We all know by now that an online presence is absolutely necessary to all businesses regardless of size. Hands down, the best way to increase your online presence is video. Whether it’s a tik-tok filmed on your phone or a professional video on your website, video is a hugely effective way to step up your marketing strategy and bring in more customers.
Working with business owners on the reg, we have seen a very common pattern. Most business owners are sold on the importance and value of video, but don’t have time to come up with content for the video. We don’t blame them, it’s not an easy task!
Let’s take that burden off your plate so that you can actually start creating! Here are five types of videos that are proven time and time again to be effective.
1. Introduction Video
An introduction video is a 1-3 minute video that introduces your company to the world. What does your business do? Why? Who is it for? What problems does it solve? This is typically filmed with the owner of the business and one to two staff members being interviewed about the company. The best parts of those interviews are then combined with b-roll. B-Roll is any supporting footage or behind the scenes footage. This is where you pull the curtain back behind the business and give your audience a front row seat to how things are done. More importantly, it puts faces to your business.
Introduction videos are perfect for the homepage of your website. Instead of having to read through two paragraphs about your business, potential customers can easily learn the value of your business in just a few minutes in a way that is much more digestible and memorable.
2. Brand/ Commercial Video
A Brand or Commercial Video shows the audience through a character(s) how the product will influence, better or change their life. One of our absolute favorite examples of a commercial video is this one by VRBO:
This is a great example because instead of talking about how VRBO provides getaways for families to reconnect, it shows it. It brings in a very basic human need that we can all relate to: human connection. The video makes us FEEL the benefit of booking a vacation with VRBO. The benefit of commercial videos is that they feel much less sales-y or intrusive to the viewer. Instead, they encompass emotion, relatability, and what we as humans love most- a good story.
These videos are perfect for running ads in order to bring people to your website. Introduction videos and commercial videos work great hand in hand, as the commercial video brings them to your website and the introduction videos show them more about who you are once they are there.
3. Testimonial Videos
Testimonial videos are one of the easiest types of videos to film and are highly effective. This is where the power of social proof comes in. Seeing an actual human being gushing about why they love your product or service is one of the best sales tools you could ever have. The key with these is to do multiple. Two or more testimonials demonstrate that multiple people are saying the same great things about your business. Testimonial videos are especially important to have if your company is a service-based company. Service-based companies require a lot more human interaction and your potential clients want to know that you or your staff are easy and pleasant to work with.
These type of videos can be used on your website, in email campaigns, on social media or used as ads.
4. Educational Videos
Another type of extremely powerful videos are educational videos. These videos teach your audience something genuinely valuable for free. Let’s use an example for this one. Say you are an esthetician. Your can effectively build your audience and followers by making a video about your morning and evening skin care routine. Your knowledge about skincare, what to use and when to use it is so valuable for your target market- people who want to improve their skin. If you post this video on Instagram, not only will they probably watch this video all the way through because it is valuable information (which is GREAT for the algorithm) but it will also position you as the expert when it comes to all things skincare. In turn, your audience will keep coming back to you for more valuable content AND when they need a facial or laser treatment down the road, who do you think the first skin care expert that that comes to mind is going to be? YOU!
The best part about these videos is that they are truly SO easy to make. You can get creative with them and even make Tik-Tok dances out of them if that’s your jam.
5. Social Media Reels
Social media reels are quick 10-30 second videos that grab peoples attention immediately. Think Tik-Tok. The best part about social media reels is that you can repurpose or “splinter” any of the other type of videos listed above into these smaller, bite size versions. They can be fast, high energy teasers made from the footage of your introduction video. Or they can be just 15 seconds of a testimonial. They could even be one small part of your educational video. You get the point. Truly anything you can think of that is going to grab the attention of your audience and bring them to you page or your website. If you are already doing any of the above videos, you might as well grab a section of it and use it on your social media platforms!
Summing it Up
There are plenty of other types of videos that you can use to generate more business, but those are the five that I have found to be most effective so far. Even if you implement 2 of the 5 types of videos listed, your online presence will be so much stronger and in turn your sales should increase! Good luck, you got this!
xx Jill Coats, Owner of One Forty Films
