production company is like a partnership - working together to identify key messages and deciding on the best way to deliver them so that the staff want to watch and engage with the
content.
The CEO of Phase Vision was synical about using video to promote the company's 3D white light optical inspection and measuring equipment. Persuaded by his marketing team to make one film with New Edge business video productions as a trial, he talks here about how he is totally converted to video and has since commissioned 2 more from New Edge.Do you have stands at exhibitions?
Listen to this story then get in touch with New Edge to see how we can help you attract visitors and stand out from the crowd
Use your clients and customers to 'sell' for you in Sales and Promotional videos. People buy from people - Richard Flewitt from New Edge business video productions explains:
YouTube for Business, what's the catch?
Numerous facts and statistics are being quoted, then re-quoted about the power of YouTube as a promotional vehicle for your business. What is beyond doubt is the fact that a very significant number of people are now using YouTube as a search engine; it became the number 2 search engine after Google as early as August 2008, and some say that there have been months in 2009 where the number of YouTube searches has overtaken Google.
This means that videos that are correctly titled and key-word tagged are being found by people searching for information, and if you have no videos containing information about your products or service, or sharing your thought leadership online you are missing out on a very large slice of visibility for your company. Of course, like any online content, if people find your video then choose not to watch it, or to click away within seconds, any benefit you gained from positioning is lost.
The catch with YouTube for business is therefore threefold:
Your video has to be relevant to the search
It has to be presented in an engaging style to keep the attention of your viewer
You have to inform, educate or entertain. Selling is a big NO
There are two ways that you can use business video on the web, and you need to decide on your video strategy before choosing the most effective style for you. Attraction
If you want to promote your brand, make your company more visible and drive people to your website then you need a short film that people will like enough to pass on to their network and friends. This is how the most successful viral videos work. A great recent example is the Surfing Sheep! Film that had more than 250,000 views in the first month.
It's short, fun and entertaining with a subtle corporate branding and strap line at the end. Information If your reasons for using video are to share knowledge, be seen as a thought leader or an expert, to inform or educate, then you will rely on viewers finding you by using key words, appreciating your content, and subscribing to future videos you make. YouTube has been described as the new encyclopaedia where you can learn how to do just about anything. According to Forbes research, two thirds of c-suite executives view work-related videos online at least once a week, and 27% cite video as their preferred format for information gathering.
Case Studies -are a brilliant way of promoting your product or service without being pushy and 'salesy'. Get your best clients to do your selling for you by sharing why wthey use your company. We are producing this type of film for a companies ranging from IT services to food production. Here is our own video with clients talking about what we do and some examples of work
So get in on the act and share your knowledge!
This type of information/education film is much less likely to become viral so you have to work harder to spread the word, posting your video links on social media sites, Ecademy, LinkedIn, Facebook etc to attract viewers to your YouTube channel. The more views and ratings it gets, the more visible it will become to others on YouTube. Although the number of views will be less than a viral film, your viewers are much more likely to be people who are genuinely interested in what you do, what you have to have to say, recognise your value and eventually buy from you.
With both types of video it is crucial to think carefully about a detailed description, a relevant title, key word tags, and of course always include a link back to your website.
