Small Business Marketing & Management: Videos

The other day, someone emailed me to ask for some of my small business marketing advice.

The question: “What do you think about video testimonials on a website for a small business? I have a friend who is asking me about creating one for their website…they are in the commerical janitorial business??? Is it worth the effort, time and $$$?”

My Answer: “These days videos are so easy to produce and can be hosted in so many places that I think it might be worth it.”

I believe this is true regardless of if the business is janitorial or cupcakes. People are increasingly searching for multimedia content online, why not give your fans a voice to praise you? Why not walk your potential customers step by step through how easy it is to use your product? (Check out this video I made about WorkingPoint’s banking integration feature.)

Video used to be a no-no for a small website, it was difficult and expensive to produce, and  the technological requirements of hosting  would either slow down your site to an unbearable speed or just crash your website. Now, you can host your video on sites like Youtube or even stream live video content on sites like Justin.TV. They provide you with a simple code that you can cut and paste into your website or blog and they host the data on their servers (in laymens terms, it wont slow down or crash your site!).

Technology has made creating videos so easy. There are flip cameras that record with a touch of a button and then plug right in and upload the video, screen recording tools like Jing which I used to produce the WorkingPoint Video and even sites like Xtranormal, that allow you to create your own animated shorts.

What’s more, SEO experts claim that video content carries “more weight” than other kinds of content and can have a more dramatic impact on your search ranking when done properly. Check out last weeks blog post for more information on SEO for maximizing your business website and why it’s important.

Below are some great and creative ideas for how your business can use video on your website to build relationships with your customers, advertise your product and more!

* HAPPY CUSTOMERS ADVOCATE FOR YOU: Why not let your happy customers speak dramatically on your website. The endorsement of real people like in this clip can be a powerful tool for setting you above your competition!

* CUSTOMER INTERACTION…. IN REAL TIME:  At Justin.TV they have a live streaming chat every Friday with their customers, which allows them an unprecedented level of interaction, relationship building and product feedback from their customers. Justin.TV video chat features allow you to field questions and answer them in real time.

* PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS & PROBLEM SOLVING: At WorkingPoint, we have created 15 “How To Videos” to illustrate the usability of our product and to walk people through our most commonly occurring support questions. These videos are hosted on the WorkingPoint Youtube Profile as well as on our blog, but without straining our bandwith or slowing down our site!

* GO VIRAL: This fun video,  created by an Intern at Cisco, generated massive amounts of PR for their brand. IThese Old Spice Videos “managed to engage half the internet”  and will no doubt be the model for video and social media moving forward. Never underestimate the power of funny, interesting or relevant content to draw attention to your business!

Will you use video for your business website? Let us know what you think on our Facebook Page.