Service Firm Marketing: Managable Video Content
SUMMARY: Go add at least one relevant video to your site and to the video sharing sites so your potential clients can discover you and get to know you.
Tests show that adding Video content to your site will dramatically increase the conversion rate of your site as visitors stay longer and engage with your content more deeply. Coupled with uploading the video to video sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo, Veoh, Google Video, etc., your site will also enjoy an increase in the steady stream of targeted traffic entering your site.
However, Professional Services clients frequently ignore the recommendation for video usage, dismissing the use of video as frivolous and or too cumbersome. Excellent points as a small business may not have the time and expertise needed to attempt video. But it need not be complicated as we have now proven.
Suspecting that the general results of video-usage increasing site conversion and targeted traffic would hold for the specific usage in mind, we recently tested the effect of uploading a reasonable number of videos for a professional service firm interested in clients within a certain geographical range. And then we did something that we warn against . . . we left the site alone. No further posting or interaction from the webmaster nor the content creator was allowed during the test. Test Duration: 60 days.
The test was simple and can be duplicated in a few hours.
1. Create a video, or even a PowerPoint presentation with or without audio overlay.
2. Upload the video to your content management system;
3. Deploy the video on the page of choice - i.e. write a blog post or static page;
4. Tag the video with appropriate keywords - these are the keywords your most profitable clients use to search for services like yours.
5. Then log into the various video sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo, Veoh, etc. to upload your video - tag the video in these sites as well.
Keep the video under 8 minutes. Most users lose interest in under 60 seconds so consider a short series of clips unless you have serious content to deliver that can not be broken into chunks.
At this point your site has a few more incoming links from the video sharing sites, users have the potential to find you through the major search engines and those who gravitate to video are even more likely to find you while searching the video sharing sites.
The Results:
This particular client regularly serves 20-30 clients each year. With the addition of the *reasonable number* of videos to the site and sharing sites, within two months 15 completely new clients signed at a fee 12% more than the existing client base was paying. This company is on course to triple business this year and is expanding capacity for next year. It was as simple as creating the *reasonable number* of videos and submitting as mentioned. The site was not touched after the video submission and clients continue to discover them - creating an even stronger bond. Your clients want to "discover" you, not have your sales message flashed in their faces until they acquiesce.
Success:
1. Increase in existing site conversion - minimally invasive.
2. Increase in traffic to the site - non-invasive.
3. Established as an authority in the minds of clients.
4. These factors multiply instead of add. 10×10x10 = 1000
So, how many videos are a *reasonable number*?
ONE
Shocking. The use of One video brought that much return to our client.
Does it matter what kind of business you are in? Not really. We have tested this with Architectural firms serving Fortune 100 companies, local Dentists and Personal Trainers. It works as well for each.
This is a ridiculously simple way to generate a huge bang for your company. Go make a video - even if it is a silent PowerPoint presentation. Do it this week. In less than 60 days you will return 1000% of your investment. It is that big. Go do it!
