By Greg Ball, President of Ball Media Innovations
One of the best ways to reach and convert customers is by using social media, and using video on social media can be rocket fuel for your business! With more than 5 billion videos watched every day on Youtube, and 100 million hours of video per day watched on Facebook according to Renderforest, many businesses are taking advantage of this low-cost way to connect with customers.
Showcasing your company, product, or service on social media can be super effective, using either paid ads or natural posts!
Before we talk about that, if you haven't read Part 1 & 2 of this series yet, you might want to check them out:
- Part 1: Social Media Videos For Business – Success Tips & Strategies
- Part 2: Social Media Videos For Business – Teaching Videos Can Grab Attention
Product videos are commonly used in social media because they work!
If you're ever on social media yourself, I'm sure you've seen product videos roll through your thread. Product videos are a popular form of promotion. When they're done right, they can:
- Grab a viewers attention
- Create interest in your product/service.
- Show a problem and your product as the solution.
- Give your company and/or spokesperson credibility and authority
- Move your viewers to purchase.
Of course, the opposite is true. It's important to share only professional-quality videos because viewers associate the quality of your video with the quality of your business, services, or product. Show them an amateur video and on an unconscious level, they'll think of your company as amateur. To read more about that check out our article called The Secret to a Successful Video.
Here are some tips and thoughts on creating product videos that are successful on social media.
1. Successful product videos must grab viewers right from the start.
On social media, viewers tend to scroll down their threads quickly, looking for things that interest them. They'll scroll right past your post if it doesn't grab their attention right from the get-go. For this reason, you'll want to grab them right upfront. In part, you can do this with your comments above the video, but you will need to do this in your video. This leads to the next suggestion.
A talking head is not likely to draw the kind of attention you'd like. If possible, show them something that's either exciting, emotional, interesting, or relatable right upfront.
For example, we have a company we're currently working with that sells a product to building owners. The product is a radio communication tool that's installed in buildings, and it's used by firemen during a fire. A radio communication system could be pretty dry stuff, but we'll be starting out the video with some dramatic fire scenes to grab attention. We'll be showing how the communication device can help save lives. We'll be stirring up emotion, showing the problem, and the very important solution. We'll be doing this in a dramatic way, right from the beginning of the video.
2. Show your product in use if possible.
If possible, it's effective to show your product solving a problem rather than just talking about it. It's also great to show things such as ease of use. It's great to visually show the benefits of using your product and to show a happy customer enjoying the benefits.
Here's one video that we created to show how easy our client's product is to use, and how beautiful the results can be. We actually had an actress/spokesperson install the DecoPlanks product in a beautiful home setting. The finished product was very appealing. This video was produced to be shown on Home Depot's site, and shorter segments of the video could be used for social media purposes. By the way, we were excited to hear that Home Depot had deemed our videos "The gold standard of videos", and asked their suppliers to use our videos as an example of what to do.
3. If you can't show your product in use, animate it.
Some products or services can't really be shown in action for various reasons, and sometimes even though you could show it in use live, there might be some value to showing it in use by using animation. You can either animate the entire video, or you can animate parts of it.
Animation is a tool we use a lot. With it we can:
- Make difficult topics more easily understood.
- Show things that are difficult to talk about in a lighter way.
- Show processes that are difficult to show live.
Here's an example of a video we produced that's partially animated. We were dealing with a health-related service that is designed to help with a serious and complicated issue. The client felt that this would make the topic less stressful for those who needed it. We also used animation in the video to explain some of the concepts involved in the service.
4. Create Interest in your product/service with your video.
Your viewers must connect with the video on some level, or they'll bounce right off. Two ways to do this include:
- Showing a problem and showing how your product or service solves it.
- Showing the benefit the product/service gives.
If you can show a problem and how your product/service is the solution, that can be very compelling. That will grab and keep their attention, and you'll have the opportunity to educate and even persuade the viewer to make the purchase.
Testimonials in videos are a great way to help get a message across. When people see their peers talk about your product, they're more likely to be interested. Peer testimonials make your claims much more believable and give your company credibility. When people see their peers excited about your product/service, it can be far more persuasive than anything you could say yourself.
Check out our article called 5 Reasons Why You Need Video Testimonials for Your Business or Practice for more info on this.
5. Prove that your product is successful in your social media video.
Your video gives you an opportunity to differentiate your product, and to prove it works well. Let the user experience this if possible. For example, we shot a video for a company that makes windows that are impact resistant. We wanted to prove that the product works as advertised. We showed a slow-motion "missile test" on a regular window and on one of their impact-resistant windows. It really did the trick!
So product videos that are made strategically can get you new customers!
There's a lot more to discuss around social media videos and we'll continue with part 4 soon.
In the meantime, we'd love to help you with your social media and website videos!
We can help you strategize and we're happy to share ideas. Give us a call! We'd be happy to talk with you, give you a free quote. There's no obligation at all.
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About the Author & His Company: Greg Ball, is President of Ball Media Innovations, Inc. Prior to starting the company, he ran the Burger King World Headquarters video operation. Greg founded Ball Media as a Miami video production company in 2002. He eventually expanded services to also become an Orlando video production company. Greg directs shows in both locations, as well as nationally, with crews throughout the country.
Ball Media Innovations specializes in producing videos for businesses as well as the medical community. This includes web videos, marketing and training videos, social media videos, convention, conference, and trade show videos.
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