Video That Gets In Your Business

Social media networks and video work together to help build your brand locally and around the globe!

When I talk to local business owners in town, I often hear the same response when I tell them about videos for their business. “I wouldn’t know what to say in the video.”

The funny thing is that those same business people are the first to get a print ad in those slick magazines that everyone throws away as soon as it hits the mailbox. They seemed to know what to say in those ads. The thing is, ads are ads, no matter what the format.

I then discuss with them the idea of a blog or Facebook Page, and they may have one or the other, but they don’t keep up with them because they run out of things to post about.

I usually change into my Social Net Effect hat and explain that what they really need to do in social media is what they need to do in video and on their blog: talk about what they do for customers. We have a local restaurant that makes some amazing soups and sandwiches. They post their specials each day on Facebook. With the same amount of planning, they could create a video of each of the special items being made (in the case of a sandwich) or the soup being served up. Visually stimulating someone who is already hungry is the perfect way to get them to pick up the phone and call in a takeout order, or get them to get up out of their chair and head over to the restaurant to eat.

Videos that show things are some of the top YouTube views. My step granddaughter loves to sit and watch craft videos. My wife loves to watch gardening videos. I watch how to videos for small repairs around the house. Those are useful videos because they teach things. If your business does something especially difficult (like A/C repair or plumbing) it does not hurt your business to show someone how to fix a leaking drain pipe or a leaking duct. It makes people more likely to come to you when they have a bigger problem (one that will require them to have you do the job) because they have grown to know you, like you and trust you to show them what needs to be done.

You don’t need a Youtube channel, but it is a good idea to have one. You do need a Facebook page and a Twitter account, however, as you can develop a relationship with your following by posting your videos on social media. Remember, if you are helping people, they will share the heck out of what you post. If you are just posting ads, they will ignore you.

So making videos is ok for ads, but you will find that helpful videos will grow your reputation and develop a following. Do you get a lot of the same questions asked over and over again? Making a video that answers that question in a helpful manner is the perfect way to get people to come to your page (on Facebook or your website). Don’t want to be on camera (that is the number one reason people don’t do videos)? Make explainer videos that don’t feature a face. Use a logo intro and an outro that tells people where they can get more information (your website, Twitter, Facebook YouTube channel). Then you take video of the steps you take to do something that you are explaining. Make sure you take good notes as to what you are doing so you can add a voice to it if you don’t want to be the one explaining it or you can explain each step in the video as you perform each step. Once you have the raw footage, it can be edited using programs in Windows or on your Mac that can help you make them smooth and more professional looking. Then you render the finished video and you are ready to post it to your blog, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. I recommend all of them.

If you need someone to do those steps, there are professionals in your area that can help you with that. If you would rather my team do it, you can contact me via our Facebook page – Online Video Workshop. For $100, we can take video footage you have already filmed and edit it into a quality video for your social media and website. For a little more, we can also create your logo reveal intros and outros. Contact us for your needs and we can get you started,

Need more?

We also do social media footprint creation for $500 and blog creation for $300. Most of the time, we can handle everything over the phone or via email and help you take the next step in making your presence on the web more friendly for your customers and prospective customers. We can also discuss a monthly option where you send up new video footage each month for us to create a video or two (up to four 60 second videos) for you to post on social media.

Remember Your Goal

You want more business. Video can help you create that know, like and trust factor that gets people in your door. The more you help people and get them to share what you post, the more you will grow your online and eventually offline presence. It is also a great way to manage your reputation by answering questions and keeping people engaged about things that you might not have realized they were thinking about your business or industry. Video is a great way to explain things. And with the way Facebook displays video automatically, you can get more eyeballs than you realize. So get out there with your video camera and get shooting – your audience awaits!