Video marketing is still the king of the hill when it comes to driving clicks and sales.

The numbers don’t lie. According to Social Media Today:

  • 72% of consumers prefer to watch a video to learn about a product or service.
  • 78% of consumers watch a video online at least once a week, and 55% do so once a day.
  • Viewers retain 95% of a video’s message after watching it.
  • 93% of businesses retain a new customer when they post a video on social media.
  • Companies that use video as part of their marketing efforts experience 49% faster growth than companies that don’t use video.

Since video is easier and more affordable to produce than ever before, below are five types of video marketing you should try.

#1: Product and Service Demo Videos

People need to understand how a product or service works – and how it will benefit them – before they buy it. I’m sure you feel that way, too. It’s human nature. If you don’t grasp a product’s significance or how it can help you, you’re not going to spend your money on it.

For that reason, demo videos are a cornerstone of an effective video marketing strategy. Product demo videos are straightforward, but you should keep the following in mind:

  • If the product requires assembly, include a demonstration in the video.
  • Show the most common uses for the product.
  • If there are alternate uses, include those, too.
  • Consider adding instructions about caring for or cleaning the product.

If you sell a service, the rules are a little different. Your video should include:

  • An overview of the service
  • A step by step review of what the service includes
  • A service walk-through to let potential clients know what they’ll be getting if they sign up

Demo videos should be posted on your website as close to the point-of-sale as possible. You may also want to put them on a dedicated landing page, your blog, and your social media profiles.

#2: Testimonial Videos 

Customer reviews are important in every industry, but a testimonial from a client or customer can carry far more weight than an ordinary review.

Testimonials tend to include more detailed information than reviews. They give you a chance to highlight the specific things you did for a client and the specific ways your product benefited them. You can also encourage customers who provide testimonials to talk about their experience with your company including customer service and tech support.

In other words, testimonial videos give potential leads a detailed look at the customer experience your company provides – and they can help to overcome many of the most common buyer objections, allowing you to make more sales.

#3: Brand Story Videos

What is your brand’s story? Consumers want to identify with the brands they support. You can help them identify with you by sharing a customer-centric brand story that lets them visualize how you can help them.

In other words, you’re not telling your origin story as much as you are outlining the customer’s journey in an entertaining and compelling way. This kind of marketing has become increasingly popular.

Your job, when creating a brand story video, is to make your customer – that is, the person watching the video – into the hero. To do that, you’ll need to:

  • Identify the most common problems you solve
  • Create a story arc to show how your product or service solves the problem
  • Encourage the viewer to see themselves in whatever success story you’re presenting

Another way to look at this kind of video is as a pre-testimonial – a fictionalized version of what a customer’s life could look like if they buy your product or use your service.

#4: Frequently Asked Questions Video

We all know about frequently asked questions (FAQ). It’s the section on every website where customers’ most common questions are asked and answered. These days, FAQs are also a great way to improve your SEO, since questions and voice search go together like milk and cookies.

FAQ videos don’t need to answer every question in a single video. Instead, you should consider doing a series of short videos that answer one question or several related ones in an entertaining way.

If you want to get creative with this type of video, you could do a whiteboard video or even an animated video illustrating the answer to your FAQs. There’s no reason that an informational video can’t be entertaining, too.

#5: Personalized Sales Videos 

This last idea won’t work for every business, but it provides a way to hook potential leads. Instead of sending a lead a generic, one-size-fits-all video, you can send leads a video that is personalized.

Personalized sales videos should:

  • Address the prospect by name.
  • Highlight the specific ways your product or service can help them.
  • Add information that will help the prospect overcome any objections they might have to buying your product or using your service.

Keep in mind that this type of video doesn’t need to have a huge production value. It should feel like you or your salesperson is speaking directly to the prospect, giving them valuable information that will help them understand the benefits of doing business with you.

The message that a personalized sales video sends is that you care deeply about your customers. If you’re willing to shoot a personalized video before a prospect is even a client, it makes them feel that you’ll deliver exemplary customer service after they invest their time and money.

Video marketing isn’t going anywhere; in fact, its power is intensifying. You can produce videos without spending a lot of money, and once you have created a video, it can be posted anywhere you post content online, including your website, blog, and social media pages.

Of course, if you try these methods, you can blend them with cool video technology such as 360-video, virtual reality, or live video. Your focus should always be on creating the kind of video content that’s most likely to convert leads into paying customers.