How could online video help my business?
It is 10pm on a Tuesday night. Your boss put you in charge of researching new providers for that new phone system which your company needs in order improve their communications. So you begin your research for a phone system online by entering a few search terms into Google, Yahoo, and YouTube, or whatever your favorite search engine might be. The search results display providers to choose from, so you click on a few links which send you to websites with photos of the latest models, price comparisons, and charts; pages and pages of information to read! It appears slightly overwhelming as most sites appear similar in their marketing and sales approach, lots of text, some photos, part numbers, awards they have won, and more text descriptions. Most of the offerings are from companies you have never heard of. You are almost ready to turn off your computer and forget about it until tomorrow….
Now imagine that one of the links you clicked on sends you to a website with an online video. You click that link and a short 90 second video introduction by a friendly sales director starts playing. You are thinking to yourself, “OK, they got my attention.” She briefly states what they sell and expresses her enthusiasm for helping clients find solutions. Her friendly demeanor already makes you feel much more at ease with the research process than just a few moments ago. Additionally, she provides some historical perspective about the company and their loyal customer base. A few seconds later, you meet the company management with some additional details on the type of phone systems they sell and the services they provide. You get a chance to see their support staff installing a phone system as well as going on a service call. The helpful sales director even explains a few critical features of their phone system which many of their customers find very helpful.
OK, you get the picture.
The point is within 90 seconds of your time via online web video, you met the sales director, the founder, the president of the company, and some of their technical staff. You received a brief features and benefits overview. And finally, you get a real sense of the passion the staff have for their product and their customers. This phone system provider will be the first company you call when you get to the office in the morning.
The ease, speed, and depth with which you were able to find out some basic information about this phone system provider can only be conveyed via web video.
Additionally, many companies use search engine optimization and a form which the prospective customer could fill out. This is a critical next step! Your video attracted the web visitor to your door and now you need a call to action. In fact, Forrester Research published a study in January of 2010 which revealed that with proper search optimization, video increases the chance of a front page Google result by 53%.
Now, can you envision the benefits of online video for your business or organization?