Are you overlooking the power of video?

Wondering how to get your business to stand out from the crowd?  Usually dismissed as being too expensive, video is often overlooked as a marketing tool for small businesses.  Well, that’s a common misconception that needs to be corrected.

Video is cost effective

The real value with video is that once it’s made, it can be used in many ways-streaming it on your website, link to it in an email or e-newsletter, post it on YouTube or promote it via one of the many social media platforms.

This is the reason video is so cost-effective. Plus, if it’s a longer video, you can have shorter ‘teaser’ video clips made to promote it on Twitter, Facebook and other places.  Like a website, video works 24/7 to bring potential customers to your business while delivering a perfect message every time.

You’ll want to see these numbers

With so many people searching for products and services online, the first contact they will likely have with your business is your website.  Of course, it goes without saying that your website needs to look professional and trustworthy or people will quickly click away.

Now imagine if you had video on your website.  We all know people don’t like to read but they do love to watch videos and studies show that they are much more likely to watch a video than read text. Here are some powerful stats from recent studies to prove how effective video on a website can be.

• Including video in a landing page can increase conversion rate by 80%. 
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.
• The average user spends 88% more time on a website with video.
• 4X as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it.

Video ideas for all businesses

Now that you know how effective it is, let’s think of some ways to incorporate it into your website.  A short, fast-paced movie trailer-like video is great for your home page or a landing page as it can quickly give the audience an overview of your business.

An explainer-type video is perfect for complex services or products as they can be broken down into smaller, easier to absorb segments.  By using both audio and visual components, customers are more likely to understand HOW they benefit from using your products and services and therefore, will be more likely to buy.

What makes you different?

Many companies struggle with differentiating themselves from their competitors and video can be the solution.  Like a superhero, you can benefit from telling your company’s origin story and how/why you developed your particular product and/or service.

With many companies selling the same products, service becomes the selling point for their business so a video showcasing your exceptional service could be the key to increasing sales.  If you can portray the expertise of your staff and the consistency of always delivering a high level of service, that will convince people to call you instead of the other guy.

So, you can see video has many wonderful uses for the small business owner and when you consider the fact that a well-made video can be used in a multitude of ways, the value quickly outweighs the cost. Video has a proven record of increasing conversion rates and could make the difference between potential customers contacting you or clicking off your website without calling.