Using Video As A Small Business by Oostas

It's no secret that video has become a critical media avenue over the past few years, and it's here to stay. We've got a lot of tips and tools to offer in this blog, so we're going to jump right in. We're going to start off listing a few common areas that most small businesses could easily incorporate video into, followed by practical tools on how to get started.

Product videos

50% of internet users look for a video related to a product they are researching before visiting a store. Creating a promo or explainer video highlighting some of the key features and benefits of your main products/services can increase your sales effectiveness significantly. Keep it short, simple and focused on the benefits.

About us videos

Personal connections make a world of difference in the sales process. This may be one of the videos you put a bit more time and resources into. As we analyze websites we see first hand the "about us" page is often the 2nd or 3rd most visited page on a website, so having an introduction video that highlights your staff, core products/services and benefits you offer is critical.

Proposal videos

If your business does anything with proposals or sales funnels, start using video! About 9 months ago we started incorporating a personalized video into every proposal we sent out and have seen incredible results. Sure, it takes a bit more time, but the results are worth it. Imagine expressing interest in a product and getting a personal video from the sales person you talked to on the phone a few hours later. All of a sudden there is a whole new level of personal connection, which is critical in the sales process.

Let's jump into practical tools.

So all of this might sound overwhelming to the average small business owner who's tied to a budget, already overwhelmed and wearing too many hats. Yes, using video does take some time and can cost a bit, depending, but the value you'll see in your business is well worth it. Let's look at a few tools that keep it simple and affordable.

Loom

Loom is a great resource every small business should be using. It's a free online video recording software that makes it easy to record personalized videos. At Oostas, we use Loom in all of our proposals, tutorials and whenever we need to explain something that needs a visual.

Rev

Rev is a great tool for creating accurate and incredibly affordable transcriptions and captions. Every public video we produce at Oostas get's transcribed, captions added and then uploaded to our Youtube account. Incorporating video into your website greatly increases your SEO rank, and having the transcription as the video's description in Youtube plus accurate subtitles increases that SEO rank even more.

Simple Teleprompter

Anytime you need to record a video longer than 15 seconds with a script you need to read, PLEASE use a teleprompter. It might sound expensive and complicated, but trust me, it's not, and will be that thing you never knew how you lived without. The first few videos we created were without a teleprompter and I attempted to memorize/read the script. It's quite embarrassing to watch them now. If you're on a tight budget, you can download a FREE teleprompter app and use your phone to record videos. That's how we recorded this month's video. (Check it out here)

Lighting Kit

Again, might sound expensive, and yes, they can be, but don't have to be. Here's a simple and affordable option that offers great results. If you're wanting to record video with your phone, purchase a simple selfie tripod and lighting kit from Amazon for less than $40. It will provide basic lighting and hold your phone while you read from your newly downloaded teleprompter (see above). Again, it's how we recorded this month's video. 

Thanks for checking out our monthly blog. If you have any questions just let us know. Our team is ready to help.