As a business owner, are you looking for an edge that communicates that value of your services to your potential customers? In today’s business landscape, the journey that takes your company to the next level in marketing your business starts with strategies to set yourself apart from the competition. This is where the power of video marketing will give you that edge and increase opportunities for success.
To put it simply, video is one of the most powerful and impactful ways to reach and engage your customers because it is the next best thing to being with them in person. Check out these statistics:
• 96% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.
• 68% of customers prefer watching videos to learn about new products or services, as compared to traditional media.
Using video in your marketing will help generate and qualify leads for your business. It is a great way to educate customers and draw them into the buying process by sharing important information and setting the right expectations. Video marketing encourages your customers to open a conversation around your content, allows you to have a better understanding of the people that you’re reaching, and how your business can serve them better.
But you’re probably thinking, “That all sounds great, but I don’t even know where to begin!” Fear not, the benefits of video marketing are easier to capture than you might think, and it all begins with the power of a plan. In this first of an exclusive series for Pallet Enterprise, I will help you develop the foundation of a video marketing plan that will ultimately take you from newbie to action in a few easy steps. So, if you’re ready, let’s dive in.
Know Your Audience
Video is all about communication and it is vital that you, as a business owner, understand your audience. This will form the core of your video marketing strategy and focus the tactics you will utilize to reach them. At first it may seem easy to just say your audience is anyone who uses pallets to ship products, but that generalization does not allow you to shine a spotlight on what captures their attention and how it aligns with your business goals.
For example, your company may offer several different types of services that include everything from pallet supply to dock sweeps for all recycled materials, and much more. Think about how those services align with the different people you interact with inside a customer company. Would a warehouse manager have the same service needs as a production manager, or a procurement manager?
Asking these questions will help you begin to think about topics you might want to create in your video marketing. You start to think about what content would be impactful for those particular people. Write those ideas down! As those elements are taking shape and you begin to develop content ideas, you must always be ready to tackle the next question, “Why does my customer care?”
At the end of the day, what you are asking of your customers is to spend some of their time to watch a video that you created. If it were 15 minutes long, those minutes are now with you and not spent on their own business or responsibilities. You are asking that customer to make an investment in your knowledge so that you can share it with them. That’s the commitment and it needs to be worthwhile. The key is to let the customer know what the benefit is upfront so that they can understand the ROI and determine if it is the right fit for them. This is why it is critical to define your audience more completely than just as a user of your product or service.
Pick Your Platform
Now that you have begun to narrow your focus on the audience(s) and what content will work best for them, the next step will be to decide what online video platforms will work best to convey value to your customers. The important difference in platforms is between social media networks and content-based platforms. That difference will determine how to communicate and engage with an audience.
Social media networks are fundamentally about communication with a specific group. We primarily use social media to broadcast a thought in the form of a post, a tweet, or a status update to a group of friends or followers (think of Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram).
When it comes to a content platform, we use video, audio, images, or text to spread information and communicate with people we may not know directly. YouTube is a good example. LinkedIn is a hybrid of both types, but the key is that it is built around business specifically. This makes it a great choice for video marketing.
To Stream or Not to Stream
In the realm of video content creation, there is the choice of either livestreaming or recording the material in advance. Livestreaming is becoming more popular than ever and is when the video is sent in real time over the Internet without being recorded and stored. YouTube Live is a great example.
The central benefit to livestreaming is that it communicates a sense of authenticity that comes across in a live video that isn’t polished or edited. Also, there is real-time communication and feedback from the audience that recorded video cannot provide. This direct feedback can enhance or change your content immediately by letting you know what’s important now.
While the benefit of livestreaming is more direct contact with the audience, the thought of conducting a livestreaming event may cause some serious anxiety. In that case, recorded video is the answer and there are some obvious benefits with this type of content creation. Number one is the ability to shoot and edit the video so that the end is a very polished product. The other is the ability to archive the video and, over time, build a library of knowledge that can be invaluable as a sales and learning tool for your customers.
The downside of recorded video is the need for more tools or outside services to do the editing. Doing the editing yourself can save on the budget, but there can be a steep learning curve for the tools themselves. I will address editing tools more completely in another part of this series.
Meeting or Webinar
The pandemic has radically changed how we interact with each other. Meetings that were once held in person are now accomplished via live video streaming with technologies like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. In the process, we have become more comfortable with using these tools to meet with customers and prospects alike.
Using these tools, you can create events like mastermind groups or webinars that use the live video presentations to qualify leads and/or buyers, while also educating them about the value proposition of your services. It is also a great way to qualify yourself and your company as an authority in the industry or a specialized area of interest, like pallet management for instance.
Roll Credits
All of these topics and tools around video marketing that were touched on today will broaden the scope of your reach to customers. They are a great way to stand out from the now commonplace business website with a list of services, a phone number, and a form to fill out.
Video marketing allows you as a business owner to fill in the story about your company, its services, and ultimately, its value more completely. Like any other endeavor, in order to take it seriously, you have to do some planning, write down your thoughts and goals, and just do it. Tune in next time as I discuss content strategies, formulas and optimization in depth.
Editor’s Note: Glenn Meeks is an expert on marketing and sales for the pallet and recycling industries. He currently offers communications, freelance writing, website design and online marketing services tailored to the pallet industry. He can be reached by calling (888) 261-2284, or at glenn.meeks@woodviewmedia.com.
