Video marketing can be huge for managed service providers. It’s a great way to interact with your target audience and current customers. But all too often, video marketing for managed service providers is niched into TV advertisements or product demos. Little do most IT consultants know, there is much more you can do with video.
Here are some crucial stats that you need to know about video marketing before we get started:
- More video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.
- 51% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.
- Sixty-four percent of consumers make a purchase after watching branded social videos (via tubularinsights).
- Video drives a 157% increase in organic traffic from SERPs.
Are you convinced? Video is an extremely powerful marketing tool that can have a use in a broad variety of areas—as long as you’re willing to get creative. Here’s where managed service providers should be putting video marketing to good use.
Build Trust with Video Testimonials
There’s an ongoing controversy regarding online reviews. How do you know if they’re faked or bought? It’s relatively easy for an employee to write a few sentences on a website and pretend they’re someone else. Although morally reprehensible, it takes no more than a few minutes. However, testimonial videos are much harder to fake. A fake video requires finding and hiring actors and writing a script, much harder than a few sentences online.
Testimonial videos can garner you much more trust with potential customers than just an anonymous review. If you have a great relationship with a few of your clients, consider putting some of your video marketing for managed service providers budget towards creating a few case study videos. Most clients will be relatively enthusiastic about this, as it gives them some press as well.
Increase Landing Page Conversion Rates
Do you have a landing page that is getting plenty of traffic, but isn’t converting well? Before you shut down the runt of the litter altogether, consider adding a video to your landing page. Videos can increase the conversion rate of a landing page by 86 percent. Typically, these videos feature an authority figure from your company (think CEO) discussing the value of a download. The videos should be conversational and light in tone. Always place landing page videos on autoplay. This catches the reader’s attention and lengthens the amount of time a prospect will stay on the page.
Give Your Social Media Boost
Facebook Live may be on it’s way out, but videos on social media are still taking off. Videos featuring company experts are widely popular, with many developing into weekly series. Facebook videos are still alive and well—just stay away from Facebook Watch or Facebook Live. Instead, post engaging autoplay videos straight to the newsfeed. Make sure that all of your social media videos have captions. Not only does this accommodate the majority of social media users who watch videos on mute, but it also provides the deaf community with inclusive video.
While there’s something to be said for the feel of at-home videos, the majority of your content should feel well-produced, with an opening and closing shot, correct captions, and high resolution. Social media videos are definitely less formal than a landing page or testimonial, but that doesn’t mean that they should look like a 70s home movie.
Capitalize on your Events
Has your company hosted an event lately? Too often people forget to capture video at the event itself but instead focus on using video in the lead-up to the event. Video marketing for managed service providers can really capitalize on video captured at an event. This can show off company values, celebrations, and can be posted to your website and social media channels for compounding impressions later on.
If you want to show potential employees what it’s like to work at your company, event b-roll can come in handy. By posting event video onto other platforms after the event has ended, you’re cultivating a healthy dose of “FOMO” in your followers and encouraging them to attend the next event.
Make Your Website Home Page Great
What type of first impression does your website home page offer your visitors? Are there responsive graphics? Engaging images? Informative and relevant text? This is all well and good, but a homepage video can take your website to the next level. Videos on your homepage is a great way to increase the amount of time a visitor spends on your homepage and also allows you to show off your company. A video can offer a good sense of what it’s like to work with your company, what your values are, and how you operate.
Convert Contacts with Gated Video Downloads
Another video marketing for managed service providers tactic is to create video content offers versus your standard eBook. Would you be more likely to download an eBook or a video? I hate to say it, but the majority of consumers would rather spend time watching a video than reading a book. An example of relevant video content would be a case study video, product demo, or a training or workshop. Another great reason to video hosted events—if you host a workshop, you can later gate that video content and post it on your website as a conversion opportunity.
Whether you’re looking for something as simple as a testimonial video, or as complex as an overarching video marketing strategy for managed service providers, New North is here to help. We’ve created videos for local Frederick businesses, such as Common Market, and used video marketing as the centerpiece for clients’ marketing strategy. Learn more about what our expertise in video marketing for managed service providers can offer you here.