30 Tips for Increased Website Traffic Using Video: Parts 11-20

Video has been around on the Internet since broadband connection became commonplace, but its purpose was strictly entertainment. More recently, it has begun appearing as a substitute for printed User Guides and as either a substitute for, or addition to, the traditional website sales letter.

It’s the author’s firm opinion that a well written and complete printed User Guide is far superior to a video and that those who use video as a substitute for writing a guide are just being lazy. Once you’ve got the software, adding a commentary while demonstrating the product is dead simple. And the results are (usually) simply awful.

But … video to sell a product, to demonstrate its features, that’s a different story. After all, they’ve been doing it with television commercials for years. Even so, some commercials are stinkers. Here’s the next 10 tips to make sure yours aren’t:

11. Keep your video professional
Nothing does more to turn off a consumer than a bad quality video. You want to present your video in a professional way that tells the consumer that you are a professional and not some novice trying to sell junk. Your video is representative of you and your product, so keep it professional.

12. Do not overwhelm the consumer
While you want to provide a good overview of your product, you do not want to throw so much information at the consumer that they tune it out. Keep it simple and stick to the basic facts for the best presentation that won’t chase away the consumer. One of the problems you face is that nearly all products seem complex the first time you use them. Don’t overwhelm your prospect with everything your product can do. Stick to the main features.

13. Tailor the video to your target market
You need to always keep the consumer in mind when creating your video. Do not use complex language that your target market would not understand. At the same time do not talk down to them or otherwise treat them in a way that is not appropriate for the market you are in.

14. Get creative
While you want to keep your video simple, you still want it to be exciting. Get creative and come up with ideas and slants that will sell your product in a compelling way. You want to present a video that is going to be fun to watch. Think outside of the box.

15. Place it wisely
Where you place your video on your website can mean the difference between success and failure. You want to make sure that you put it where it will be seen. It should get prominent placement. If you’re selling by video, your visitors expect to see it front and center.

16. Stick with one basic message
You want to make your video very precise. You need to find a single, powerful message and create the video around that one message. Nothing will confuse the consumer more than a video with multiple messages. You can make other videos with different messages, but it is important that each video has only one message.

17. Do not forget to edit
I am sure that anything you write gets edited. The same needs to be done with video. You need to watch it and make sure it flows and makes sense. You need to make sure that it comes across the way you wanted and that it is overall a good video that people would want to watch. Get others you trust to critique it for you.

18. Test your video
You want to try out your video and keep tabs on how well it is doing. You will need to come up with testing methods that allow you to see if consumers are watching it all the way through, getting enough information from it, enjoying it and most importantly, that it is influencing sales.

19. Give options to the consumer
The consumer should be able to fast forward, rewind and adjust the sound on the video. You want to give the consumer these options so they can feel that they are in control. Additionally, you want the consumer to be able to replay the video and adjust the sound so they can hear it clearly.

20. Change your video on occasion
You should have a few different videos to present. You want to try out different videos by changing them from time to time. You may find that one video out performs the others by doing this. Make sure all your analytics are in place.