Local Hometown Shops Turn To Video To Save Business

Video is no longer huge in marketing. It has replaced standard marketing. If your business is not using video, you aren’t in business.

Let me explain. You may be getting visitors, customers, etc. through the other methods, but a lot of that is because of advertising you may have done in the past that helped brand your business.

Take the small town of Princeton, Illinois, where I now live. The majority of businesses here are well established and have a loyal following. They do not get a lot of new foot traffic (some get a lot of new foot traffic because of their positioning – because location is the biggest foundation for a successful business – but that is the exception, not the rule.) Last year, I saw at least half a dozen stores close on Main Street. This year, another half dozen have gone. And that is on Main Street, where the majority of business is foot traffic because of the efforts of the city of Princeton and the Chamber of Commerce. Sure, a lot of these failing businesses are what I call “Liberal Arts” businesses, where they sell arts and crafts, or services like spa and beauty services. But those are difficult to start up and drive into profit in the first year. Because of that, unless the business owner has planned for the lean time in the first couple years, they tend to fail quickly.

But imagine if some of these businesses were to take to YouTube to get the word out about their products and services.  First, my grandkids are HUGE YouTube fans. They watch more YouTube on their TV than they do Netflix or Hulu. I suppose it started with the educational stuff, but now they are all over the “Top 10” shows (shows that deliver top 10 lists of all kinds of topics, like best places to live, most scenic locations, scariest ghost stories, etc.) and now they are constantly browsing YouTube. So if one of these local businesses were to offer cool, innovative content targeted to local audiences, don’t you think they would bring in some new customers?

What could an arts and crafts shop do?

Number 1 – show off some of their latest new art.

Number 2 – interview the artist of the month. Do an in depth video interview with some behind the scenes footage of the artist working on some new projects.

Number 3 – have a guest artist teach how to make some of the crafts that they sell. After a person tries and fails to make one of those projects on their own, they are more than ready to shell out a hundred bucks (or more) for one that is already made. If that business also has a way to sell these crafts online, that is another revenue stream to keep the business in profit during the early stages of the brick and mortar startup.

“Well, my business is a hair salon, how am I going to use YouTube to drive more business?”

I am glad you asked! People are always looking for a new “look” for themselves. If a business like yours is spotlighting a popular new style each month, people in your area are more likely to come to your location to have you create that style on them. Here are a couple more video ideas:

Number 1: Feature one of your stylists – show off how good they are and how happy customers are after that person has worked on them. Customer testimonials are a great way to build a new clientele.

Number 2: Show some of your customers’ before and after looks. This can be prearranged with the customer (it should be, and you should also get appropriate video release forms signed by your customers so that they don’t come back and sue you for making them look silly… check with your attorney before doing this). If a client is wanting a “new look” and are trying something that your shop is especially good at, then offer them a discount if you can film them before, during and after the styling session. You get a fun to watch video for YouTube, and the customer gets a great new look.

Number 3: teach proper hair maintenance. Have one of your stylists do a short explanation video about how to prevent hair drying out, how to keep the color from fading too fast or why that $45 conditioner you have on your shelf is going to make their hair come to life. A lot of these videos will actually be preselling customers on products you currently have on your shelves and will help you make more sales with less arm twisting in the store. You could take it a step further and teach makeup tips, too.

As you can see, making a name for your business locally is only a matter of getting out your camera once or twice a month and telling your story to your local community. If you make a national name for yourself, that is even better as you could also sell products online for even more profit. The good thing about video marketing is that you don’t have to be the one in front of the camera, a lot of companies have employees who are very camera friendly. If you have a bigger budget, you can also have professional studios do your videos. The sky is the limit, and even the lowest budget videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube if the content was solid.

To your video marketing success,

Micheal Savoie

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