It depends on where you want to go. There are as many types of videos for business as there are cars on I-10 at rush hour. When you’re stuck in traffic, you can’t help noticing that some cars are old, some are new; some are fast, some are slow; some are sleek, some are unsightly; some are massive, some are so small they could fit inside a closet. Regardless of looks, cars are the
default mode of transportation.
Videos have become the default mode of transporting ideas, thanks in large part to smartphone cameras. If you find that hard to believe, consider Cisco’s report that predicts 82 percent of all internet traffic will be video by 2021.
Feel overwhelming? Take heart: Videos are excellent marketing tools. They increase engagement and ROI, and viewers retain them nine times better than written communication. You’re ahead of the game to be thinking about your video marketing program now.
The question is: Where to begin?
The first step is understanding the customer journey. People describe the customer journey in different ways, but it boils down to: Awareness that leads to interest, that leads to decision, that leads to action.
Your customer could encounter your business at any point in this lifecycle. Video marketing will help them know, like and trust you, moving them more quickly toward the desired outcome.
There are five major categories of business videos:
- Introduction
About Us, About Our Team, Brand Video - Validation – Third Party Proof
Testimonials, Expert Interviews - Simplify Customer Journey
Product Demos, Training, Onboarding, Process - Empowerment & Education
How-To’s, FAQs, Webinars, Tutorials, Expert Interviews - Establish Deeper Connection
Culture Videos, Behind the Scenes, Why Story, Creation Story,Thank You Videos
Each of these is an important part of the customer journey, but if you want to get into the HOV lane of communication and speed past your competition, you need to let storytelling take the wheel.
As humans, storytelling is our default communication mode. Not only are stories 22 times more memorable than data, they directly access the decision-making portion of the brain, activating emotion and creating connection and trust.
If you’re ready to get in the fast lane, you can’t simply make videos. You must tell stories.
There are four key elements of good storytelling:
- Emotion: People buy with emotion. One Harvard study showed that people who viewed a moving video of a father and son were more willing to give money to a stranger. The goal of every story is to create an emotion. You must know what emotion your customer needs to feel.
- Relatability: Familiarity and relatability speed up trust and build loyalty. Have you ever felt attracted to or loyal to someone who shares your experience of pain, joy, values or goals? You can build loyalty with your customers by telling stories that evoke a shared emotion.
- Technique: There’s a lot of technique that goes into videography and storytelling. For now, focus on the process of building your narrative arc. There are more than 40 variations of the narrative arc. In its simplest format it is: A character + A problem + A response + A resolution = A Story.
Start with the basic formula and improvise from there. - Clear and Authentic Voice: Your mission, your why and your authentic voice should come through in your stories. People don’t want another generic marketing message. They crave connection and purpose. You can give that to them by developing a clear and authentic voice.
Now that you know the types of videos to create and the elements of good storytelling, it’s time to choose your first video. The best place to begin is with a piece that inspires the customer to take action and purchase your product or service.
A variety of videos can do that. Take, for instance, “No Small Thing,” an About Me video that I created for NAWBO. The video tells the story of my journey as a Korean woman who overcame the odds to follow my dream.
This piece doesn’t mention anything about working with me, but it served as one of the best conversion tools for my business.
Why? Because when people see my story, they immediately relate to the struggle in it, creating connection and trust, which leads to action, which leads to new business.
You can do the same by applying the principles I shared with you today.
Helen (Hyun Lee) Kim is the owner of Blue Lemon Productions.
