How to use video to market your business

There’s something to be said for face to face contact. But time is short and there’s hell of a lot of people/customers to get to in an ever decreasing 24-hour day. But for those of us, who thrive on knowing who we’re talking to, understanding what people are about or just connecting with others, the answer is here and it’s online video.

Online video viewing and usage is fast becoming one of the fastest growing Internet trends, with Hitwise reporting UK Internet traffic to Video websites has increased by 40.7% over the last 12 months. Websites like YouTube and BBC iPlayer are among the top most popular websites and You Tube alone has 15 hours of video uploaded to its site every minute.

This trend demonstrates that – one, video is now a key component on the online landscape and two; that consumers are using and behaving differently on the web. Where once inaccessible, video is now within their grasp as faster broadband connections have made it easier for audiences to engage with this channel. After all, it’s everyone’s opportunity to 15 minutes of fame.

Now, here’s where your business comes in. At the end of the day, customers want to engage in the way that they want – in their own time and space using the channels they are most comfortable with. And online video represents businesses with that channel. As it is with consumers, online video for business is accessible, personal and one of the most powerful marketing mediums at your disposal.

Now, if you’re one of those people thinking – “Video? Who? Moi?” Then you’ve only got to look back into history to see the power video has had on us as a society. Remember ‘Video killed the radio star’ – well, The Buggles knew what they were singing about because video has revolutionised our society. For example, it’s been streamed through our television channels, influencing our buying behaviours and even our lifestyle choices for years. The fact is, it’s just becoming more powerful – online.

So just why is video such a successful medium? It’s simple really, ultimately, as people we need to connect with other people. Trust is a big consideration for users spending their money online, where piracy and online theft is rife and it’s hard to trust a faceless business. Put this need for people to buy from people, together with the trend of UK Internet traffic to video sites having increased 37-fold and what you get is the opportunity for every business to put a face to the name and a voice to the message.

The question is – are you taking advantage of the opportunity?

What’s so great about business video?

In a nutshell, here’s why you should be thinking business video:

• It lets you speak your customers’ language but in a highly effective, targeted way.
• It puts a face and adds personality to your business plus increases trust in consumers because you’re effectively saying to them – ‘you know who I am now, come buy from me’.
• It allows your customer to engage with you as they would in face to face contact building a community. A community of customers – what more could you want.
• Once you do video, it’s forever – you can reuse your video again and again.
• By uploading your video to community sites like BT Tradespace, you are suddenly reaching a whole new market – every one of those users is a potential customer.
• It’s not that difficult to do – you can use your webcam, mobile phone or handy cam to deliver different messages time and time again.
• Your Tradespace is an essential part of the marketing mix, allowing you to combine all of your marketing messages into one channel. Plus, with your video streaming from our partner platform, you don’t have to worry about using your own bandwidth! So make sure you update your Tradespace with regular videos and blog posts and reap the benefits!
• It’s fun – so why not mix a bit of pleasure with business?

How can I get it right?

• Educate yourself. Derek’s (our video guru) done a guide to business video which is a good way to get started.
• Have a plan. Don’t go at it blindly, know what you want to put before your audience. Videos can be sales led, educational, informative, or just plain entertainment. If you’re doing a product demo, then that would be informative. If you’re doing a video on how your business is ethical and green, then that’s an educational video. If you’re introducing your team, then that’s fun and entertaining while building trust.
• Write down your script but don’t learn it. The best videos are natural and from the heart; so while it’s important to know what you’re going to say – don’t read it out as it will drive your viewers away.
• Have fun. If you have a creative streak, try different ideas. You don’t have to just stand in front of the camera – make it interesting and keep your audience in mind.
• Keep it short and sweet. We’ve recommended between 30 seconds to a minute for videos in our video competition but three or four minutes for your business videos should be fine.
• Think relevancy. Think better search engine ranking. The main way for users to find your video is through search – so from naming your file, to writing the intro to your video – think relevant keywords.
• Look and learn. Why not have a look at some of the ways we’ve used video for BT Tradespace on our BT Tradespace TV. Our ‘Five steps to Tradespace success’ below is an example; we’ve also done simpler videos like our ‘Meet the team’ videos or event coverage. Or even better take part in our video competition to win a flip camcorder!

Watch our ‘Five Steps to Tradespace Success’ video