Does My Business Need Professional Video Production?
5 signs it's time to invest in video
By: Peter Gray
If “a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video has to be worth at least 1.8 million words
~ James McQuivey, Ph.D
In 2021, organizations needed professional video for several reasons. It often served as a necessary replacement for in-person events like auctions, award ceremonies, live performances, and sales meetings. Even as live events made a comeback, the value of video did not go away.
Video is an Asset
Many of our clients realized that video is a valuable asset in enhancing an in person experience and expanding the virtual audience.
As video has become more and more prevalent in marketing, you may find yourself asking whether your business needs video. If that is the case, then I would like to extend a formal congratulations; you have come to the right place!
Mastering the use of video is essential in learning how to do marketing for small businesses. Today, we’ll go over five signs that it’s time for your business to invest in professional video production.
1. You want to remind customers who you are.
2. You are releasing a new product or service.
3. You need to recruit and hire new employees
4. You want to enhance SEO (search rankings)
5. You want to increase brand awareness
1. Reminding customers who you are
It can be incredibly difficult to encapsulate all that your company stands and strives for through just text and pictures. This is where the mission video comes into play. The mission video is an opportunity to explain the who, what, and why behind your organization. It often lives on a home or “about” page and will increase both traffic and time spent on your website.
In a later section, we have more to say about the mission video.
The TV commercial below is an example of a short mission video. This project is unique because it is what advertisers call a “30 second spot”. This time limitation forces businesses to focus on what is most important to them. For the Harmon, it was their ties to the community along with their menu and local beer offerings.
2. Releasing a new product or service
In the days of brick and mortar stores, consumers were able to touch, feel, taste, smell, and try out your offering. Now that we are all too lazy to go anywhere, we need to bring that in-store experience to the customer.
Whether you have been in business for a decade or are just opening up shop, video is a great way to introduce a new offering. It has been proven many times over that text and pictures aren’t enough to educate a consumer.
Video’s rhythmic, visual, and auditory elements combine to create a more engaging and memorable experience.
There is a reason they called it “Show and Tell”, not just “Tell”.
Don’t just tell your customers why they should buy your cutting edge toaster, show them how easy and enjoyable it is to toast your frozen bagel.
Video can not only entertain and educate your audience, but most importantly, it builds trust. Seeing is believing for today’s consumer, so take advantage of that with a video!
Below is an example of a video highlighting yoga studio’s teacher training offering.
3. Recruiting and hiring
Customers and potential employees have a lot in common. You must show and tell a potential employee what the job is like, earn their trust, and explain the benefits of employment in an entertaining way.
This is a specific area where we definitely recommend a professional video company. Low quality, shaky video that is poorly made will send the wrong message to job seekers. The same goes for customers!
Gray Media offers content creation services for small and large businesses across a wide spectrum of industries. If you have any video needs, reach out today!
Over the past year, we have produced a handful of recruiting videos. Below you’ll find videos produced for NWHS and Proliance Puget Sound Orthopaedics. These are two very different businesses with the same goal of hiring the best talent.
In early March, we had the opportunity to produce content for MultiCare Foundation’s Corks and Crush event. Virtual auctions had been a reality for almost a year at that point and we felt that the video content had to be interesting and entertaining.
Keeping with the Corks and Crush theme, we felt that some cinematic wine footage would be a great way to keep the audience guessing. It was also a plus that we were able to use only wine from sponsoring vineyards for the event.
Along with wine footage, we spent a full day filming with radio personality and former Seahawk, Damon Huard, who previewed several of the auction items for the event. Prior to this, we had only filmed a handful of Puyallup video production projects, and this was certainly a highlight for us.
Check out this teaser video we put together ahead of the Corks and Crush event!
4. Enhancing SEO (search rankings)
SEO (search engine optimization) relates to your website’s organic (not paid) visibility on search engines like google. Google takes into account several factors in how to rank search results. One big factor is time spent on the website. Video has shown to increase this metric by 260%, making it a must for any SEO effort.
Another factor contributing to SEO is backlinks (links to your website). If your video is high quality and relevant, the likelihood that it receives backlinks is a lot higher!
If you are a local business that needs to enhance your visibility on local google searches, reach out! We can put you in touch with the PNW’s finest SEO wizards.
5. Increasing Brand Awareness
Sometimes, you just want the community to get to know you a little better. This is another case where the “mission” video comes in handy. This video may include leadership, employees, and customers.
Remember, the mission video is your chance to tell people what you do and why.
When planning this video, here are a few questions you may consider.
- What do you want people to feel after they watch?
- Who is your audience?
- What do they want or need?
- How are you fulfilling that need?
- What makes your company different from the rest?
The last piece, differentiation, is key. Every business should have some point of differentiation that sets them apart from the competition. One of our competitive advantages is that we take a unique approach to every project.
We do not believe in a “one size fits all” methodology. And all along the process, we keep our client’s goals at the forefront of our efforts.
If you find your business ready to invest in the asset that is video marketing, reach out and we’d love to help you meet your goals!