5 Essential Tips for Making Videos That
Sell
As marketers, we're all constantly looking for ways to increase
sales, drive traffic, and improve conversion rates. Few tactics can
achieve these desired results better than a wildly viral video on YouTube or a
carefully crafted sales message delivered directly to a prospects eyes and
ears.
Here are 5 essential tips to improve the overall quality and
effectiveness of whatever kind of video marketing strategy you choose to
employ.
1. Start With the End in Mind
Videos allow us to visually
tell a story, or demo a product; maybe become a familiar and trusted
face...powerful marketing tactics to be sure but...
What is the actual goal?
Collect a name and email address?
Viewer
clicks an affiliate link or a Buy button?
Establish trust and
credibility?
A video that sells requires planning and job #1 is to determine what your
Most Desired Action (MDA) is. Clearly define what that is FIRST...and create
your video accordingly. For example. too many folks simply fire up some
screen capture software (like Camtasia Studio) and start rambling along
without a clear idea of what they are trying to accomplish! We've all seen
videos like this, right? Talk about conversion killing! If you don't know
what your viewer is supposed to do, how in the world will they?
Folks, this
is NOT effective marketing...and your video efforts will suffer because of
it.
2. Script it!
Now that you know what you want your viewer
to do, it's time to compel them to do it. Most successful marketers would never
dream of just tossing up a poorly worded sales page because they know - the
sales copy matters! Yet, many of these same folks will spend little, if any,
time deciding exactly what they will say and show in their videos!
Try writing a script for your narration and create a storyboard for things like screen and camera shots. Think of it as your sales copy...because it IS! Keep it short, interesting, relevant, and short. Did I mention short? Above all, try to make sure that all the content guides the viewer to perform your Most Desired Action.
Try using PowerPoint to create a "storyboard" for the flow of your video. Use slides for each "scene" including key talking points as bullets, images to tell your story, and your script copy in the Notes field. Let's face it - making a video that sells is basically making a presentation. Microsoft PowerPoint is a handy tool you may already own and be familiar with. Even if you just create a simple outline for your video, it's a good idea to have some kind of a plan.
3. Rehearse It!
The fifth time you do practically
anything will almost always be better than your first attempt. Take the time to
rehearse your presentation! The more times you speak the words in a script, the
more natural they sound. The more times you practice a software demo, the
smoother and more polished it becomes. Stammering through your narrative
or looking as nervous as a wounded gazelle in Hyena Town on camera may be
unavoidable at first - but you will get better with practice! There is
certainly no shortage of weakly rehearsed and poorly produced videos on the
internet today, but here's the thing:
As the novelty of internet video quickly fades, people will simply not tolerate lousy content because they have they have an increasingly staggering number of choices of what to consume! Will your videos be the ones they choose? Will you be the one to deliver the quality required to establish a long term business relationship with the much savvier web surfer of the VERY near future?
4. Ace the Audio
When it comes to actually recording your
video, there are WAY too many factors to cover in this article. But there is one
thing you can do to instantly make an otherwise even crummy video better: Make
the audio great! I am constantly amazed at the number of videos I
watch that are actually painful to listen to! Booming "P"'s and "B"'s or a
starting volume level that makes your visitors ears bleed can create a
first impression that you may never recover from. Low volume levels or
"tinny" sounding audio full of room echo isn't as offensive but certainly won't
rack up any professionalism points.
For videos made using a camcorder, an effective solution is to invest in a
quality lavaliere (or lapel) microphone. They can be used in almost any audio
situation, plug directly into your DV camera, and excellent models from
Sennheiser, AKG, and Audio Technica can be had for $300 or less.
If you
record you audio via computer (as in screencasting with Camtasia, webinars,
etc.) consider ditching your sound card and that $10 Radio Shack microphone as
your audio input equipment. Google the phrase "USB microphone"and check out the
very affordable option of studio quality results, including a killer microphone
also in the $150 or less ballpark.
But does audio quality really matter that much? Well, for videos
delivered via a web page and played through computer speakers maybe not. But
think about this - new technologies are changing the way customers receive their
chosen content. Videos delivered to mobile devices will be commonplace soon. Try
listening to your sales messages on a video iPod using headphones and see if it
matters!
And be aware that the times are indeed a changin'...Things like
AppleTV and Tivo video RSS feeds are here and are poised for widespread
adoption. Can you say "Your own TV show" delivered directly to your customers
HiDef widescreen TV and Surround Sound home theatre system? The quality of your
audio may make the difference between your program being watched on
a
consistent basis or being banished with a quick click of the remote control.
5. Leverage Your New Asset
In the end, if done properly,
you will have created a valuable marketing asset. Make the most of it! Provide
links to let users Digg, Del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon your new marketing
masterpiece. Uploading to YouTube might make you famous but also posting it on
the dozens of other
video sharing sites (Google, Rever, Metacafe, etc.) will
increase your reach substantially. Try TubeMogul for uploading to multiple sites
at once! It's free and dramatically increases your reach and efficiency.
Blog
about your video and use relevant tags. Think about creating supplemental videos
to engage your users in your sales process. For example, after they buy
and arrive on a Thank You page, why not give them visual step-by-step
instruction on how to best consume your product!
The bottom line is this - Don't shortchange your current and future chances
of success using video as a sales tool by becoming an expert in mediocrity.
Start using these tactics as a fundamental guide for every video you create and
you'll be amazed at the improvement in quality - and profits - of your
efforts.
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