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Videos. Why?

Nov 21, 2016

Content marketing has taken the world by storm and that content is mainly in video format. Consumers watch at least two videos per day and most of that watching is happening on their mobile device. No, they are not all Millennials. People, in general, have moved to video consumption. Remember the line: A picture is worth a thousand words? Well, according to Digital Trends Marketing Analyst Dr. James McQuivey, a video is worth 1.8 million. So how did that happen? Like all organic trends happen.

Reading articles takes time. If the reader is not hooked in the first few lines, they will stop reading. Video is similar, but it is actually easier to grab your viewer in the first few seconds with the right image and message.

In a world where everything competes for our time, videos win because they are so easy to consume, so long they are engaging of course. Once able to get people to your Web site, a great way for them to stay more time on it is by having videos. Most people will watch short videos, but people who are interested in something will watch a longer video. Have you done it? I have too. What you need is engaging, informative content. People come to your website looking for a service or product. Give them what they want to see. Don’t know? Think of what you look for when you visit a Web page. The idea is that you build trust by sharing a little bit about your company and product or service. People want to know who you are and they are looking for reasons to like you and trust you. That’s why they are on your Web site.

Share six different sets of videos:

►Employee videos: Show why your employees love to work there. Why they’re passionate about their product or service and how valued they feel as part of the organization. Why? Because having employees who look happy to work there speaks so highly of the company. These are the people customers are going to be dealing with. These are the people who will end up handling their account.

►Product videos: Show your product under a big picture mentality with the ‘this is why you need it’ approach and let people try it for a limited time. Why? People like to try things before they buy them. Give them enough to satisfy their need. If you and they are the right, they will come back for more.

►About our company videos: Share with your existing and potential customers the people behind the “thinking machine.” Every company has a great story to tell as to how it got started. Why? Because people love to see the beginnings of a great company. Most companies started in a living room or garage. Share that story. It is humbling and it makes people gain great respect.

►Testimonial videos: Of course you have happy customers. Everyone does. Ask them if they would be willing to go on camera talking about your service or product. Good questions to keep in mind when doing testimonial videos are:

►How has the product/service changed the way you do business?

►How has that reflected financially?

►What do you love about it and why?

►Why would you recommend it?

These are great questions whose answers guarantee a picture of your company.

►How to videos: How to videos would get your content a lot of playing time and therefore a lot of traffic to your site (people sharing). If you are asking yourself, what kind of “How To” videos, think outside the box. Other than the obvious uses of your product/service, what other ideas would be of interest to your viewers. If you produce butter, there are only so many things you can talk about: Its nutritional value, organic source and great price. How about giving lots of recipes with it? Arts and crafts with it?

►Thank you videos: Yes, thank you for your time and explaining the top two reasons why they should go with your product or service. You can keep a generic one on your site and you can also make a personalized one and embed in an e-mail. BomBomb.com is a great way to start using this new trend. If you are not getting answers to your e-mails from your prospects, stop sending e-mails. Send a personalized video and watch your response rate go higher.

Here are some stats by experts in this field:

►“Viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10 percent when reading it in text.” (Insivia Reports)

►“Internet video traffic will be 69 percent of all global consumer Internet traffic in 2017.” (Cisco)

►“Ninety-two percent of shoppers say visuals are the most influential factor affecting purchase decisions.” (Vouchercloud)

►“Seventy-nine percent of all global consumer Internet traffic will come from video by 2018.” (Cisco)

How about a live stream?
Yes, that makes people feel part of the success. I recently received an e-mail from a company I had bought an environmentally safe product for my dog during flea season. They said they were going to be on the popular ABC Show Shark Tank and wanted to share a live video stream of it with all their customers and anyone who wanted to show up and join in. They had a great turnout. Sure. People went for the food, music and networking, but more than anything to support their new “Famous Friend” and to join in the ‘overnight’ success. People like to support things they believe in, causes, companies, people, etc.

The point of having all these videos is to share who you are with the world and once you have done that you expose yourself to people forming an opinion about your company and product or service. The relationship with your potential customers starts to build without you even knowing it. People start to feel like they know you.

All relationships are based in trust. Your videos start to build that trust painting a picture of who you are, what you offer and how you offer it. Video away! How? Hiring a company that does videos is your best bet. However, if money is an issue, video has come a long way and as you see in commercials, things shot with your most recent mobile phone can be nicely edited. Request the help of a teenager in your home to see what they can do. You can come up with the idea, tell them what you envision as an end product and see what they can produce. As long your video is entertaining and informative, you will have people watching and sharing before you know it. 



Elizabeth Morales is the business development director for Applied Business Software, a leader in private lending loan servicing software. She has a proven record in senior operational roles and is known as an inspirational leader and a data-driven marketer. She has created full scale marketing platforms, handles media, public relations and brand management for ABS; a strategic planner and forward thinker. Elizabeth has a bachelor of arts in Spanish Literature and a masters in Business Administration. She may be reached by phone at (562) 279-7424 or e-mail [email protected].



This article originally appeared in the July 2016 print edition of National Mortgage Professional Magazine. 

About the author
Published
Nov 21, 2016
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