Not sure if you’ve heard, but it seems companies are pretty enthusiastic about corporate video production and the potential it has to influence prospects. But for all the demand placed on sales and marketing departments, it might be difficult to understand exactly how exactly video can directly impact revenue.
Yes.. all the major media outlets are telling you that video is hot. Video increases profitability. But it’s often difficult to understand how and where exactly video creates a direct impact on your bottom line.
To start, it’s important to assess areas in your business where video could be a good fit to help save costs. Here are a few good questions to ask:
What areas of our business can we save time (money)?
Where can video help answer potential customer questions?
How can we use video to enhance our appeal?
Answering these questions help you set the right goals – because tracking the number of views or shares is often not the best way to track effectiveness. This also means that views/shares aren’t necessarily a good indicator of profitability. Said another way: views often have no effect on your bottom line.
The benefits of corporate video production are not always found in the more traditional ROI measurements of marketing, as in, not every video is made must generate leads and customers in order to be profitable. Some of the best uses of corporate video have much more to do with their efficiencies in saving time and money across departments. Here are three ways corporate video production can increase your profitability:
QUALIFY LEADS
Today’s consumers spend far more time researching prospective products/services before they bother engaging with you. Video saves you time and money during the sales process by educating your potential clients. This helps you qualify leads before you engage. Video can answer the questions folks unfamiliar with your brand or service might have. You can improve your sales process by creating videos or video series’ that provide prospects with answers to common questions, demonstrates a typical use-case of your product, or connect with potential buyers. If you find that one of every ten sales calls is a ready buyer, a video series may help push a few of those on the fence onto your side. More educated buyers translates to less calls from prospects who are not truly prospects, and less time your team spends on the phone educating folks about your product or service. This enables your team to focus on prospects who are genuinely excited about potentially working with you.
RECRUITING AND TRAINING STAFF
Chances are you have a process in place for recruiting talent to your company and for onboarding that talent once they join your team. Who conducts these searches and performs the standardized training? Searching for employees that are the right fit can be incredibly time-intensive, so consider creating a video that highlights your company culture. Show your newest additions what it’s like to be part of your team. A video that effectively captures your company’s culture will strike a chord with the right talent.
Another way to increase profitability is with training those great hires. Streamline training by creating videos about company processes and policies, basic software training, or other required training like safety. This is especially helpful with products or services that traditionally require subject matter experts to be on hand for in-person training. Video can educate employees on the basics prior to their arrival, encouraging a deeper conversation about products or processes. Sure, you’ll still want to interact with employees, but the video can address the basic level questions that allow your trainers to have more in-depth and productive conversations during the onboarding process. This frees up your subject matter experts to conduct tasks that will help contribute to your company’s bottom line – such as getting more involved in industry events or interacting with potential customers.
IMPROVE YOUR BRAND
People make buying decisions based on emotions. If someone comes to your website, they instantly form an opinion about your brand. If your website is slick and efficient, they translate that experience to your brand – they’ll feel that your product is top quality. Crappy websites do the exact opposite. When was the last time you felt confident about purchasing a product or service from a crappy-looking website? The same holds true for video. A tight, well-crafted video instills confidence in your buyer. A poorly put together video has an adverse effect, as they translate a simple or basic video means that you have a simple or basic product. Consumers are far more likely to purchase from a brand that they form a connection with, and a video is an extension of your brand in much the same way as your website. Obviously, this one’s a little more tricky to quantify in terms of metrics but listen to your buyers after they make their decision to go with you. Do they say something along the lines of “You guys just felt like the right decision.” Boom. Mission accomplished.
These are just some of the things to consider when using video to improve your company’s bottom line. When you’re deciding how to use corporate video to your advantage, think about where it’s going to help your business, where you’re trying to improve your company or structure, and what processes could be in video form instead of repeated by employees. And remember, if you’re making corporate videos for marketing and fundraising, the most important things you can focus on are quality and authenticity.