There are different ways that video can help you better engage with your prospects and increase your Google ranking power. 

Today I’m going to give you some concrete ideas of the different types of videos you can create, as well as the benefits of each. So you can decide what type of video is going to make the most sense to include on your site, as well as to advertise your business in various places around the web, almost any of these videos we’re going to talk about can work on any of those advertising platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, you name it, so they’re very versatile that way. 

I am going to give you some tips as we go along and what you might want to do with each, and even though video is a huge topic of conversation lately, I’m betting that most of your competition still isn’t on board with it yet, so the time for you to start up with video is now, while you can still use it to stand out, before everybody is forced to do it just to keep up. 

Okay, so the first type of video I have for you is an explainer or demo video. Let’s say you offer something that requires a little bit more explanation, an explainer or a demonstration video is a great way to do that, much better than through text alone or images, it’s easier to digest and retain that information, and people are generally three times more likely to watch that video than they would be to read about the same thing. 

And if you’re selling a product showing it in action is 100% going to amplify your sales, because it takes the mystery out of the equation. You can show people exactly how it works. For example, we’ve recently consulted with a client who sells high-end salon shears. 

Now they usually always sold them through distributors or trade shows, and this was the first time they were going to be selling them directly online on their site, so the challenge was, how do we justify this high price point. 

With a product that people generally need to pick up to feel the quality, how do you replace that online? 

Show the shears in action. 

While real stylists are using them for the first time, giving their real-time thoughts, and this acts as the next best thing to picking them up themselves, and this video is being used as a Facebook ad to drive people to their website and it’s getting some of the highest click-through rates.

You might be wondering what exactly did it take for them to produce this ad. They hired a camera crew and a videographer for about $250 to shoot and edit the whole thing. So it was affordable and it gave the client a crazy return on their investment. They probably could have filmed a version of this on a smartphone, without losing too much quality. 

Okay, next up, we have a testimonial video, so we are living in the ratings and reviews-driven world, there’s no getting around that. When’s the last time you bought anything online without reading a review or gotten contact with a company without seeing that five-star rating. We always want to know what other people thought about our product or service before we’re comfortable using it, you know. I don’t go to a restaurant without first reading a review and I bet you’re the same way. But what’s even more powerful than a written review or testimonial when you can see, hear and feel. 

Video is amazing at doing this because it transfers all that emotional appreciation and excitement that a previous customer had right on to a new customer. 

Video can remove most of the doubt that people may feel about its authenticity. 

Whenever I read a written review on Amazon or Yelp, there’s always that question of, is this a legit review or was it written by the business owner or a friend, or even paid for, and I particularly have that thought when a review is just a little too glowing, but with video, you generally won’t be able to get away with that kind of trickery. Unless you’ve got Meryl Streep herself. 

Most people are just not that good at acting to pull off a fake video testimonial, because if it’s fake in any way people are generally going to subconsciously pick up on it, so the opposite is also true you know if their BS meter doesn’t go off. They’re generally going to perceive it to be true. 

So I’d recommend getting at least one video testimonial, but get as many as you can. And even if you only have one or two video testimonials, you can supplement those with written text testimonials, because the videos will tend to increase the believability of the written testimonials as well. 

In essence, you’re saying, you know this video feels authentic and we’re going to trust these other testimonials too. So first pick out a few of your current or past clients that you know are going to have nice things to say about you, and you’re going to want to try to do this with more recent customers so that the excitement they’re feeling is fresh in their mind. 

Now what you don’t want to do is just leave it up to the customer to say whatever they want, that’s generally going to lead to a pretty weak testimonial. You want to control it a little bit so that the testimonial tells a story from beginning to end. So I would make sure that they know what that story is you want to tell so make sure they hit the important points of what was their life like before they found you. How did they find you? And then how is their life been changed for the better, since they went with your product or service, and then I would have them finish it with a simple, I would recommend this to anyone looking for “your value proposition”, it’s just a really strong way to end a video testimonial. 

I would then edit it down to one to two minutes if it’s a single customer or maybe two to three minutes if it’s a mash-up of several customers in the same video. 

All right, next up we have a behind the scenes, or how we work type video. Think of this as a way to add a face and a personality to either your homepage or your about page, and it’s perfect for showing your process, or why you do what you do. The goal here is to make your brand more relatable and more memorable, you know people are going to remember the company that they saw a video for rather than just reading a bunch of text on a page, you want to frame this all around the benefits you deliver to your customers. So think about it in terms of not talking about what you do, but instead, how you help your customers.

Some tips here, use plenty of B-roll footage, which is just short, secondary/complementary clips inserted at key points of your video highlighting some key aspects of your scene and so it’s not just a talking-head the whole time. Also, use some music underneath it to make it more engaging, you can use this on your homepage on your about page, or in video ads. 

Okay, now the next type of video I want to talk about is helpful blog videos. These are either instructional or inspirational, these are not one-off videos like we’ve been talking about but they’re more ongoing. A blog is helpful for businesses for many reasons, you get to establish yourself as an expert grow a loyal fan base of potential customers, and continually grow your site, which Google looks at as a leading indicator that they should rank you higher but written blog posts are only going to get you so far, you know. Video can consistently amp up the engagement and loyalty factor for your site. 

Just talk to the camera like you’re talking to your ideal customer and offer valuable tips that they can use with or without what you sell, resist the urge to make your blog videos, overly promotional. 

Your product or service should never really be the topic of the video, but you can certainly end the videos with a call to action to learn more or to schedule, a consultation with you or book an appointment. And the cool thing about blog videos is they can look a little more DIY than some of the other types we presented in this article, you can even just use your smartphone. It’s more about the value you provide than having a polished look. 

Aim these videos to be around 5 to 10 minutes which is enough to cover your topic without artificially padding the length, you want it to just be all the good stuff. 

Now again, I would use this video on your blog with an accompanying blog post, because written content is still going to be very important to Google so that it knows the topic of your page. 

Another great use for one of these helpful blog videos(vlogs) would be a video ad on Facebook that you can use as the top of your Facebook ad funnel. 

Well, that’s all folks, hope you enjoyed the article and that you found it useful, thanks for reading!