The Most Effective Types of Videos for Small Businesses
It has been estimated that by the year 2020, more than 80% of all consumer traffic on the Internet will be comprised of video content. This in itself is a staggering statistic, but there are even more numbers which show the popularity of video content online. For instance, it’s fairly common knowledge that video content will reach three times the number of people that a standard text blog post will, and that an average video content post will get 20% more attention than ordinary text.
This makes it fairly obvious that your business needs to be involved with the production of engaging videos that inform the public about your brand and its products or services. But which types of videos are the most effective, and which are the most popular? By spending the bulk of your time and effort producing these kinds of videos, you should theoretically have the maximum reach, and you should reach the greatest number of people.
The information below will identify which kinds of video are the most popular and the most effective, and those are the ones you should focus your efforts on.
Webinars
Webinars are very effective at increasing awareness of your brand, nurturing relationships, and converting those relationships into sales. At any stage of the customer journey, webinars can be a powerful tool for urging a potential customer toward making a purchase. A full 78% of all buyers have declared that webinars helped them make B2B buying decisions.
One of the big advantages of webinars is that they are conducted in a controlled environment, meaning you can directly engage with your audience, and be aware of who is listening at all times, while you answer questions from the audience. Although there is generally a fair amount of setup time required to prepare for a webinar, keep in mind that they can be re-purposed at a later date, so you can get extra use out of them.
A webinar might easily be converted into a blog post or perhaps even a lead magnet, so that you derive extra value from its production. If you can build up a whole series of webinars, you can add them to a landing page which would serve as a kind of learning center for your followers to consult at their convenience.
Live video
Live video is one of the easiest types of video content to create, and yet it remains one of the most effective methods for reaching a target audience on the Internet. According to research statistics, more than 64% of all Internet users admit to having watched at least one live video during the past calendar year. In addition, 82% of those polled said that they prefer live video issued by a brand, over any kind of social posts would be made available.
Users say that they prefer live video because it seems more personal and authentic to them, and it also serves to attach a human face to your brand, which is priceless. Producing live videos is a great way to tell your audience who you are, and what you do, and it is extremely effective for engaging an audience in real time.
Regardless of the platform you choose to use, you’ll have a number of options in the way you go about producing your live videos. Some very common techniques are to provide users with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your business, to talk about your latest online course, to share some insights into your latest project, or to describe a live event which you are attending.
Thought leadership videos
Videos like these are generally used for presentation to consumers who are at the awareness stage of the customer journey. At this time your target audience is not really sure that they need your product or service, and they can be heavily influenced by a really good thought leadership video. This type of video can significantly build awareness of your brand, and it can help establish you as a leader in your field.
Intended to educate an audience, thought leadership videos can consist of interesting facts about your industry, or they might be comprised of an interview with an expert colleague. There are any number of ways you can go with this kind of video, but all of them are intended to put your brand before the public eye, and to establish your position as an industry expert.
How-to videos
Most people really enjoy learning new processes or techniques, and if it’s your brand that teaches them these new techniques, it will be much appreciated. There is probably no better way, and certainly no more fun way, to learn something new than to watch a step-by-step description of it in a how-to video.
Any business can create one of these videos to show how a product is made or how it is used. An even more fun how-to video might consist of a step-by-step description of an executive day at the office, which could be infused with a little humor to add real appeal to the content. A video like this would also serve to humanize your business, and increase the connection that users feel to your brand.
Testimonials
Testimonials and customer reviews are always trusted to a larger extent than are company descriptions or promotions of products, and they provide your target audience with the kind of social proof they’re looking for so they can make a purchasing decision. There is no overestimating the value of customer reviews and testimonials, and that’s why you should reach out to a number of customers past and present, whom you consider to be loyal customers, and ask them to record a short video.
Most of these individuals will be flattered that you want to include them in a video, and will accept without hesitation. To help them along in their testimonial, you can provide them with questions, and hopefully get some flattering answers which will put your brand in a good light. Once you’ve managed to gather up some really good testimonials, they can be used either on your website or on a specific sales page when you happen to be promoting one of the products your customers talk about.
You can get a lot of mileage out of positive testimonials and customer reviews, and you should definitely do that, because it will have enormous influence over future purchases from new customers.
Heather Hart
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