Okay, so today we’re talking about something that I am very passionate about and that’s the idea of online videos. The way people are treating websites and what they expect from a website is rapidly changing and video is one of the best ways to supercharge their experience.

So my aim here today is to go over some of the biggest ways that video can help transform your business and fill it with all the right kinds of customers in a very steady, predictable way okay.

Grab and keep attention.

And starting right off the top video is an excellent way to grab and keep attention. According to Animoto, a product video is four times more likely to be watched than read about in text alone. And according to Forbes 59% of executives prefer video over text, these are people who are highly educated, and they still prefer to watch a video over reading. 

We’re living in a world where it’s getting increasingly difficult to capture people’s attention, but videos are more appealing and palatable to most people. 

It helps with SEO

The next way video can help you is with SEO benefits. Marketing Sherpa has concluded that putting a video on a page will more than double the amount of time that people spend on that page. 

Now, why is that important for SEO? Well, Google rewards time-on-page, so the more you can keep someone on your page, the more you’re signaling to Google that, hey this page is really what the searchers had in mind and it’s what they wanted to see because they’re sticking around for it, and there’s a reward, they’re going to give you higher placements in the searches. 

As a result, there was a study conducted by Forrester that said, a page with a video on it, is 53 times more likely to rank higher in a search. So this shows that Google prefers video-based content. And again, they’re gonna reward that with higher search rankings. 

Simplify and Clarify

Okay, search engines aside. The third benefit the video provides us, It gives you a way to simplify and clarify your message. If you have some kind of complicated product or service, one that needs a little extra explaining, a video is an excellent way to get your point across in a short amount of time.

Even if what you offer isn’t necessarily complicated, research has shown over the years, since about the early 70s, that whenever you communicate information both visually and verbally, people are going to absorb it much quicker and more effectively. In other words, showing and telling is a great way to get your point across and there are many ways you can do this. Either, by directly demonstrating something that you offer, or you could use visual metaphors if that makes more sense. 

Brand awareness & recall

Okay, next up we have the idea of brand awareness and recall. Let’s say you’re looking for a web design agency, and you’re looking through all the different websites, doing your homework, you know, whose work you like the most, but then, let’s say one of those websites has a video on it. They give a glimpse of how they work, what makes them different, and maybe even include a case study of how they helped a former client achieve a great result. 

So between all those websites, most of which were just text and photo-based, and the one with the video, that gave you a better sense of how they work and their personality, which website are you going to remember the most? 

It’s important to remember that most people coming to your site are in some stage of research mode, whether it’s, B2C or especially a B2B niche, people are there to check things out. You, want to make the shortlist, right, people they’re thinking about contacting. And a video is a great way to make yourself memorable and stay top-of-mind for when it’s time to make that decision. 

Perceived Value

Okay, so the next reason the video is a great idea is the idea of perceived value. So think about it, putting together a video is a little bit taller of an order than just plain written text, and that’s not gonna go unnoticed. The average person coming to your site is going to take note of it and they’re going to assign a higher value to you and your service.

So in other words, a well-done video is going to make you look more reputable, capable, give you a higher perceived level of expertise and professionalism because of it. And as a result of that people will generally give you more time, more contact information, and even pay you a higher price for your services based on that higher status level. Okay, one caveat here, obviously this is only going to work if you leave a positive impression. 

If you end up producing a video that looks cheap or ends up being perceived as kind of a waste of time by the person watching it, meaning the content wasn’t there or it was a lot of fluff, then it can backfire on you so make sure that you’re providing good content, and it looks and sounds good. And going along with our last point, we have the idea of trust.

People generally want to do business with other people that they know, like, and trust. And video can make all three of those happen for you. You want to deliver high-quality content that gives your viewer, a quick win. Like a tutorial or a quick tip that’s closely aligned with what you offer, or you can use a video to establish your credibility through a behind-the-scenes look at what you offer, or even a testimonial video. 

Emotion

Okay, the next step, and this is an important one, it’s the idea of emotion. If you know marketing, you probably already know that most people make most of their buying decisions based purely on emotion. Then only after they’ve made that decision do they want to back it up with logic, and as you can probably imagine it’s hard to get emotion through with written text alone, but video can help you get there. 

When I talk about emotion, I don’t mean overly schmaltzy or sentimental or sappy, all I mean is getting somebody excited or emotionally invested based on a feeling that you can bring out in them. 

For instance, if you run a Dog Boarding kennel. You might play on that emotion that people are feeling when they bring their dog in, which is probably a sense of anxiety or nervousness, but if you can produce a video that shows how caring, your employees are with the dogs, you’re creating a positive emotion with your potential clients. Which is going to result in more of them wanting to take action, pick up the phone. Or let’s say you’re family attorney, you might want to talk about the dangers of not having proper representation. By speaking authentically, like a real human being, about a potentially scary subject, you’re creating a very different kind of emotion that puts people at ease and more likely to contact you. 

Customer testimonials

Another great way you can get emotion to work for you and your website is through customer testimonials. By showing an existing or past customer talking honestly and openly about what you did for them. The excitement and appreciation will come through naturally, and it’s going to end up being much more persuasive than a text-based testimonial could ever hope to be. 

And here’s an extra tip you can use to bring out the right kind of emotion that you want to convey. Just steal a trick from Hollywood and use music. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a rough cut of a movie before they ever add the music to it, but it’s such a different experience. You don’t get the emotion that the director wanted you to have until they add the music. So music can do the same thing for you, it’s going to subconsciously give little emotional cues to people that they may not have picked up on otherwise. 

In other words, it will set the right tone and help your customers feel the way you want them to feel, positive about your brand, so I highly recommend it. Just make sure you use copyright and royalty-free music, so you stay out of trouble. 

Okay, so those are all the ways that a video will help you succeed and stand out online, 

What do you want the video to do for you and your business. Do you want it to build trust? Do you want to convey emotion to connect with more of your prospects, or do you just want to use it to make your brand more memorable?

If you want us to help you out with any of this and see what we can do for your business. Just go ahead and click here to schedule your free strategy session.

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And thanks for reading!