Best Types of Videos for Small Businesses
As a business owner, there are many different daily tasks that you need to juggle. The one task that all small business owners need to focus on, regardless of the industry, is marketing. When it comes to small business marketing, however, getting started can be a bit of a challenge. With social media, SEO, content marketing, advertising, email marketing (the list goes on and on), it can be difficult to figure out where exactly to start. In today’s digital world, though, video has become king, and is something all small businesses should be doing, even if it’s just shot on your iPhone. With so many types of videos, however, choosing which type of video to make for you small business can also be extremely challenging. In this article, I’ve highlighted a few of the best types of videos for small businesses to help make the decision process easy, and get your business’s video production game off on the right foot.
Corporate “About Us” Video
Corporate videos aren’t just for massive companies with cubicles and 9-5 work hours. Any business can benefit from them. The term corporate video is kind of vague, however, as it includes a variety of different video types. This vagueness can make a lot of small business owners skip over corporate-style videos, as they don’t necessarily see the need for this type of content in their marketing plan. A corporate video, however, is arguably the first type of video small business owners should make.
More specifically, an “About Us” video is the first video you should make. Why? Because an About Us video is the type of video that can live on your website for years, be utilized on all of your social media channels, and even be shown in advertising campaigns, at trade shows and other events.
About Us videos typically showcase the small business owner speaking directly into the camera, explaining their products / services, showcasing how they stand out in the market, and sharing their company’s story. These videos are also typically filled out with clips of the company’s products / services in action, their employees working, or even scenes of their office / manufacturing facility space.
About Us videos are also generally short (1-2 minutes). This is key so that potential customers can quickly gain an understanding of who you are and what your business is all about before losing interest.
Once complete, your company website’s homepage is the perfect place for your About Us video to live so that, if potential customers only watch this video when they reach your webpage and explore nothing else, they will gain a good understanding of what you offer.
Explainer Video
An explainer video is another type of corporate video that isn’t meant for just large companies. Explainer videos are great pieces of content for showing how exactly your products and / or services work. They also help you address customer pain points right away, and show how your products and / or services can help them.
Think about the customer journey. Before purchasing a product, a lot of potential customers will of course research potential businesses to learn more about them (this is where your “About Us” video comes in handy), and then, once they are interested in what you offer, they will generally seek out reviews to make sure you can actually deliver.
Why not provide potential clients with a video explaining how your product and / or service works, and how it can benefit them right on your website or social media accounts? This will also help you answer some frequently asked questions about your products and / or services, and provide a similar experience that a customer would have while reading online reviews.
Again, these videos don’t need to be long. A 1 minute explainer video should be enough to showcase what your product does and how it benefits the customer.
Short Form Vertical Videos
Let’s face it. Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts is huge. And we’ve all scrolled through them at some point or the other (I’ve already looked through some Instagram Reels today). This means that there are a lot of potential customers on these platforms who could be gaining a firsthand look at your products / services, company and story.
Your move? Record some 7-15 second clips. That’s all you need. And they can be shot literally on your iPhone. Sure, high production value will make your short form vertical videos stand out more, but it’s not necessary to get started. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube even have in-app editing features so that you can splice your videos together without needing to purchase any fancy video editing software.
But what kind of short form vertical videos should you make? Well, you could make some abbreviated versions of the explainer videos I discussed above, showcasing very quickly what your product is and how it works. You could also show some lifestyle clips of your products in action. This works great for all types of retail industries, such as food & beverage, health & fitness, travel, etc. You could also show behind the scenes clips of your office space, a day in the life as an entrepreneur, or you could even have clips of your employees providing educational advice about your products and / or industry.
Remember, the name of the game with social media, and, in particular, short form vertical videos, is to create scroll-stopping videos that people want to engage with through comments, shares and saves. So make sure your videos provide your potential clients with as much value as possible, in the shortest amount of time possible.
A Scroll-Stopping Video Ad
I will say up front that a video ad does require a bit more of a budget, as it typically needs more planning, production costs and advertising fees. But video ads can be very effective at marketing your product, and, in turn, generating a profit for your business.
Think about most TV commercials. They are generally fairly short (30-45 seconds). The key is to create an ad that stops potential customers in their tracks, holds their attention for the entire video and sparks an interest in your product or service. Creating a video ad that does all of that is a tricky task, and generally requires the assistance of an experienced video marketing team to pull off.
This is why I’ve put it last on the list of best types of videos for small businesses. Video ads can be highly effective at generating revenues for small businesses, however they will typically cost more to produce than other types of videos. As mentioned above, short form vertical videos can be shot on your own phone, while About Us videos and Explainer videos are much simpler, and require less production and post-production efforts, keeping costs lower.
When your small business’s budget allows for it, though, a video ad is a powerful marketing tool that can help reach new customers, and should definitely be considered. You don’t need to make TV commercials either. Remember how I said everyone is scrolling through videos on social media these days? You can make short form video ads that play on Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. You essentially pay an advertising budget amount to have those platforms showcase your video ad to your targeted audience as they scroll through the apps. You’d also typically include a link back to your website or product page so that customers can gain a further understanding of who you are and what you offer.
The key to a successful social media video ad is the same as making organic short form vertical videos. You need to create scroll stopping videos that hook your audiences’ attention. That way, potential customers may visit your website after viewing your ad, follow your social media accounts to stay in the loop on your products, or subscribe to your email list.
Either way, video ads provide your business with a level of reach that, in most cases, can’t be beat by organic traffic, but, again, that comes with a cost.
Toronto Corporate Videos and Video Marketing
If you’re ready to incorporate more video marketing into your overall marketing strategy, and are looking for high quality video production, I offer Toronto corporate videos and video marketing services to help you easily make About Us videos, explainer videos, short form vertical videos and video ads for your products and / or services. Reach out today to set up a discovery call to learn more, or ask me about my video packages!