Episode 1: Creating Videos that Convert to Business

What makes a video work? Why does one work and the other doesn't? How do you get people to click, and how do you get your videos to make money?

I recently launched a three-part video series to explore those questions – it’s called Videos That Convert. This blog post will give you a taste of what I covered in the first episode. I’m hoping this post will entice you to watch the video.

Okay, to answer the question, “What makes a video work?” we’re going to break it up into two smaller ones:

• What is video best at?
• What do we want to talk about?

Let’s start by busting a myth

The myth is that video is too hard or too expensive. The reality is that most people overestimate the effort that goes into video and they underestimate the return they’re going to get on their investment.

There is so much you can do with even a single video without a massive budget or a ton of time. You just need to make sure your goals are aligned with the things video does best:

• Getting someone's attention and engaging them. Nothing does that as well as video does.
• Connecting with someone on a personal level. Video conveys things like facial expressions and tone of voice, allowing you to make a personal connection.
• Making you feel something. You can use music, dramatic locations, a fancy voice over, so many ways to evoke emotion...
• Entertaining people. Videos excite people. What sounds more fun, “Read this PDF” or “Watch this!”
• Explaining complex things concisely. Nothing beats video at that.

So what do you want to talk about?

Now let's look at that other question: what do we actually want to talk about? Things like your new product release, solutions that you offer, your latest content, your white paper, your upcoming events? Uh-uh. You can talk about that stuff, but don't lead with it.

Start with something that people can relate to. Connect with your audience on some level first. One of the easiest ways to do this is to talk about common challenges that people in your industry have. Ask your sales team; ask your support team – they hear about customer pain points day in and day out.

There are lots of other ways to create that connection, too, and I talk about them in the full episode. But right now I just want to focus on the main point, you need to start with something they can relate to. THEN and only then have you earned the right to talk about your product and your solutions.

So I just used about 500 words of text on a page to scratch the surface of a topic that video is perfect for. Remember when I said earlier that nothing beats video for explaining things? Well, don’t just take my word for it – watch episode one of Videos That Convert.