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Best Restaurant Industry Video Ideas

In the restaurant business, there are essentially four ways to increase your sales:

New Trial

Marketing activities related to new trial are used to acquire new customers. One way to get new customers is through referrals or recommendations. Getting a recommendation from a friend is one of the top ways to increase new trials. So how does video fit into this? Consider this:

One way is to send an email campaign to your current customers asking them if they like the restaurant enough to share their experience with their friends. The location should craft a message (let us know if you need help) that informs the viewer what it is they should do to share their experience. Is it do a review on Google or Yelp or TripAdvisor? Is it forward this message to a friend? There are several more, but you get the point.

Ask your customers to create their own video or photo and post it to your social media page (you’ll be monitoring, of course). Ask them to tag their friend when they do. If the friend shows up at the restaurant, ask them to show you the video and their name…give them a special price, dish, or drink. You’ll get the whole town talking about you.

Building Frequency

Now it’s time to get them back in the door. Your image and reputation are critical. Before you can expect someone to return, it is important that the dining room, the kitchen, and the bar all performed to the expectation of your customer. Before they leave, you probably already asked them what they would have improved about their experience. This is important later, in your marketing materials, because you’ll want to focus your message on the things people were positive about while you work to improve items that detracted from their experience.

If you’re a large scale operation, it can be tough to get good feedback. It is critical to get email addresses from your customers to answer a survey. Keep it simple. Add a layer to this tactic by creating a video with a message of, “We want to know what you thought of us… and please be honest” can significantly increase the likelihood of getting the survey filled out. Make sure you ask about their food and beverage experience individually and collectively. Try to keep the survey to less than 2 minutes to fill out.

Incredible customer service always brings them back. Consider a quick service restaurant where each meal is made to order. What if you noticed a person coming back after their first time. The staff should recognize this, thank them for returning and ask them if they’d like to try the same meal they did yesterday with the same toppings…and list them. You’d have to jot notes down the day or two before when they came in but if you rattled off their favorite toppings before they ordered, they’d be impressed! That’s full service for your customer!

Increasing the Check Size

Create a secret menu only the staff knows about. This menu should contain a drink, side, or topping that matches the flavor profile (and costs a little extra). Every dollar counts in the restaurant business, and by suggesting a drink or side dish because they taste so good together, the average check size increases.

Enter video. Your advertising should match that concept. we’ve never seen a restaurant commercial with a single item focus…there’s always a matching side dish or drink. Need help creating the right flavor profile and video? We can help you there too!

Increasing the Party Size

Technically, you’re in the entertainment industry. So you should be the place to bring friends. Encourage it often…with every couple or group of four: “Please bring your friends next time.” Perhaps it’s a coupon that is for parties of 6 or more or it’s an advertisement that suggests that parties of six or more “Have more fun and get a free appetizer to get you started!” The ideas are limitless when it comes to how to increase the party size and every one of them can be supported by a video.

When it is time to ramp up the sales after we’ve come out of quarantine, let us know which area you’d like to focus on and we’ll help you get it done with video.

 

Image by bridgesward from Pixabay

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Is Video the Best Marketing Strategy for a Hotel?

woman at resort hotel pool with drink

Are you worried about how to fill the rooms? Are you unhappy with your online reputation? Do you have a desire to improve the online engagement levels with your website? Have you been anguishing over trying to get the rooms to look exactly how a guest will find them when they arrive, but you haven’t been able to create a strong marketing campaign that shows a potential guest what they can expect.

Sometimes pictures are enough, sometimes they are not.

We’ve got you covered. In this post, we’re going to share with you how creating the right marketing plan and business strategy can incorporate solving several of the above issues. Marketing involves several facets of activity like social media marketing, online advertisements, print, billboard, and other levels of marketing that will drive traffic to your hotel.

We’re sure you’ve done focus groups and have learned about the needs of your guests and you’ve reviewed the Ps of Marketing, but we’d like to suggest that there are a few elements that may have been missed. Potential customers obviously want to know what the location looks like, but do pictures clearly show and/or explain your products or services. Do they do it adequately enough that one would not be surprised when traveling. When we travel, we’re often surprised by the difference in photos an the actual location.

Every aspect of the tourism industry should be maximizing video to their advantage. Here’s why. When someone plans a trip to places like Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Naples, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, or Key West, they do a lot of research.

Just like you do marketing research, their research includes things like what does the hotel look like? What do the amenities look like? What about the room, what should I expect to see and feel when I enter the room? Video shows people all the elements that are important to them.

What is the Marketing Process to Maximize Sales?

If you want to attract more guests to your hotel, you’ll want to show off the grounds, the rooms, the amenities and use social media platforms to increase the likelihood of being found by a potential guest during their search. When you define your marketing to incorporate what your guests want, they’re more likely to buy. While product price can impact a guests decision, if they see, hear, and feel the value, they are more likely to spend a little more to enjoy their vacation.

Reputation is critical in the hotel business. Hotels rarely survive a long-term negative leaning review score. No amount of advertising or video can offset poor scores. If the reputation is bad it’s time to make some operational improvements and hold off on any sales and marketing activities. You’ll only make more people mad by having them show up and be disappointed.

The process of maximizing sales is in a strong process. The process should include high quality video, appropriate placement with an appropriate spend and help potential guests understand what it is they’re looking at and why they should book your hotel for their next vacation.

Loyalty, Engagement, and Services – Fort Lauderdale Hotels

Marketing includes featuring a locations strength to their advantage. If you are a Fort Lauderdale hotel that has luxurious amenities, a relaxing and beautiful spa or an impeccable golf course, it’s critical to showcase that. If you have nearby attractions or nightlife that is important to the attractiveness of your hotel, show that too. Does your food stand head and shoulders above your competitors? You should feature Instagram-worthy video of your specialties.

Increase Hotel Loyalty Using Video

Marketing can refer to reinforcing a positive visit. What if after a guest leaves, they receive a personalized standardized (yes…do both) video that thanks them for visiting. What if you had several videos that were at your disposal to email after their departure that mentioned an amenity or service they used?

What if they used your spa and the video you send to them afterward mentions that you’re glad they were able to use the spa and that you hoped they enjoyed their experience. How powerful is that? Would they know it wasn’t made specifically for them but that it was made only for those who visited the spa? You have the data, use it!

If you’re wondering how to make these things happen and more (yes, we have a lot of ideas related to improving loyalty and reputation), we’d be happy to talk about it with you. Give us a call and we’d be happy to work through all of these areas with you. As a South Florida video production company, we’ve seen and been a part of a lot.

The hotel/hospitality business can be frustrating, but it can also be rewarding. If you’re struggling to figure out how you should be using video, let us help you by working through our marketing strategy session and let us craft a plan with you. You control the direction, we’ll provide the creative that works.

 

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

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How to Produce and Execute Creative Video Marketing

If you’re looking to add digital marketing to your campaign or advertising mix, one of the elements that will float to the top in terms of importance is video marketing. In this blog post we share our thoughts on creating the right marketing mix and the right creative video to produce the results you’re after. First, let’s talk about a little background. If you already know this, you can always skip ahead to our thoughts on the How To’s.

What is Video Marketing?

Video Marketing is simply the creating and using video to promote a product or service via various marketing channels (such as social media and broadcast, etc.). Typically video marketing incorporates an educational component directed to a specific target audience and a call to action.

Why is Video Marketing Important?

The year 2020 will become the year that video reaches a new level of importance for businesses of all sizes. Businesses will start to incorporate video into their overall advertising and marketing strategy. If your business has a marketing team, they should have incorporated a video marketing strategy into their overall strategy. One of our predictions in 2020 is that video will become so important that several businesses will be adding a video editor to their team. Sometimes this is the right move. Sometimes it isn’t. We say this because we have worked with several businesses who simply tell their employees what to do without a long-term strategy or purpose. Any video marketing campaign must have a purpose or it will simply be a waste of money. We hate to see companies waste money.

We did a little research and found that “more than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands … more than any other content.” (Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing). And, our clients tell us that conversion rates increase dramatically when video is present on landing pages or product landing pages. If you want to improve click through rate and conversion, you simply have to incorporate video into the mix. Whether its an explainer video, social media or customer testimonial, video is valuable to the consumer or buyer. These build trust and convert.

What Are Some Types of Marketing Videos

Before you hire a video production company you’ll want to have a general idea of what type you want to create. There are several and not all are right for every occasion. Imagine arriving on a landing page and finding an educational video…how would that impact the potential sale? Probably very little, but if a testimonial video was there, you’d notice an impact. Here are a few exmples:

    • About Us / Branding / Corporate Introduction Video. These videos typically help the viewer understand who you are as a corporation or how a product works. This is usually used once the prospect has arrived on your page (landing or otherwise). These videos are also important tools for a larger, over-arching branding or advertising campaign. The goal is usually to increase awareness of your company or product. A good example of Corporate Introduction or Branding Video is this one.
  • Blog, Educational, How-To, or Word Videos. These types are used to teach the viewer a new topic or idea. Why would you want to do that? The better they understand the topic, the more they want to learn. The more they want to learn, the more they might realize they don’t know and need to hire a professional. These videos are usually used to demonstrate knowledge or professionalism and build additional trust before a purchase or call. This is also referred to as content marketing, where the person on camera wishes to be viewed as an expert in his or her industry. By the way, search engines love this type of content because you’re helping people learn more about a topic. Here’s an old example of one we did many years ago. It stands the test of time!
  • Interviews. Sometimes interviewing the office expert can demonstrate a level of knowledge that your competitors can’t show. If you have someone that is called on industry-wide because they have been doing it for so long, this might be the right type of video to display.
  • Explainer videos. These are a step beyond the educational style because they go beyond helping people learn a tidbit of information, this video might include a longer storyline that helps the viewer understand how something will help them or where they can visualize themselves with the problem and how to get it solved.
  • These have become rather popular in the past couple of years. When we get calls about animation, we hear that people think these are much cheaper than live action video production, but that isn’t always the case. For example, you can use something like Toonly┬áor Doodly to create reasonably inexpensive (even cheap!) animations, but they’re usually for very small budgets. (By the way, if you want to try them out, use the links above and we’ll get a small commission without costing you anything extra!) When someone wants to create something more realistic or true-to-form, an animation can be about the same as a small live action production; therefore, depending on what you’re looking to create, always consider both options when it makes sense. Sometimes it is more difficult to show something live action than to animate it…that’s when we recommend animation. It saves you time, money, and headaches later!
  • Client Testimonials / Case Studies. Sometimes prospects want to know proof of concept. Rather than having to show them what you’ll do for them, show them what you’ve done for others in a similar situation. We recommend using your actual clients who were happy with your results to provide you with an on camera testimonial or have them walk the viewer through a case study. Either way, the viewer needs to understand the problem they faced and how you helped solve the problem.
  • Behind the scenes. Do you do something that is cool to see or hard to imagine? Sometimes give people a peek behind the curtain can make them want to be involved. For example, manufacturing doors can be pretty boring, but what if you manufactured high-end doors? Wouldn’t it be cool to see the process and how the magic happens? This might be one of those times a behind the scenes video would work well.
  • Social media. Our recommendation is to produce one or more of the above and create shorter social videos to share on the various platforms. If you a create one of the above options, always have the production team edit a short version for social media. By doing so, you can give a tease to what you are doing/showing and make them want to watch more on your landing page or home page. Find out if there is interest by getting them to take steps closer to making a call, such as coming to visit your website.

So now the question is which one do you want to produce and why? If you work with us, we’ll help clarify which one to create and why. There are other variations of the above video too, so don’t think you’re limited to one of the above.

Once you’ve decided, you’ll need to decide on who will shoot it. We obviously would recommend hiring a professional for this (and maybe that’s why you’re reading this article) but you might also be able to shoot it yourself. If that’s the case, you might want to take a look at our creative director’s YouTube Channel for ideas on how and what to shoot. If you’re looking for a crew and don’t know where to start, you might consider using our checklist of things to know before you hire a professional video production crew. It contains tips and questions to ask before you hire them.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or just want some ideas! We love coming up with awesome content ideas for our clients!

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How to Generate Sales Leads with Video

sales, handshake

Investing in video may or may not be a difficult decision. Some think of video as a tool in a larger process to help prospects work their way to a purchase. Others think of video as a line item expense that must have a return on the investment. Both are technically correct, but which one you are can determine if you view video as a good thing or simply an expense (therefore a waste of time and money). In this post, we’ll consider both and how to use video to generate sales leads.

Video as a Tool

If you view video as a tool, you’re probably one step ahead of your competition already. You know that it is necessary to make a solid connection with your prospect and may even know how to use video to guide them through the process. While you might still consider video production a line item on the P&L, you also recognize there isn’t always a direct correlation between watching a video and making a purchase, except in certain circumstances. For example, product videos on product pages have been tested and found to have a strong correlation to purchase intent and making a purchase (source: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EJM-11-2016-0619/full/html). Those who believe video is a tool in a greater process of marketing also understand that it is more difficult to measure the impact of a video advertisement when use as a YouTube ad or on broadcast television. It’s difficult because the viewer can’t be directly tracked when they call (except by some savvy video marketers who do it right by using specific phone numbers in their videos, etc.). What video does is reinforces the several other tools being used to get a potential buyer to heed a call to action and make the call.

Video as an Expense

On the other hand, if you believe that video is simply an expense and must have an ROI, you feel like every dollar spent must retrieve a multiple in return. This is a great way to ensure success, but it can also be a difficult way to grow a business. When we grew as a company, we knew we had to invest in some high-quality equipment. We borrowed a little money and invested it into a high-quality 4K camera and other equipment. While this was difficult to do at the time and it showed no direct return on investment; however, it has provided us with high-quality footage that helps us stand apart from our competitor…thus nudging the prospect one step closer to giving us a call. Is there a direct correlation? No, but that camera has made Plum successful and allowed us to grow. This is something that is difficult to measure. The same goes with video content.

How to Use Video to Generate Sales Leads

The ultimate goal of generating sales leads is obtaining contact information (such as an email address), bringing a buyer to a landing page, and bringing the prospect to the sales team. While you can achieve this via text-based pages, the conversion rate may not be as high as a highly interactive or engaging lead generation process. By creating video, you will begin the prospect on a journey to discovering their needs and ultimately giving you (or someone else) a call. The next question might be, “What video do I need to create?” Whether it’s a YouTube video, a video for your website, or a video series, it must be interactive. Let’s explore the types of video you should consider for your business. Below are the types of issues you might be trying to resolve along with the type of video that will help you illustrate that you can solve it.

Trust and Confidence. Typically, people or businesses trying to build trust and confidence are the professional services field. These individuals are trying to illustrate how they can achieve goals for their clients and want to do so with a high level of authenticity. Videos that can capture the individual’s genuine personality are videos like Testimonial, About Us, and Meet Me videos. These videos usually include the person or people involved in the process achieving the client’s goals. They introduce the viewer to the people involved, explain what they bring to the job that’s special, highlight experience and credentials, and include personal details to help the viewer feel comfortable and connected.

Establishing Credibility. If you’re trying to accomplish this, you’ll want to explain why you’re covering the topic, talk to the viewer, and leave them wanting more. This type of video is typically a case study video, explainer video, product demo video, or advice video blog.

Product Explanation. A product or service that is a little more complex and requires some more detail typically needs a product demonstration video. These videos typically explain why the product exists, highlight specific components of the product, and show the end result or effectiveness of the product. These videos can be highly effective the more complex the product or service.

Recruitment. If you’re trying to recruit more and better talent to the organization, you might try a Culture video or a Position Profile video. A culture video will provide the viewer with a strong sense of what it’s like to work at the company. The position profile video is like combining a job description and job posting while showing some of the important elements of the job. Be very explicit that you are hiring and be sure to include specific details about benefits. Most of all, make it fun! Lastly, these get the best results when shared via social networks and social media. You might even be able to create this using some existing video you already have!

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us! We’d be happy to answer any questions!

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What To Do To Maximize Your Investment In Video Production

return on investment

Regardless of your financial goals, there are several steps you’ll want to take to maximize your investment in time, money, and resources before and after you start. We know its now common to hear that your company should be using video to leverage your business growth. If you aren’t using it by now, you might be leaving some money on the table. The key is knowing where you want to use your video and how you do it. In this post, we’ll share some common issues and problems that people face when maximizing ROI.

Common Issues that Affect Video ROI

Too Many Options

Too Many Production Companies. If you’ve never created video before, you’ll find you have hundreds of options to choose from in terms of video production companies.

Content Ideas. The next issue will be what you want to create. Do you want to create a marketing video? Social media video? Product video? There are several ways to slice up marketing content that it can quickly become overwhelming.

Where to Place It. The next issue will be where to place the video (or videos). Very quickly, you’ll learn there are thousands of places to publish your video…and each one will have their own reason for doing so. All of this shouldn’t stop you from deciding to move forward. It’ll be worth it.

Getting More From Your Professional Video

Who is Your Audience?

Think about something you’ve watched in the past that really resonated with you. Why did it? It might have been because it was about something you wanted to learn or know more about, the person speaking was personable and they may have described the world you see in a similar way. Maybe they spoke in terms or jargon you’re comfortable with. Or maybe they had the same or similar personality as you. When creating your video, you’ll want to know who your audience is, what they like or dislike, what they need to know, why they need to know it and how they like to be spoken to. Use that information to compile the viewer’s demographics, location, where they consume information, and what social media outlets they view most. The more you know about them, the better you can speak to them.

Your Viewers

  • There are several types of personas that you might be speaking to, for example, you might be dealing with a “Give me the information, get out of my way, and let me decide” type of person. This might be someone who is at the top of the corporate structure, like a CEO or similar level.
  • You might also be speaking to someone who is more interested in learning about how your customers feel about you. They might want to read or see more reviews about the business. These are the ones who need to obtain verification that they are making the right decision. They like to include others in their decision making and reviews are a good way to get this information.
  • Another common viewer might be a detailed, technical type. They want facts, figures, and as much data as possible to make the decision to pick up the phone to call. This type of person needs to have support data incorporated into the video so they can make an appropriate decision.

Regardless of the type of viewer you’re reaching out to, you’ll want to craft a message that taps every type of personality possible. Perhaps there is a way to show and describe important information to a couple of personality types at the same time. Use all of this information to craft a solid script. We typically take care of script writing for you, but, we work with all types of clients; some who like to do it themselves and some who want to have someone take care of it for them. The next step will be to craft a solid shot list that must be captured to illustrate what is being said and targets each persona.

The Video Production Process

The video production process contains several components: pre production, the shoot, post production, and delivery. During the pre production stage, you’ll deal with the persona, the long term goals of the video, and what video content that should be created. Investment goals are important before we start so we know what needs to be set aside for the production and what needs to be set aside for the placement of the video(s). During the shoot, we’ll deal with the shot list, the camera operator, the equipment, the location, and any talent that is important (whether it be from the team or hired talent). Finally, during the editing process, we’ll deal with the video editor and any post production items required to complete the project.

So what is the key to maximizing your ROI? We find that clients who work with us to understand why they’re creating the video, where they plan to use, and how they plan to place, we can help streamline that process to improve their ROI. When clients can’t answer these questions or don’t want to share this information, there can be a little hiccups and changes along the way that can increase costs…not because we want to, but because we didn’t know something and had to backtrack or make significant changes. We write this to share with you so we can prevent this from happening to you.

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How to Set Up a YouTube Channel for My Business

youtube logo

YouTube is the second largest social media outlet in the world. Other than Facebook, there is none larger. Getting your YouTube channel set up correctly is important for several reasons. First, it’s your brand. If you’re hosting your videos on YouTube, this is the primary way people will judge your ability to keep your brand intact. Second, it shows consistency. If you can demonstrate a high level of consistency within your brand, you’ve shown you have what it takes to stay organized. Do your clients want to know you’re organized? Our guess is they do.

What this post covers is what you’ll want to do past the initial set up. We know there are a lot of resources out there that will help you set up your channel initially, but once you have it set up, what should you do? This post will give you a checklist of sorts of what you should to do maximize your channel. Here we go!

Once you’ve followed the basics of setting up your channel, there are a few tips we’d like to share.

  • Channel Art. You’ll want to set up channel art to give your channel a branded look. The recommended size right now (2018) is 2560×1440 px, with a safe area of 2048×1152 px. YouTube recommends a file size of 4MB or smaller. This helps in the load time and cuts down on their storage needs. NOTE: make sure any text or logos you want to have displayed is in the safe area. If you create the recommended size, there is a safe area within that every device (or at least a vast majority) will allow the viewer to see.
  • Social Media Links. Once you’ve set up your account, you’ll want to link it to other assets, such as your website and your other social media pages. Currently, YouTube has a specific list of social media pages you can link to, including Google Plus or Google Pages, so you’ll want to make sure those are set up. Also, keep in mind these links, once set up, show up in the bottom right portion of the Channel Header Art, so keep that in mind when designing the header. If the social links cover important information in your art, like a phone number, it won’t be visible.
  • Icon. Add the icon in the top left. It’s not always visible on every platform, but it helps to have it there. Most people use their logo, others use their head shot, but in the end, its up to you.
  • Enhancing the Channel.
    • Optimize the Description. You’ll want to write a brief, high-level description of what your channel is all about. It should use keywords and incorporate specific statements as to what the channel is about. Google’s algorithms have gotten pretty smart when it comes to text, so this is important. Don’t include statements that are unrelated and always have a call to action. The call to action might be to visit your website, watch a certain playlist or video, or call a phone number.
    • Add Channel Trailer. A channel is less effective if it doesn’t have a trailer welcoming or describing the channel. You may not think you need one, but here’s why you do. When someone arrives at your channel, they may or may not know what your business is all about. They may not understand how your channel is organized or what is important for them to view to get a better understanding of who you are and what you do. The channel trailer will guide them or give them some reference as to who you are and why the channel is helpful to the viewer.
    • Add Links to Channel. These links (described above) help Google verify and solidify who this channel belongs to, who it’s associated with, and builds the web of links you want Google to know and understand to improve your website and channel optimization.
    • Playlists. Adding playlists is one of the ways you can tell your visitor you care about them. You’ve taken the time to organize your videos into bite-sized pieces to help them digest your message. Playlist are just that: a way of organizing similar videos and you should do it for a few reasons:
      • Organization. We’ve said it once already, but this helps the viewer know which videos relate to each other.
      • Get Discovered. When playlists are organized, YouTube (Google) knows that each of the videos in the playlists are related, therefore have a higher probability of getting discovered organically. When someone searches for a topic and you’ve titled a video with that search phrase, YouTube might bring up your entire playlist.
      • Related. Again, because they’re related, the viewer can dig in as deep as they like to learn more about the related topic.
      • Session Time. No, this is not the beer type of session, it’s the time they spend on your channel. If someone lands on your channel first (organically or directly) and then spend some time on your channel because they’re nosing around in similar videos, you get extra credit for keeping on your channel longer. Longer sessions usually mean credibility for Google/YouTube. Layer on top of that, YouTube will even reward you if you draw someone to your channel and then move off your channel to another channel. You get extra credit for bringing the viewer to YouTube (at one point, the entire session time they spent on YouTube was given to you, not all the other sites if they visited you first).

For a couple of examples, we’ve selected one channel that has some missing pieces (but otherwise might be ok) and another that does it very well. For starters, let’s look at the channel that is missing a few pieces. We’ve removed their logo and name to protect their identity.

Image of YouTube Channel page that's missing a few components

So here are a few points to consider on this channel. First, there is an inconsistent image for each video. You’ll see on the next example, how a consistent image can be created. Second, and this is something you can’t see in this image, they don’t have playlists created.┬á As a visitor, you might not know which video you need to watch, but if you knew that four of the list of videos were about a specific topic you came to learn about, you’d find it helpful. Third, the trailer did not have a call to action and did not incorporate a general message for the business. It was more of a moving PowerPoint presentation, which is fine, but less effective when it comes to getting the viewer to take action.

To see a good example of a YouTube Channel, we’re going to use our sister business My Video 101’s YouTube Channel.

Example of a good YouTube Channel layout

For this channel, we see some helpful things right from the start. First (green arrows), the header image is information about the channel and what to expect. For businesses, we recommend an image with a message that makes sense for your branding. On this example, we also see the social media buttons are set up. Second, this channel has playlists set up (see yellow circle). They use several: Vlogging Advice, Product Reviews, Technical Tips, and Behind the Scenes. Helpful if you only want to learn about one area of the channel, right? Third, this channel has consistent branding across all videos (see blue check marks). While each topic is different, each video looks similar, yet a little different. Consistency is pleasing to the eye and helps the viewer feel at ease when searching through the videos.

With just a few tweaks your YouTube Channel can improve your image and increase views. Take the time to set up your business channel the right way so you get the most out of your channel.

 

 

 

Sources:
DreamGrow (https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-networking-sites/)
Gravity Search Marketing (https://www.yourseoplan.com/benefits-of-creating-youtube-playlists/)
YouTube Support (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2972003?hl=en-GB)
Buffer (https://blog.bufferapp.com/create-a-youtube-channel)

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How Many People Should Be In My Business (Testimonial) Video?

People in a Business

This is a common question we get all the time. How many people should be interviewed? Or how many testimonials should we have in the video? The answer is much more simple than you think. There are a few variables that affect the quantity of people that should be in your video or testimonial video.

As an example, if you are creating a 60-second video featuring testimonials, you have to think about how long each person has to say what they need to say. If while on camera, they are going to say, “XYZ Company was the most reliable company I have ever worked with because they provided me with answers that were relevant to my issue and solved my problem.” It would take between 8 to 12 seconds for them to say just that line. We have to also assume they’ll want to give a little backstory as to what they were looking for in a company and why they were looking for that. Let’s assume each of those statements could be made in the same amount of time. Three sentences, average of 10 seconds each, is approximately 30 seconds of content (provided they stated it perfectly).

I have to imagine, you’re starting to notice the problem. If you wanted three people on camera giving you a testimonial but each person said three or four sentences that took 30 seconds to say, you’re running out of time pretty quickly. Don’t forget, we’ll also need a little breathing room between each testimonial to set the stage for what their issue is and how the business solved it.

The above only addresses the time it takes to make a statement, but does not take into account that you may want to have a voice over stating how to contact you or to reinforce something that was said in one of the testimonials. All of this is why when we have clients creating a testimonial, we recommend a 90-second to 2-minute testimonial video to ensure you have enough time to get what you need plus the additional B-Roll shots required to create a polished, finished video.

When we take into account the above, we find that you can typically get between two and three people in a 2-minute testimonial video. Even more perfect than that is it typically takes about a half day to get testimonials from that many people along with the B-Roll shots.

We like to use this video as an example because it provides you with all the information you need to help you understand what problem is being solved and why that company was able to accomplish it.

This video allows time for the viewer to understand what the issue that Bill faced and how Credit Brain helped him overcome it. You can feel a bit of emotion in this story and, if you were in Bill’s situation, you might be inclined to make the call.

While video isn’t the only reason people call, it sure does help the viewer understand and feel the situation more clearly. If this is what you’re after and still have questions, feel free to reach out to us with your questions, or comment below.

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7 Reasons Why Your Business Absolutely Needs Video

In 2005, three men started a video-sharing website. In 2006 Google bought it from them. Eleven years later, YouTube has more than 300 hours of video uploaded every minute. And if that isnÔÇÖt staggering enough consider these additional statistics:

As a frontrunner in an ever-evolving digital community, video changes the way companies are engaging with target audiences. From formal studio productions and ÔÇÿgarage bandÔÇÖ tapings, drone videography, 3D animation, and 6-second bumper ads, businesses are leveraging the power of video as a critical component in marketing strategies. With Cisco predicting that video will account for 80% of web traffic by 2019, there are multiple reasons why your business needs video now.

Company Connection ÔÇô Video makes a business human. Through words spoken, tone of voice, and visual expression, potential customers get to know business owners and employees. This perceived development of a relationship creates a connection that builds trust and confidence in the company.

Efficient and Effective ÔÇô Consumers are busier than ever before. Short on time, living in a fast-paced, multi-tasking world, video can respond to a question more quickly than a written explanation. When time is a crunch or attention-span is limited, a 3-minute video can sell a product more thoroughly than a 4-page written document.

Product Demonstration ÔÇô Video is a user-friendly way to sell a product. It can visually compare features against a competition, showcase benefits, clear up ambiguous assembly instructions, and demonstrate usage. Video can be paused and replayed as needed, making it a quick resource available with a simple click of the mouse.

TestimonialsÔÇô A powerful way for people to see and hear firsthand from other clients or customers how great the product or service was for them. While a five-star rating on Google and Facebook is great, video shows the users face, projects their emotions through tone, and generates feelings that what is being said is truthful.

Search Engine Optimization ÔÇô As a form of rich media, video can increase the quality of SEO and ranking. In addition to hosting video on the company website, the same media can be hosted on other platforms including YouTube and Wistia. Video can be recycled for use in backlinks, blogs, and articles, all the while increasing consumer engagement and length of time spent on your site.

Sales Conversion ÔÇô Seeing is believing and that is a key function of video. Online and offline, the product market is saturated with choices. Video supports functionality, features and benefits, and quality. A visual sales pitch, 64% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product after watching a related video first.

Social Shares ÔÇô Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest tools for lead generation. A well-informed or entertaining, engaging and relatable video is likely to garner more social shares than a simple written article. As one qualified target audience shares content, the opportunity for increased awareness is significantly and positively impacted.

 

Video has broad-reach capability to get in front of potential customers without investing extra time or manpower. It can make the smallest company seem large, a large corporation seem approachable, a simplistic product unique, and a complicated product easy to understand.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth 1,000,000. Optimize your digital presence by including video as part of your overall digital marketing strategy. Contact us today.

 

Guest Blog provided by: Larry Goldstick. Larry is the principal owner of Capture Digital Marketing. Capture Digital Marketing is a full service digital marketing agency based in Jupiter, Florida. For more information contact Larry at 561-630-3699 or larry@capturedm.com