Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 When I think about product demonstration, I link it to the 1950s salesmen going from door to door. Luckily, marketing has changed quite a bit and you can now reach millions of people with one message. With video, you can do the same product demonstrations as in the 1950s, but without the endless traveling and doors in your face. Still, product demonstration videos need to be professional and of high quality; otherwise, people will click away immediately and throw the online door in your face. That is not as painful, but it does not help your sales. To harness the power of product demonstration videos, you do not need to make a massive investment. You just need to adopt the right principles, as simple – but professional – videos often have the same power as professional commercials. This blog will show that product demonstration videos enable better conversion opportunities, list 5 reasons why videos should be an important part of your marketing mix, and reveal how you can simply create product demonstration videos in 6 steps. Conversion opportunities with product demonstration videos Matt Aunger of Buffer has collected 6 stats that urge you to use video as a marketing tool. Video generates 3x as many monthly visitors to a website as other content. Visitors spend 88% more time on a website that includes video. Organic traffic from search engines increases by 157% with video. Consumers are 46% more likely to seek information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video. Consumers are 85% more likely to buy after watching a product video. Consumers have 57% more confidence in their online purchase with video. If you do not have a product demonstration video on your website targeting the right audience yet, you should post a high-quality video soon. 5 reasons why video should be an important part of your marketing mix 1. Video drives traffic and findability Video offers an alternate route for driving traffic to your website and product pages. Video is great for SEO, as Google owns YouTube and will give your video content the same authority as written content, provided that it is optimized properly. In addition, YouTube is the second largest search engine. By uploading video content to YouTube, you can use this pool of traffic to your advantage. Just remember to include calls to action and links. Finally, video stands out on social media. Incorporating it into your social strategy will help you attract new customers. 2. Video introduces you to a new audience Some people prefer watching video, while some people prefer reading articles. By incorporating video into your marketing mix, you can reach potential customers that are drawn to this particular type of content. 3. Video helps showcase complicated features For products that are more complicated to explain, a video can show how those products work. In a product demonstration video, you can showcase the more complicated or hidden features, which allows your audience to feel confident about buying that particular product. 4. Video humanizes your brand By showcasing yourself and your personality in your videos, you humanize your brand. Megan O’Neill of Animoto says that when you create a behind-the-scenes video showing how your product is created, you not only offer valuable content that gives potential customers more insight into your product, but you also give them more insight into who you are. Sharing a part of yourself through video will let potential buyers get to know you, so you will stand out from the competition. 5. Video is easily shareable Video is great for sharing. That means more people to see your awesome product and company! How to create a high-quality product demonstration video in 6 steps 1. Research the purpose and audience of your demonstration video Start at the beginning. With every marketing tool, you need to ask yourself what the purpose is and to what audience it is targeted. Product demonstration videos are no different. Where in the marketing funnel is this video going to exist? Which role are we targeting? How SHORT should the video be? How technical should the video be? If you want your product demonstration videos to be effective, they should have a clear purpose, a quicker pace than live demonstrations, and show only what is necessary. David Halk of Vidyard gives some examples. If the purpose of the video is to educate c-level decision makers, you might want to keep the video to a two/three-minute highlight reel correlating features to value propositions. If the purpose is to educate your key target users to help qualify them for a more meaningful conversation, then you might want a five/seven-minute video that goes a little deeper in terms of functionality and usability. In any case, you will want to err on the short side. Live demos are often twenty to forty minutes long. It is better to send your potential customers four highly targeted five-minute videos than a twenty-minute video that casts a wide yet ineffective net. 2. Plan modularizing the demonstration video for personalization As you now know the purpose and target audience, you will want to see where this video can be personalized for your different verticals and target markets. As Halk explains, more often than not, your technology or services will be utilized across different industries. And ideally, when you conduct live demonstrations you are “speaking the lingo,” so that your prospects know that you truly know them. Before you begin writing your script, carefully plan to include some simple edits that will allow you to make multiple versions of the same video. It will then seem crafted specifically for a single industry. Communicate key value propositions related to that industry, edit the voiceover track to include industry terms or use elements that target a key target market. 3. Write a script When it comes to your script, focus on your customers’ biggest pain points, how you plan to solve those problems and what is going to make them sign up for a trial. Abdullahi Muhammed of Tech.co says that one of the most common mistakes companies make with product demonstration videos is making the whole story about them. An “all about us” video press release will not score you high engagement rates, nor will it result into more sales or virality. He therefore proposes the following ideal script: Quick intro about your product Introduce the problem Address the problem with your solution Include a call-to-action Wrap it up with your trust signals (press coverage, well-known clients, awards etc.) Halk also thinks you need a script: “When a video is recorded, there is a higher expectation from the viewer that the delivery be without fault. A script will ensure that. Writing a script is a little up-front investment that is actually going to save you time in the long run. If you can, record one of your better live demos, listen to it while taking notes, and break down your demonstration into a shot list and associated talk tracks. Then, practice the script aloud to remove clunky sentences and unnecessary words.” 4. Focus on the opening You have around 8-12 seconds to win your viewer’s attention. If you manage to keep them hooked up for 12 seconds, 80% of viewers will continue watching till the 70-second mark. Muhammed urges you to squeeze the max out of this time by creating a solid opener and an enticing cover image, which states the exact problem your product will solve for the customer. 5. Record audio and screen separately Recorded demonstrations lack the interactivity of a live delivery. For that reason, Halk says, you will want the audio for your demonstration to have some energy, to be clearly articulated, and to dance without missing a beat. He therefore recommends you to start with the audio first. Tune your microphone settings and pull your script up on your monitor. Practice test recording a few sentences so you have an idea of your tone and pace. Then, begin and do not stop recording until you are done. If you stumble, just pause, return to the last sentence, and continue speaking without stopping the recording. Then, the screen capture. Pull out your shot list, and take spaced out captures of the listed features and actions. Just make sure you take into the consideration the length of the associated talk track while recording. Otherwise, you may end up with not enough video for your audio track. Muhammed gives the tip of hiring a voice-over artist for affordable prices on Voices or Fiverr. To get the best results, he suggests asking the VO artists to record alternative lines that may be used in the future. The last thing you want to do is start from scratch when you need to make an edit. It is always better to have to cut voices than find new ones. 6. Invest in a good microphone and music See if you can find some money to buy a good microphone and some background music. Good sound on a demonstration video is often an overlooked feature, as Halk says, but bad sound can make your demonstration video unwatchable. Investing in a mic will help improve the completion rate of the video, and therefore make your customer better educated. Add some music to the background of your video, but make sure it is not too loud so that it drowns out the narration. Music can lighten the mood to the video, add some humor, and make the watching experience more enjoyable. Adding music also has a very functional effect. If you have edited your audio narration down from one recorded track, you may inevitably have some awkward clicks, pops, or volume mistakes throughout the recording. Music will gladly cover them up. Rock your video marketing Have you been inspired by my blog to start working on you video marketing? I have a reading tip for you. My blog ‘62 Easy, Valuable Tips to Rock Your Video Content’ starts by offering a way to create a video content strategy. After that, you will read 40 video content ideas, so you can get started with the content generation. This is followed by 5 ways to increase video views on YouTube. However, people make mistakes, so this blog also offers you 7 common pitfalls marketers make developing video content, so you know what to watch out for. Finally, 4 final video content hacks are listed that will make it easier for your video content to be successful. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on BudgetVertalingOnline and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Kane Pepi Kane Pepi is an experienced financial and cryptocurrency writer with over 2,000+ published articles, guides, and market insights in the public domain. Expert niche subjects include asset valuation and analysis, portfolio management, and the prevention of financial crime. Kane is particularly skilled in explaining complex financial topics in a user-friendly … View full profile ›More by this author:VoIP Basics: Everything Beginners Should Know!Bitcoin Investment, Trading & Mining: The Ultimate Guide for BeginnersIs This a Better Way to Set Your 2020 Goals and Resolutions?