Video is a powerful medium for businesses to use, but only if you use it correctly. It’s no secret that attention spans are short, and many psychologists believe that the human brain responds better to images and videos than it does to text. As a result, more companies are starting to wonder how they can feature videos throughout their organizations. Some do this really well, while others spend a fortune and wonder why they don’t see the results.
Throughout this post, you’ll be presented with ideas and examples of how to use video in your business. It’s a very diverse form of media, as you will see if you keep on reading. Before all of that, there is one key tip that you need to follow if you want your videos to actually work; the production value needs to be high.
This doesn’t mean you need a big Hollywood budget, but it does mean simple things – like filming in high definition. If your videos don’t look good, they lose all efficacy! On that note, here are some ways you can use video throughout your company:
Marketing Videos
The most obvious way to implement videos is by creating promo films for your marketing campaign. In this day and age, video advertising still has a massive influence on purchasing decisions. If anything, it’s more effective than ever before, and this is because of a switch from traditional TV ads to online ads.
By online ads, we’re talking about adverts that are placed on various websites throughout the web. For example, when you watch a YouTube video, there will be adverts before, during, or after it. The same goes for watching videos on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter – sometimes adverts will play. The main way to do this is by going to the sites and looking for their advertising pages. Here’s a link to YouTube Advertising to help you get started, and it explains how to set everything up.
Naturally, you need a video to begin your advertising campaign. This video can be in any style you want, but the idea is that it promotes your business/product/service. You’ll only have a few seconds for most online ads, so it needs to be snappy and grab people’s attention as quickly as possible. Video ads have a greater chance of grabbing attention than typical display ads online, which is why they are worth the investment.
Product Videos
Next, you can use videos to demonstrate your products. Again, loads of companies do this, and the format can change depending on what you’re doing. With this type of corporate video production, you get a chance to showcase your product to people in a manner that surpasses still images or written descriptions. A brilliant example of this is on clothing websites where companies have videos of models walking around in the clothes. It gives the customer a better idea of how something looks on a human, rather than on a page.
Another example is through product demonstrations on your website or social media. The social media angle is actually a genius one as it’s a fantastic idea for some content marketing. You can post a video on your social media pages that demonstrates your product in action, using it as a chance to answer any frequently asked questions through the video as well. Of course, this also opens up the opportunity for people to ask more questions in the comments.
As you can already see, this is a fantastic recipe for engagement, encouraging people to interact with you and your business on social media. Even if you post these videos on your website, they are just as effective. Here, they can be used on landing pages to convince users to buy your product. In essence, they act as a form of proof to show that your product does what it says.
Live Videos
The previous example about social media product videos sparked another brilliant idea: live videos.
Live streaming is growing in popularity, largely thanks to the sheer diversity of tools available to do it. You only have to go back a few years ago to see a time where Periscope was the only live streaming social platform. Sure, you had YouTube and Twitch – but they’re not so much pick up and go platforms as they are dedicated streaming platforms. Your business could use them, but social media live streaming is where it’s really at.
These days, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all have features that let you go live at the push of a button. Businesses enjoy a lot of success using them for product launches, Q&As, and other important business announcements. They’re an easy way of getting in touch with your audience and delivering news or updates on the go. There’s also a personal element to live videos that helps your audience develop a more human bond with your company. You no longer look like a corporate robot; you seem like a company full of humans that care.
Behind-The-Scenes Videos
Another very clever use of videos in the business world is showing people what goes on behind the scenes. Again, they are best suited for social media – or a YouTube channel, which your business should create as it is brilliant for content marketing.
Here, it’s a chance to film what happens in your business on a daily basis, introducing the team, talking about certain topics, and showing your audience how things are done. People love this type of thing as, again, it breaks down barriers and brings the customer closer to the business. It is a lot easier for someone to attach themselves to a company if they know the people behind the corporate logo.
Recruitment Videos
Do you want to attract the best talent to your business? If so, recruitment videos are a genius idea. Here, you will film a video that talks about job opportunities and explain the roles. You also speak about your company and what you’re looking for in the ideal candidate. This can go on your website, or you can post it on social media to broaden its reach.
The idea is that potential candidates will see and watch the video, encouraging them to apply for the job. The video format is more engaging, so more people are likely to take notice of the job offer. Obviously, this broadens your chances of finding the best person for the job, by dipping into a wider talent pool.
Alongside this, we go back to the idea of adding a human face to your company. A business that has real employees or managers talking about jobs in a recruitment video is more likely to find good candidates than one that just has a job ad on a website. Why? Because the candidates feel like more effort has been made, and they get an insight into the business. They may like what they see from the video, encouraging them to apply for this job instead of one at a rival business.
After looking at all of these ideas, you can clearly see that video has a massive role to play in your business. There are endless ways in which you can implement video content throughout your company, and they are all really effective. Naturally, promotional marketing videos will advertise and promote your business. However, all of the other video types will basically do the same thing, just in a subtler manner. By using them all together, you can gain more online exposure, generating more interest around your company.
Image Credits: CoWomen
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