If you’ve been looking to form a better connection with your target audiences, consider serving them on a medium they are most comfortable with. Yes, all those Reels people watch and swipe on are telling us something – there has been a shift, and now video is king.
Video for small businesses offers many benefits, including building trust with your audience, sharing your story in an authentic way, and improving your website conversions.
As a digital marketer with nearly a decade of experience supporting businesses in different industries, I’ve been able to test a variety of tactics with my clients at KWSM. I’d like to share some of my experience using video marketing as part of a robust digital marketing strategy.
What is Small Business Video Marketing?
Video marketing is a strong strategy that can help businesses get products and services in front of more customers. It can include website videos, long-form interviews, or social media clips. Utilizing video in your marketing strategy can help you improve your website performance and get better results from your emails and social media channels.
Benefit 1: Video Builds Trust and Human Relationships
One of the most significant benefits of small business video marketing is making a stronger human connection with your customers. Video offers a more interactive experience than photos and text. Your audience can hear you, see the emotion on your face, and sense your passion for the work you do.
We see this approach work well on websites and social media. Social videos result in 1200% more shares than text and image posts. I’ve seen this firsthand with many of my clients’ accounts.
One national plastic sheeting supplier was looking to showcase their products and drive more interest from their construction and agricultural audiences. Instead of posting an image with a product description, I decided to share a Reel-style video of a sales team member explaining the product. As a result, we saw a 40% increase in views and impressions when comparing results to a previous image product post. The right video can change the game for your business.
“There’s no better way to build trust with potential clients than video,” says Casey Dean, Video Producer at KWSM. “Everyone has a video player in their palm these days, and with a single tap of the screen, you can share your story with each of them.”
From About Us videos to testimonials, reviews, and behind-the-scenes clips, your social audience wants to see it all. Video will help showcase who your business is, what your products and services are about, and why customers should trust you.
Testimonials and customer reviews are great ways to build trust with your audience because you’re not the one bragging about yourself. Let your customers talk directly to your audience. If you have folks on your team that could be the face of your business, wrap them into featured clips and behind-the-scenes footage.
Don’t forget about live videos! Live videos are a fantastic way to talk directly to your audience and get instant feedback. Many businesses use live videos to make product announcements, introduce new team members, and share exciting company news.
Benefit 2: Video Keeps Users on Your Website Longer
Building relationships through video leads to customers wanting to stay on your website longer to learn even more about you, your products, services, and your people.
As I mentioned above, I work with a US-based plastic sheeting company that was interested in looking at a new way to promote their products. To do this, I began incorporating the Reels-style videos used on social media into their blogs as well. These videos feature their sales team members, are less than one minute long, and expand on a specific point made in the blog.
Previous blogs that did not contain video saw an average time on site of about one minute. When I added Reels videos to blogs, the blog time on site skyrocketed to about 5 minutes. That is a 400% improvement.
Adding video to this educational piece helped provide the audience with more information and also showed the expertise of the company’s team. Your website videos do not have to be limited to blogs. Adding videos to your Home page, About Us, and even a Testimonial page improves the user experience of your site and helps your audience trust your business more quickly.
Benefit 3: Video Increases Conversions
There are a variety of ways that you can use video to reach your customers at their peak purchasing moments. Once you’ve established a relationship with your audience through video, you’ll notice your web visitors will begin to stay on your site longer. This is your opportunity to educate them further. Now, they are confident in your business and your product and are in the prime purchase mindset.
In early 2020, I worked with a national logistics company that was trying to reach a large audience of small business owners across the United States. As part of that campaign, we created a series of videos that were embedded on their landing page, within blog posts, and used on multiple social media platforms.
The goal of the campaign was to speak to the shipping and packaging pain points that business owners were facing amid the retail boom during the pandemic. As a result of these YouTube videos, 100,000 new users flocked to this national logistics company’s website.
Over 400 business owners completed the “get a quote” form, told their stories on our landing page, and read the blogs sharing other customers’ experiences. This video-supported campaign received so much attention that this company outshined two of the top-performing sister companies in their international umbrella.
The key to improving your conversions using video is to show, not tell. People want to be educated and hear the stories behind your product and service. People tend to make a purchase after watching a company’s video. Viewers want to be captivated by how you can help resolve a need in their lives and how you have changed the lives of others.
Benefit 4: Small Business Video Marketing Improves SEO
At KWSM, we’ve helped many clients see the website benefits of adding video to their marketing.
Well-optimized videos placed on web pages, as part of an overall SEO campaign, can rank in search engines just like blog content. That’s because Google is now considering our appetite for video and placing this content in front of search audiences.
With proper titling and keyword optimization, your video can stand out in search results. The key is to answer questions in your video just like you would on your blog or an FAQ page on your website.
Imagine looking up “how to change a water filter in your refrigerator.” If you had the model number, you’d likely be able to pull up a diagram in the appliance’s manual. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to follow along if you could watch and listen to an expert walk you through the step-by-step process of changing that water filter?
Google and Bing search engines recognize this and give you the best of both worlds so that you can choose the medium of content you desire. This is the value of working with experienced video marketing agencies to develop a library of video content covering your products, services, FAQs, testimonials, and profiles of your employees.
YouTube has billions of monthly active users. Optimizing your videos on YouTube by adding keyword-rich descriptions and titles will help organic users find your content more easily. And the more helpful your content is to these users, the more likely you are to outrank your competition. This can even result in these viewers creating a backlink on their website to your video, thus building even more online authority.
Benefit 5: Videos Improve Email Marketing
Videos can be used and shared anywhere – including in your emails. Adding video to your e-blasts and email drip sequences improves the results of your email marketing. The average click rate for all industries is 2.62%. Creating interactive and engaging email content using video clips can help improve your CTR.
When adding a video to your email, keep it simple. Focus on a short, engaging clip that enhances the message within your email and entices users to click through to learn more.
Benefit 6: Video Reels Grow Your Social Media Presence
In 2023, Instagram announced it was going all in on Reels. The algorithm will now be pushing Reels content over longer form videos and static posts. Reels can also be utilized in multiple places including on Facebook and TikTok to promote your channels and engage with all of your audiences. If your goal is to improve your presence on social media, Reels are the key, no matter your industry. Reels will help give you better visibility with your current audience, better discoverability by new audience members, and more shareability for your content to further promote your business.
For some companies in a very technical niche, it can be difficult to explain exactly what you do through a paragraph on your website. Reels are a simple way to break up this information and create an entertaining and educational experience on your social media channels.
For companies looking for a creative way to showcase physical products, Reels can help you create a snappy demonstration of what you have to offer. Consumers want to see your products in action. They want to hear from other customers that benefited from your product or service and decide for themselves whether you are the solution they are looking for.
With short attention spans in mind, the sweet spot for Reels is actually under 15 seconds. With such a short amount of time to get your message across, every second counts. Use your Reels to showcase one product, or one service, tease a case study, introduce a new team member, launch a sale, or even show a quick day in the life of your business. Consider even turning your Reels into a series to keep users coming back for more.
Incorporating Video Into Your Business
Video marketing can be a powerful tool for your business. With the right clips, you can drive more customer engagement, increase conversions, and improve your website’s SEO and user experience.
91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands.
KWSM has an in-house video team that will help give your brand a human face and generate the results you’ve been looking for.
Complete the form below to contact us and learn more about adding video to your digital marketing strategy.
