A Quick Guide to Effective Video Marketing for Small Businesses

As a small enterprise with limited resources, you may not always be able to afford heavy investments in video production and marketing. However, if you only have enough resources for a few marketing videos, you can strategize accordingly to make each presentation count and maximize its impact on business and revenue growth.

Recent statistics show how professionally-created videos can help accelerate growth for your small business:

• 86% of companies have adopted video marketing
• 96% of consumers have watched an explainer video for additional product or service information
• A consumer watches about 2.5 hours of video a day, on average
• 84% of prospects bought a product after watching a brand’s video
• Publishing video helped 86% of marketers increase their website traffic
• 78% of businesses using video marketing said the campaign helped increase sales

Thus, incorporating video in your small business marketing efforts can have benefits like:

• More prospects are willing to learn about your products or services if you explain them in video format. This means that a video is a great way to expand your reach and build brand awareness.
• Prospects love video and will spend more time viewing it than reading an article each day, making it an effective way to boost customer engagement.
• Video has a significant return on investment. Even on a small budget, compelling video marketing can boost lead generation and online sales.

Budgetary constraints shouldn’t deter you from creating powerful videos that market your products and help your small business grow faster. By determining your marketing goals, setting priorities, and observing best practices for video content, you can optimize your limited resources for the best possible campaign outcomes.

Here are the 3 kinds of videos that a small business owner should invest in, along with tips for creating effective videos:

1. Product Explainer Video

A product explainer video illustrates your offering and how it may benefit the consumer. It uses narration and visuals to break down complex information into a format that your audience can easily understand. If you have a unique product on the market, you can use a short video explainer that talks about its distinct value proposition and persuades viewers to buy it. You can publish these types of videos on your business website, YouTube channel, Facebook, or other social media accounts.

The main formats for explainer videos are:

• Animation- which can include graphics, charts, and voiceovers
• Whiteboard- in which the main points covered in the narration is written on a whiteboard
• The live-action video that features footage showcasing processes or with a narrator talking to a video camera

Keep these tips in mind when making your product explainer video:

• Break down the product concept and brand promise in a language that matches your audience’s understanding of the subject
• Address your specific audience’s pain points in your presentation
• Clearly explained everything in less than two minutes
• Create a compelling script that will interest the viewer from the beginning to the end
• Get your narration properly organized with a storyboard
• Start with a strong, straight-to-the-point introduction and be conversational throughout the narration
• End the narration with a strong call-to-action (CTA)

2. Customer Testimonial Video

Customer testimonials add credibility to the claims you make about your product. Video marketing for small businesses should certainly incorporate testimonials to build brand trust. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, you can use your happy customers’ success stories to boost confidence in your products. For example, if you say that your solution can help a B2B user double customer engagements on social media, how can prospective B2B buyers verify this claim?

You can address this credibility issue by recording a previous or existing user’s video testimonial sharing their positive experience with your goods or services. Here are some best practices to observe when creating the content:

• Make a professional video using high-quality cameras and lighting equipment. Ensure the interview is expertly shot and edited.
• Prepare ahead, but don’t script the testimonial. If prospective buyers detect that the narration is scripted, they’ll most likely mistrust everything the customer says. Instead, consider supplying the interviewee or subject with the questions or issues you want to be addressed beforehand.
• Share relatable previous customer experiences, such as pain points that your products were able to solve. This helps build an emotional connection with the target audience.
• Your customer video testimonials should be short (about three minutes long).
• Incorporate graphics, animations, or text to make your videos more interesting and informative.

3. Company Story Video

Every small business has a story to share, and a video is an effective way to do it. By sharing an inspiring, authentic story about your brand or products, you can strengthen the bond with your existing customers and draw the attention of more prospective buyers. Some best practices for video content to excite and grow your customer base include:

• Determine the purpose of the video and the target audience. You could make a story for a specific product line or your entire brand.
• Showcase the impact with statistics and insights. The objective is to show what you’ve been able to achieve for your customers over time.
• Have a clear structure for the content. You can start with an introduction, which can be a relatable question, then incorporate an inciting occurrence to hook the viewer into the main narration. Your company story video should have a climax, resolution, and engaging closing visuals.
• Create interesting content based on your primary audience. For example, the videos can be hilarious depending on who you’re target persona is.

Even on a tight budget, you can create impactful marketing videos to accelerate growth for your small business. Do you need professional assistance in creating and implementing practical business success strategies in Ventura? Courtesy of Business Forward Ventura County, you can access plenty of resources that your enterprise needs to thrive. Contact us today to leverage our extensive professional support and services.