Expert Author Gihan Perera
If you're a business owner, you can't ignore the power of online video to generate leads, turn prospects into customers, and bring you repeat business. Online video is no longer difficult or expensive, so it's time for you to take advantage of it.
According to Google, which owns YouTube, over 60 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Yes, that's 60 hours every minute! That means that if you wanted to watch all the video uploaded to YouTube in a single day, it would take you 10 years - and that's watching it 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!
Here are three simple ways to use video in your marketing.
1. Create a welcome video on your Web site home page.
This video sits near the top of your home page, and is a nice, simple, friendly video that introduces people to you, your business, and your Web site. It shouldn't be more two minutes long - and one minute is even better. What should you say in it? Here's one simple formula: Start by stating the biggest problem that customers face when dealing with other people in your industry, then explain why you're different, then tell them what to do next on your Web site.
For example, if you're a plumber, you might say something like this:
"Hello, I'm Julie Bloggs from No More Leaky Taps. One of the biggest problems people have with a plumber is that they don't tell you when they will turn up, and sometimes even when they do, they don't turn up on time. So you have to hang around for hours waiting for them, which wastes your time, and sometimes messes up your entire day.
So you'll be pleased to know that we're different. All our office staff know about plumbing, so we can give you an exact time for your appointment, and we can even tell you how long it will usually take. We're so confident that if we're more than 5 minutes late, we'll give you $100 cash on the spot!
So if you want an on-time plumber - for a change - then get in touch with us. Have a look at our Web site for the nearest team member, and give them a call today!"
Record this video and upload it to YouTube. Try it out - it's easy!
2. Send a private video using EyeJot.
If you're worried about splashing your face on YouTube right away, here's how to start with something simpler: Send video e-mail using Eyejot.
You log on to their site, record a short video, and then send it to somebody as an e-mail. They get the e-mail and click the video link to watch your message.
This is perfect for keeping in touch with people, and it has a "Wow!" factor because it's impressive - and unexpected. If you're a plumber, imagine your customer's reaction if you send a video e-mail like this 24 hours before an appointment. Or if you're a real estate agent selling a home, you could send a video to the owners after a Home Open, just telling them how it went. Or if you're a personal trainer, you could send a short motivational video to a client after a training session.
This is so easy to do, because people expect e-mail to be friendly and casual, so it doesn't matter if your video isn't slick or elegant.
3. Ask your customers to create a video
Ask your customers to record a testimonial video and send it to you. That gives you instant marketing material for no effort at all!
You can ask customers to just record themselves talking to camera about your product or service, but that can be a bit dull. So get creative! For example, if you sell some sort of gizmo or gadget they can use, you might run a competition, where you tell customers to record a short video of themselves using the gizmo and talking about it. And you give a prize to the most creative video. Or whatever.