By Diane Strand
April 2009

Using a video to market your business is one of the most powerful ways to communicate your message to current and potential clients. A video can inform, educate and explain your business and services unlike any other marketing propaganda. It allows the message to be clear to your end targets while engaging them completely. People in today’s world remember more when things are seen and not just explained.

Why should you consider adding video to your marketing mix?

• Boost comprehension and retention by 50% over just a live presentation
• Show prospects how you perform, to demonstrate quality, integrity and precision
• Explain or demonstrate complicated products, to ensure your message gets through completely and accurately
• Distinguish your product with motion or sound, so its benefits are seen and heard
• Bring your product or service right to potential clients at their convenience
• Share great testimonials and expert endorsements
• Reap the benefit of higher staying power; print pieces are often tossed upon receipt
• Make your marketing more personal
• Save the environment; video marketing is green

For those of you who like statistics

• A video expedites buying decisions by 72% versus print
• 97% of videos are watched at some point
• Six times as many people prefer video to printed material
• Some studies suggest that 94% of videos are passed along to another viewer

In today’s economy, it’s prudent to continue to market to reassure your current clients you’re still around and let your potential clients know who you are. While video might initially seem more expensive, in the long run it’s the most economical solution. A video lasts 2-3 years before major updating or changes are needed. And a video has multiple uses, including on your website, inserted into a blog, as a CD-ROM or DVD leave-behind or give-away, and as material for a presentation or pitch.

Here are a few video marketing suggestions and their benefits

• Add streaming video to your website.
  - Watching a video is easier than reading a block of text.
• Use video for television or online advertising, promotion or communication.
  - Video offers a stronger sense of credibility to advertisers.
  - Television advertising strengthens your brand.
  - Good online videos go viral, allowing you to captivate a larger audience.
  - Internet users click on videos’ “play” buttons more than they click on image ads.
• Use video for your trade show booth.
  - Draw people into your world.
  - Keep potential clients entertained while you’re talking to other booth visitors.
• Send video e-mails.
  - In a matter of seconds, everyone on your mailing list can be watching your video.
• Distribute your video and company messages on interactive DVDs or CD-ROMs.
  - Brochures and flyers are more expensive per unit to reproduce and/or update.
• Employ videos for training or as a hiring tool.
  - Training videos lead to increased employee retention and lower workers’ comp rates.
  - Promote your business to potential employees.
  - New hire orientation videos are good for telling the history/story of the company.

Using video to market and promote your business will provide the best visibility possible and raise your company profile. Because videos instill trust and confidence in any target audience, it’s the most important tool a business needs to survive and grow.