By Peter Boyd
When it comes to making a name for yourself online, you have a number of important marketing tools in your arsenal. Of those tools, video is among the most powerful.
At my web marketing company, we've found that videos (when done correctly) can help increase conversions and make users more comfortable with making that first phone call. In fact, when creating new landing pages, it is now a standard for our designers to include a place for a related video. We tell our clients, "If you have the budget, shoot some video for your website."
Videos are an easy and effective way to help increase your web presence. In this age of online everything and interconnectedness, we sometimes lose the face-to-face familiarity that used to be a hallmark of business interactions. With videos, you can give your clients a window into your world, which is almost as effective as meeting with them in person. They’ll get to hear your voice and see you “in action,” which is more than what they’ll get from a static web page.
Types of Videos You Need
The unique advantage of video lies in its abilities to bridge a gap that often exists between businesses and clients when interacting online. Because most websites consist primarily of images and content, you may miss out on the chance to showcase some of your individual personality and style. But with videos, you can highlight all of this without sacrificing your professional website. Another bonus is that many users prefer to consume video content than read through dense website text.
Ultimately, videos allow you to showcase your business in a variety of ways, all of which point back to the larger goal: encouraging potential clients to contact you. If you’re interested in making videos a larger part of your web presence, below are four types of videos you could focus on -- the same formats that we recommend to our clients:
The Q&A
The question-and-answer (Q&A) video gives you great bang for your buck. While many websites feature a frequently asked questions page, you can use a video Q&A to answer common questions in greater detail and with more finesse than through a static web page. When potential clients are looking for your services, this may be one of the first ways they gain insight into the culture of your business. If you think of the Q&A as a conversation, it’s an easy and accessible way to showcase what you know.
Q&A videos are also fairly simple to record, enabling you to get through 10-15 questions at once. This strategy has limited impact on your workflow and can set you up with enough video content for the year.
The Trailer
This kind of video is a great way to introduce your business to potential clients. In a trailer, you could include shots of the physical locations (offices, conference rooms, etc.) as well as images of your employees. You may want to highlight a founder or other executive so that viewers get a sense for who they could be working with, should they decide to contact you.
The Interview
An interview is another perfect opportunity to show your personality while also demonstrating your know-how. Interview videos are great for highlighting one person while they discuss their area of expertise. You can create multiple interview videos that cover multiple topics of interest so clients can better understand your specialties.
The Event
Have an important office event on the horizon? There’s a good chance the event would highlight your firm in a positive way. As such, it may be worthwhile to document the event and create a video afterward. Clients will get to see you from a different angle (both literally and figuratively) which can bode well both for your brand and your conversion rates.
Promote Your Videos
Once you’ve created your videos, what’s next? Promoting them on social media. Show your followers that you know what you’re talking about and aren’t afraid to share it. Whenever you’re low on posts, you can simply repost one of these videos and keep your name on the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Using video to present your value propositions in a straightforward and interactive way will keep clients (and potential clients) engaged, while also positioning you as a cutting-edge brand and differentiating your offerings from the competition.
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Peter Boyd is a Florida attorney who practiced in the area of intellectual property law, and has worked on over 1,000 website projects since 1996. He founded PaperStreet, a web marketing company, during law school when he realized that many firms did not have a website, or had a poorly designed one.