Creating videos for your business is easier than ever before. Even if the extent of your video recording experience is through your personal Instagram or Facebook, you already have the knowledge and tools needed to make quality, engaging content.
The power of video extends beyond social media. It can completely transform your relationships with your customers and staff. As a time-strapped small business owner, this means videos can extend your reach while humanizing your brand — and, when done right, with little time investment.
The Power of Video
Let’s explore how using videos as part of the normal course of business can give you back hours of your day, allow you to better communicate with your teams, and the key tips for getting started.
Build Deeper Relationships with your Customers
It doesn’t matter if your audience is on a global scale or in your backyard, all businesses have the same issue: your customers are going to be researching and looking for information from you at times when you’re not available.
As a small business, it’s expensive to hire a full customer service department or have a salesperson on call day and night to cater to incoming inquiries. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt a personal connection with most website FAQ pages.
Instead, use videos and imagery as an extension of yourself to build a connection with your customers even with limited resources. With some effort spent in the upfront creating videos and tutorials, you’ll have a library of on-demand content for your customers to reference. With each video you’re getting an extra touchpoint with your audience and connecting in a personal way.
While it doesn’t replace one-on-one conversations with people, there’s real value in using visuals to communicate. A recent study we conducted found that two-thirds of people understand information better when it’s communicated visually — and 48% of people found video the most engaging form of communication. By making it as easy as possible for your target audiences to discover and grasp the information they’re looking for, you’ll be a step closer to gaining them as a customer.
The type of content you create depends on what you offer and your audiences. However, an excellent place to start is with a video that discusses who you are, showcases your product or service, and answers common questions. Videos put a face and a name to your business and the relationship becomes much more personal.
Help your Team Feel Connected
As a business owner, you’re likely juggling several responsibilities at any given time. And with your attention pulled in all directions, it might feel time-consuming or even challenging to convey pertinent information and updates to all your employees. This is especially true with an ever-growing global and remote workforce that is reliant on digital communications.
Remember the study I mentioned earlier? The same findings are relevant in the workplace: people absorb information better and are more likely to be motivated by visuals than when communicated with in plain-text. In other words, your employees don’t want to read wordy emails.
Anything from short messages to longer videos is shown to save time and improve the performance of your employees. Videos can also ensure you’re sharing a consistent message across your organization. Short videos can be recorded and available for staff to watch on-demand or during their next shift – giving time back to you and your employees, who most likely prefer the flexibility.
Most importantly, visuals put a face to the message. Too often we communicate in email, leaving many of us to forget we’re talking with people on the other end. Videos help to create a human, eye-to-eye connection. Seeing a person, hearing their voice, and seeing their body language is essential for feeling connected and motivated, even if viewed on a screen.
To give you an idea of the type of content you can swap for visuals, let’s walk through some practical examples where videos would make your communications quicker and more effective:
- Instead of a scheduling an hour-long meeting to walk your team through a new program or system, try creating a screen-share video. Not only will this save time across the board, but you’ll also be creating an archive for future reference.
- Let’s say you’ve hired an employee to expand your sales in a new region. All your employees work remotely and are in different time zones, but you want the new employee to feel included on the team. To foster a connection, encourage your team to send videos introducing themselves, explaining their roles and adding in some fun personal highlights.
- Regardless of the size of your business, a good onboarding program will set your employees up for success. While large enterprises may have an entire team dedicated to onboarding, this is rarely the case for smaller businesses. That doesn’t mean you can’t provide your workforce with the same training experience. Try packaging up your onboarding into several shorter videos to create a training catalog. Not only will this save you time in the future, but your employees can continue to access this information whenever they need a refresher.
How to Get Started
It is important to remember that the above tips are meant to simplify, and not to complicate. While you’ll want your customer-facing videos to have a bit more polish, you don’t need professional equipment or experience to create engaging content. In fact, you’re probably holding a powerful, all-in-one video creation tool right now: your phone.
From meeting recordings and company announcements to tutorials and FAQs, videos allow you to be in many places at once. To get you started, I’ll leave you with a challenge: open your camera on your phone or computer and record a quick message for your team. Perhaps it’s a motivational message for an upcoming sales initiative, or even a quick hello. Continue doing this for the next week or so and you’ll be amazed at what you can create and how effective your videos will be.
By Matt Pierce, Learning & Video Ambassador, TechSmith. You can also find more video tips and tricks by visiting the TechSmith Blog and TechSmith Academy.
Republished by permission. Original here
Image: Smart Hustle