If you’ve been following the marketing landscape, well, at all – you already know that video marketing has completely revamped and revitalized the way businesses interact with their prospective and current customers. With the human attention span rapidly declining, video is a great way to grab your audience’s attention and keep it on you for just a bit longer.
The power of video hasn’t discriminated between big corporations and small businesses, but like anything else, the way both approach the idea does have to be a bit different. In reality, small businesses are working with a bit of a smaller budget, are usually offering a product or service that’s a bit more niche, and generally aren’t speaking to nearly the same size as audience as, you know, Google.
We’ve worked with a lot of great small businesses, so we’ve seen first-hand over and over how effective video can be incorporated into a small business marketing strategy. But again, it is a bit different. So, what’s the best way to use video to your advantage when we’re talking small business?
Stay Short- But Stay Powerful
Keeping your video at a shorter length (60-90 seconds) can not only keep production costs within a reasonable budget, but it can also make your video more versatile. 60-90 seconds videos are considered the “sweet spot” for social media, so creating a video that is cross-functional for both your website and social media efforts is a great way to get the most out of your investment.
The biggest mistake we see? Shorter doesn’t have to mean your video is any less powerful. While there may not be room for the extravagant story-telling that we may see from Apple, Microsoft, and the other “big dogs” – that doesn’t mean your messaging can’t have the same weight behind it. Using appealing visuals, a great voiceover, and never sleeping on a good scriptwriter are all tools available in your arsenal that you should be utilizing to make your video a more than worthwhile investment.
Be Purposeful In What You Promote
If you’re a small business, we know more than anyone that every dollar counts. So being extremely thoughtful about what you want to use your video to say about your company, or what service/product you want to promote, is important. You may not have the capacity to put a new video out every time you launch a new product, so maybe your best bet is to lean into a story-telling video that lets potential customers know how what your company offers will improve their lives. Or maybe a branding video that explains who your company is, what your values and mission are, and what you hope to bring to your industry as a whole.
Other powerful videos we’ve seen small businesses use that are “timeless”, if you will – as in they’re useful for years and not just for a few short months – are recruitment videos or customer testimonial videos.
If you’re a small business thinking about taking the video plunge – check out a few of the “video horses” our rock star small business clients decided to hitch their carts too. Then, you know, reach out to chat with us about getting started on yours!
