According to an Animoto survey out of 1,000 marketers and 1,000 small business owners last year, 76 percent of those who used video marketing say it had a direct impact on their business. However, according to Buffer, many marketers “want to be making more video, but can’t.” The culprits? Lack of time and lack of money to invest in small business videos.
If you’re looking to get started with video marketing for your small business but are hesitant, I’ve got good news for you.
Creating great videos isn’t as hard as you think, and you probably already have everything you need to get started.
Read on for a list of three videos you can likely create today, complete with examples and tips for where to look for the photos, video clips and other assets you need to get started.
3 easy small business videos to make
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Product or service feature.
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Helpful tips and hints.
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Customer testimonials.
1. Product or service feature
What type of products does your business offer? Making a video about all of them might feel overwhelming, but how about making a video about just one of them? Odds are, you’ve got at least one product that already has photos, videos and an interesting story behind it.
Pro tip: If you don’t have content already lined up, here are some great tricks for using your mobile phone to create a video.
Nu-Era Bakery, a West Virginia bakery established in 1940, sells all sorts of baked goods. However, they decided to create a video about one specific item on their menu — the pepperoni roll. They created the video using a stock photo, a few video clips from their shop, and text describing the history behind the pepperoni roll. Then, they posted it to Facebook.
The results were overwhelming. The video was shared more than 4,000 times, and people from all over the country sent in requests, which resulted in the bakery setting up a website to ship their pepperoni rolls.
How to make it
Want to create small business videos like this for your own business? Start by thinking about which one of your products would be most interesting to feature. Then, gather photos and video clips of that product (as well as stock photos, if you need them).
Without having to appear on camera yourself, you can create a compelling video by stitching together your product photos and video clips with text describing the unique story behind your product.
If you offer a service rather than a product, think about photos that to represent the offering and use text to describe what you do. Not sure where to look for assets? Here are a few ideas:
- Snag photos from the product page of your online shop.
- Download photos you’ve shared on Facebook or other social media platforms.
- Purchase a few stock photos.
Then, string them all together. The type of editing software you use is up to you and your experience. From professional editing tools, to free options likely already present on your computer, to online video-editing apps and more, there are plenty of options to choose from.
2. Helpful hints and tips
Sharing a list of tips related to your business can be a fun way to reach potential customers and showcase your expertise, helping you stand out from your competitors. Here’s an example of a video created by Vanessa Joy, a wedding photographer serving the NYC and New Jersey market. The format is super-easy to make, and you could easily craft one of your own:
How to make it
Think about what type of tips you could provide that are relevant to your business and that an audience would care about. A real estate agent could create a video with five tips for new home buyers (or sellers); a winemaker could create a video featuring five perfect wine pairings; a clothing designer could share a video featuring five tips for finding a great pair of jeans — you get the idea.
As with your product or service video, you can rely on your own photos to put together your content. Find photos that you’ve previously shared on your website or social media. You could also simply use stock imagery to tell a compelling narrative.
Here’s an example of a stock-image video created by marketing strategist Kim Garst:
3. Customer testimonials
Customer testimonial videos are a great way to build trust with potential clients and customers. Hearing reviews from others who have had a positive experience working with you or buying from you can really put new customers at ease.
Many people think that you need to have a customer speak on camera in order to create a customer testimonial video. This isn’t the case.
More and more, businesses are using video to create roundups of some of their best reviews. Louise Kelly-Decker of Diane Turton Realtors shows how this can be done without customer facetime:
By pairing photos with snippets of great reviews from past clients, Louise demonstrates her prowess without having to jump through hoops to get her customers on camera.
How to make it
Odds are, you’ve received at least a handful of nice reviews from customers over the years. Choose several of your favorites and showcase them in a video alongside photos or video clips of your products and team.
Scour the web for your best reviews.
Maybe they came in through email, maybe they were posted on your Facebook page, maybe they were posted on Google, Yelp, Angie’s List or other review sites related to your particular business. If you do want a customer in front of the camera, try reaching out to a few of your favorite clients. You can offer a free product or perk in exchange for recording a video testimonial.
Final thoughts
As you can see, small business videos don’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. They can be quick, easy and fun! Need a little more video inspiration? Check out Animoto’s Social Video Bootcamp, a series of five easy video challenges designed to jumpstart your business’s social video marketing strategy.
