Structuring Your Screencast Videos to Sell

videoA few weeks ago I did a guest post for our friends at Duct Tape Marketing.  John Jantsch’s new book Duck Tape Selling recommends ScreenFlow as a useful tool for both marketing and selling your products and services.  If you are using ScreenFlow for promotional material for your business, make sure to follow these few simple tips! You can see the original post here.  

Over 90 million people in the US watch online videos every day, and over 50% of consumers say that watching online product videos allows them to be more confident in online purchase decisions.  What does that mean for business owners?  As online video becomes more prevalent and relevant, so does the need for your business to start producing video.

Creating the perfect video to sell your product is not an exact science.  The complexity of your product mixed with the diversity of your customer base allows for a broad range of potential strategies.  Fortunately there are a few universal tactics that will better position your video presentation for sales success.

Be Human

In the ever-connected social media world that we live in today, the presence of a unique personality is paramount to attracting viewers.  Whether it is you, or hired talent, having a real person to identify with will help interest potential customers.  Starting and ending your videos with a quick, live action bumper can boost engagement through the whole video.  Additionally, a recurring character, especially one with a humorous disposition, can help to build trust between your customers and your business as well as create a viral following.

Be a Teacher

No one wants to be told what to do or what to buy.  People want to make their own decisions.  Don’t spend precious time telling your potential customers about each feature of your product; teach them what it can do instead by focusing on solving their problems or issues.

videoEach individual feature pales in comparison to the overall benefit of your product so explain how the final product can help.  Highlight the problems that your customers face and show them how your product can help them achieve their goals.  Once hooked, the customer can spend more time delving into the intricacies of your business and product on their own time.

If you’ve done a good job in hooking people with your presentation, then they’ll be looking for you to guide them to the next step.  Include at least one call to action at the end of your video to help move them along the sales path. Whether you give them a link to visit your website or store, or provide them a coupon or incentive to buy, make it easy for them to take the next step.

Be Quick

The most viewed videos on YouTube top out at just less than four minutes, and most of those are music videos.  If you take music out of the equation, the most popular videos rarely last more than three minutes.  We live in a world where access to information is close to unlimited and the expectation of instantaneous connectivity is the norm.  Take this to heart!

videoWhile a ten minute video might thoroughly explain your product, very few people will want to devote ten minutes of their day to you, especially if a competitor can get their point across in three!

In order to keep the length down, stay focused.  A thirty second live action bumper at the beginning, a one or two minute overview of the problem your product solves, and how your product solves it, finished with a thirty second call to action is an effective layout and conveys enough information to interest a potential customer.

Spend your time planning, so your customers don’t waste theirs!  Two minutes is perfect, three minutes works, and four minutes will lose your audience!

 

Do you use ScreenFlow for your business? Show us what you’ve made in the comments!

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to Top