Chris Barling, one of the UK’s leaders in advising for start-up businesses, shares his thoughts on video marketing and what’s involved in the process. He shares the importance of video marketing how the process should unfold.

Why Video Marketing Is Important?

Chris reviews the gold mine found in the opportunities available through video marketing. Honestly, there are opportunities at every point of contact, from the prospect to the existing customer. Chris compares the transition from static sites, to video sites to the transition from radio to television, and he considers this a significant shift for every business. Thus, every business should invest in video market.

Chris parallels the moving picture to our short attention spans as consumers, and he is onto something. The consumer culture is oriented visually, so the videos should be a naturally desired medium for every business.
Complex details are also communicated faster and easier and consumers appreciate clicking on a video link rather than digging through text. Customers and prospects want information NOW. This is why video marketing has gained importance.

Winning New Customers Through Video Marketing

Every prospect is a potential new customer, so it’s essential to embed the company website into the video. Chris also points out that the video needs to be easily shared among friends. Making sure the video includes a social networking share button is as important as the content of the video. Video can workout in product video marketing unless you don’t have good video content or a social networking share button.

Chris states that a video done correctly will weed out potential customers into two categories: those who will buy and those who won’t. The video will quickly eliminate those who aren’t going to buy and the sales effort will not be wasted. Businesses can see the value of video marketing when weighing the video against live sales representative efforts.

Moving the Sales Process Forward With Video Marketing

As the video helps select prospective customers who will actually purchase, the sales effort is greatly assisted by video. The videos will stand in for live sales representatives by presenting a product, introducing the company and helping customers figure out product.

Chris argues that the customer or prospective customer will come to the company educated, and the sales representative can cut straight to the sale.

After the sale, videos explaining how the product works or troubleshooting possible issues will also leave the sales representatives with more time for direct sales. When time is money in a business, the value of the videos becomes quite evident.

Education will also have a strong impact on sales. Chris argues that hesitation comes from uncertainty. When a video explains the most basic questions to a customer, the hesitation to purchase melts away. When a business provides education and general information, it is most likely that the customer will purchase from that company.

Let’s Make A Video!

Chris moves on to discuss the basics of making a video for business. Whether the video is professionally completed or homegrown depends on the budget and abilities of the company, but luckily, every company has YouTube access.

YouTube has allowed the most amateur video maker to gain notoriety on the Internet. Any company can still create an amateur video that stands on steady business legs.

Whether the video is professional or laid back, the most important part of it is the message. What does the business want to say? After the message is determined, Chris stresses the importance of planned content how will the business present their message? The presentation must support the main message.

Is the company reviewing a product, educating the customer on how the product works or helping the customer troubleshoot issues? Businesses that plan every aspect of the video from beginning to end pull in more customers through built up trust and communication.

After the video is planned, it’s time for the business to call Action! Chris insists that the videos should be no more than three minutes keep in mind the short attention span of the common consumer. Make the video relevant while remaining interesting. It’s essential to stay consistent with the company’s brand.

Chris wraps up his basic how-to guideline with a discussion on who to film and how to edit. Chris discusses live-action actors, but animated videos don’t need live – action instead, they need a steady hand and talent in drawing or creating. Find a friend or staff member talented in graphic design and ask that person to help with the video.

Editing comes easily for the business who finds a simple online editor, which will easily cut scenes and add music to the video. The point is not to make a shining work of art; the point is simply to communicate information about the brand in a visually appealing manner.

Video Circulation

Chris tells businesses how unbelievably easy it is to get the video into circulation. The videos can be hosted on the business website or on YouTube with a link to the company website. YouTube works best if the company sets up a channel dedicated to the company. The videos can also be embedded onto any site through YouTube.

Adding titles, tags, and descriptions to every video will make them searchable. Using blog posts to link to the videos will gain traffic, and looking out for niche websites that might share videos related to the company brand will also boost views.

Why Would Company Not Make Videos?

Television passed radio quickly, and videos are doing the same text. Why would a company wait to make videos when it is obvious that they are having a huge impact on advertising?