We love making videos. Documentaries, short films, adverts and parodies are what we live for – but what about the humble instructional video? The last time you needed to know how to do something like get a stain out of your carpet, the chances are you went online and started typing ‘how to get a stain out of carpet’. Sound familiar? We use instructional videos for day to day tasks, so your company should definitely consider a few for your website. Here are a few thoughts on the subject…
Pros
Looking at the bigger picture, videos are actually a cost effective way to get information across to your customers or even employees without having to meet face to face. We know the value of meeting clients in the real world to get a sense of what they need and to show that they can trust your brand, but sometimes an instructional video can help fill in the gaps for less formal communication. For example, are you always getting phone calls enquiring about some of the basic aspects of your product? Maybe you are a computer maintenance company who is frequently tied up with small jobs that could be solved on site if only the users new a few basic troubleshooting tips. Making a short instructional video explaining how to solve these problems will save time in phone calls, labour and paperwork, and people can be directed to the video whenever they have a problem. If they still can’t solve the issue then you know that there is a genuine maintenance issue for you to take care of.
FREE GUIDE: 5 Types of Video to Improve Your Business
Cons
Depending on the subject matter, instructional videos can be a little hard to watch. Obviously unveiling the ‘how-to’ of the latest smart phone is going to be relatively more interesting that the latest sink plunger on the market, so if your product is cool and exciting then you definitely have a chance at keeping your viewer interested. Long and detailed videos aren’t necessarily out of the question, but these are more likely to cater to a specific niche and not your entire customer base, so shorter instructional videos tend to be more bearable. Watching someone explain how to do something can become a little tiresome after a while, so using actual footage of people doing things will paint a more appealing and altogether more helpful guide for the user.
How-to videos can also be repetitive, as many subjects have been covered by other brands or amateurs on You Tube. Try searching for the video you are planning on making and see how others have handled the subject. If you see a few common mistakes then take your opportunity to make something better. If they all do the job quite well then maybe there’s no need for you to reinvent the wheel and should look at creating a more exciting video about another aspect of your brand.
Some interesting statistics
52% of customers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in their purchasing decisions
Research also shows that 3 out of 5 customers will spend at least 2 minutes watching a product video
Retail sites with video increase conversion by 30%
Cisco survey of US and UK consumers finds that shoppers prefer to research products online prior to making in-store purchases and recommends making video content
