How-To Videos - Cheap Marketing Videos that Work
I blew a bike tire again. Third time this summer. You’d think after the second time I’d be an old pro at fixing a tire. I’m not. So I walked my bike home the last two blocks and did what I’ve done the two times before, I went to YouTube and searched for, “How to Fix a Bike Tire Flat.”
The key words here are, “How To!” You might not realize this but, “How To” is just another phrase for training video. Think about it. How often do you go to YouTube and start your search with a form of, “How To?”
How Do I…
How Do You…
What is the Best Way To…
How Can I…
Back to the flat tire. This time I ended up on a video by Trek Bicycle. This video right here.
It’s pretty simple really to fix a flat. But for some reason, I just didn’t want to fix my own tire. So I put the tire in my car and drove two and half miles to the Trek Bike store in my home town. Whoa! Even though this video, produced by Trek, showed me how to fix my own tire, I still chose to visit Trek and pay them money to fix my tire.
How-To videos are marketing gold! They are relatively cheap to produce and provide valuable content to your customers. These videos establish you as an expert and keep you at the top of mind of your customer. Heck, I don’t even own a Trek but still brought my bike there to be fixed.
Why Are “How To” Videos So Effective?
First, they answer your customer’s most basic questions. If your customers don’t have an easy way to answer these questions, they can become frustrated. Providing them this content for free makes them happy. You also establish credibility with your customers if you show them how to do things for which you might normally charge. Changing a bike flat isn’t tough. Most serious bikers do it themselves and don’t need the help of a video. But we novice riders need a little guidance. This video was great. And it brought me into a Trek shop.
For marketing professionals, How-To videos are effective because they are actually sales tools. But they are the kind of sales tools today’s customers want! They’re not “salesy.” They aren’t pushy. Well, they shouldn’t be these things. If you decide to create several How-To videos, I strongly recommend you don’t constantly mention your brand, throw your logo all over the screen or keep your website address up the entire time. Don’t! Just don’t! It’s ok at the end of the video to direct people to your website, other videos or your location, but be subtle. Remember, people don’t want to be sold to these days.
Let’s face it, people don’t read manuals anymore. They lose them. They throw them away. They even use them to help start their campfires. So having your “manual” in a video form will save you and your customers a lot of headaches. How? Your customers won’t call you up constantly asking you how to attach this or remove that? They will check YouTube or your site first. If they don’t see it in video form, they will either call you or just walk away upset.
How Much Does a How-to Video Cost?
How-To videos are a great return on investment. Just speaking from what I’ve charged, you can get an easy no frills yet effective How-to video starting at $500. Now hold on. There is a catch here. This cost would mean you did several How-To videos at one time keeping the cost per video down. (This is a different blog entirely so feel free to reach out for more info.)
You usually don’t need to hire professional on-camera talent. It’s one of the few times where using in-house voice talent might be ok but I still usually recommend hiring a professional voice talent. How-to videos usually don’t require weeks to shoot. And they don’t usually require Hollywood style productions.
Plus, How-to videos have a much longer shelf life than other types of videos. If you have a product that doesn’t change, or changes very little, your video can be good for five years or maybe longer. Yes, hair styles and fashion might change but the content will still be good.
How Long Should My How-To Video Be?
The beauty of How-To videos is you are not tied to an expected length. Social media has trained people to think videos need to be 5-seconds, 10-seconds, maybe 30-seconds long. For How-To videos, your video should be as long as it needs to be. But not any longer. That means, if it takes 10-minutes to explain your process, take 10-minutes. But, don’t take 11-minutes. Say what you need to say and that’s it.
In the old days, I used to advise people to say the steps three times so the viewers would remember it. Now, viewers are usually following along so they are going to pause your video at each step. Say what you need to say once, show it and move on.
Here is an example of a video I produced for BASF on how to apply their MasterSeal 1500 product. We shot this in a day. We used their product manager as the voice talent because most of their customers know him. The voice, lighting, and maybe some of the shots aren’t perfect but they don’t need to be. What matters most is the content. Does this video help contractors use the product? That is what matters.
Why You Should Consider How-To Videos? - They Sell!!
Remember way back at the beginning of this blog when I was talking about blowing a bike tire? And remember I said I brought my bike into the Trek shop to have them fix my tire? Well, I also bought a helmet for my wife and a new tire pump. I didn’t plan on that but I did. And that’s why companies create How-To videos. They are awesome marketing tools. If you’re considering video but don’t know where to start, or are trying to figure out your next video content campaign, I strongly recommend How-To videos.
For more proof, check out the YouTube channel at Goorin Brothers Hats. They produce a lot of videos. Awesome! Look at the viewers. The videos that say “How-To” or that show their customers how to do something have the most hits. This video I produced has 96-thousand views. Remember, How-To videos grab the right videos. Not too many people start watching a How-To video for the heck of it. They have a reason.
Agile Video has been producing How-to and Training videos in some form since before the iPhone was even a concept. (I’m guessing.) I’m always open to chat all-things video. Hit me up.