What comes to mind when you think about companies using video? For many people, the Dollar Shave Club video is high on the list. That kind of entertaining content is great, but it’s not the whole picture. Many companies also use video to sell. Again, great! But video can do even more for your company.
By next year, approximately 86% of all content online will be video! People want more video. It’s engaging, it lets you communicate in a richer way, and it stands out above the noise of written content.
So, as you’re planning your goals and strategies for next year, try experimenting with this versatile medium. Here are five videos every company needs in 2016.
Product Overviews
Remember high school English classes where you were told to “show, not tell”? This same rule hold true when it comes to your product or service. If you can show people how great your product is, you’ll make a stronger and more memorable impression on your audience. You’ll probably come across as more trustworthy as well, since you won’t have to toot your own horn. People will be able to see it firsthand.
Zendesk does this really well, letting people see the simplicity and usefulness of the product. This also makes the sales process faster and cheaper, since videos are doing some of the heavy lifting that salespeople might otherwise do.
Support Videos
Video lets you support customers in a more scalable way. For instance, you can use video to teach your customers how to do new things or how to implement certain best practices. Here at Wistia, we use videos to support people at various stages of the customer lifecycle:
Here’s a popular “How To” video we made about shooting video with an iPhone – something our customers often ask about when they’re just getting started with video marketing and Wistia.
Here’s a “product update video” we made to show off a new Drag & Drop functionality we added earlier this year.
Think about it like this: if you find yourself communicating the same thing again and again, scale that communication with video. This can be effective when it comes to FAQs, complex features, or new product rollouts. This doesn’t mean you should stop your written communication. Rather, try supplementing it with video, so that your audiences have more options for how they consume information.
Hiring and Culture Videos
I know what you’re thinking: who makes culture videos? Will they look cheesy? Is it really worth the time and effort? Google, Apple, Microsoft seem to think so, and they’re known for recruiting top talent. Need more convincing? How about Zappos?
Event promo
Asking people to sign up for your event and shell out a lot of money is a big ask, especially if they’ve never attended before. Using video for event promotion helps them see the value of attending and brings the event to life.
You can feel the energy; you can envision yourself there…and for a brief moment you are at the event in your mind. It’s way more potent than written or static visual content. It creates a powerful emotional response.
Education
People love to learn online through video content. Take Udemy for example, the online video learning center for everything from yoga to marketing. People clearly love to learn online:
Whether it’s online college or professional development courses, leisure activities or B2B software, video is your answer for education. The beauty of video is that you can combine learning styles and educate users with visual, auditory, and written content all rolled up into one easy-to-understand video.
Testing The Waters
If you aren’t using video at all in your marketing team or in your business strategy, you’re overlooking a medium that people want from you. If you are using video in a limited way, experiment with product overviews, support videos, hiring, event promos, and education. Test the waters with one of these video types, and get a feel for what resonates with your audience. Video production, promotion, and tracking are easier than you might think and will yield major ROI, so make 2016 your year of the video.
And to help get you started, take a look at Act-On’s video – Video Marketing: 3 Building Blocks to Get You Started, to learn the tips and tricks for how to get started creating your own videos.