Ready for My Close-Up: Using Video to Drive Sales

We live in a world increasingly dominated by video content. It’s true offline, with Americans watching an average of five hours of television each day, and it’s also true in the digital space. In fact, online video consumption is on the rise: Americans watched 47.1 billion online videos in November 2013 alone, up from 40 billion in the same time period the year before.

Obviously, people are eager to take in video content. But how do you take advantage of that to improve your sales through online channels?

One of the disadvantages of online shopping versus traditional brick-and-mortar experiences is that customers aren‰’t able to interact with a tangible product. A video can help fill that void for companies selling their products online.

E-commerce giant Zappos was one of the first online retailers to effectively utilize video content to boost sales. Zappos found that sales increased by 6-30% for items that included product demos like this one. For consumers, videos that provide valuable product information increase their confidence in a product that they can‰’t see and touch.

And it‰’s not something that only works for retailers either. Service-based businesses can use videos to feature testimonials about their work or position themselves as thought leaders on the subject of their core competencies. Weir Oil & Gas uses video to talk directly to their customers about industry concerns, such as rig downtime.

The key to creating video content that helps you improve buyer confidence and sales is to make sure that each video has a purpose. Don‰’t invest time and resources in a video that doesn‰’t meet a business goal!

Here are a few guidelines for creating effective videos that advance your business:

• Address a need or question that your viewer has. Educate them.
• Provide a solution to the problem that features your product or service. Tell your viewer how your business can help them.
• Make a case for your brand, letting them know how your company differs from others in the market.
• Provide your viewer with a next step, calling them to action: sign up for our newsletter, buy now, call to get a quote, etc.

Consider capitalizing on this trend toward greater video content consumption. If you work on ensuring that every video has a purpose – that it‰’s meeting a need of your viewers ‰- you should see improvement in your business goals.