Lights, Camera, Action! 6 Ways that Video Marketing can Grow Your Business

Video marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing right now. It is also one of the most popular forms of Online Media.

Here are a couple of recent stats on YouTube’s website:

• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month*
• Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube*

*Source: http://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics/

This presents a great oppportunity for the you, the small business owner. You can now connect with your market in the most unique personal way, build credibility and many other things through video.

Keep reading as I highlight the top 5 ways that Video Marketing can help your business.

Video helps you to build relationships Video allows your market to see you and get to know you almost as if meeting you in person. It is more personal and of course more real than your print brochure or business website. People nowadays are leaning towards doing business with small business owners they know, like and trust. Big business have an automatic trust factor because of their size. It is instant credibility. However, the small business owner has to earn that trust. So it is key to build a relationship with your prospective client and video is a great way to do that.

Video helps you to establish credibility When adding videos to your marketing mix, it is key to start with videos that answer the most commonly asked questions by your market. You can also start with videos that address common problems and solutions that your market faces. Doing this on video gives you authority and credibility. Your ideal client or customer wants to see you addressing their issues. It helps to reinforce or influence their decision to work with you.

Video Differentiates you from the competition Video marketing helps you to stand out from your competition, especially if they are not utilizing video. Even if they are using video, they are just not you. So when shooting your videos, be yourself and be authentic. This will meet the interest of YOUR ideal client and you WILL attract more leads.

Video Can lead to P.R. Opportunities The beauty of adding video to your marketing mix is that it showcases YOU. It gives YOU the stage. So you have a chance to show how articulate you are. A chance to show how knowledgeable you are about your industry or niche. A chance to stand out as an opinion leader. This cuts out some of the leg work of journalists who are looking for someone with your expertise. They don’t have to worry how you will look on camera, how you will sound on the radio or anything. This is because they have ‘seen you in action’ so to speak.

Creates the “Girl (or Boy)Next Door” Factor When it comes down to it, people want to see that you are ‘really real’. You may have a flashy, fancy website, glamour pics on your bio page, a colourful brochure and other high end marketing materials. However, people want to be able to see the ‘real you’ and many times are moved by that kind of low-budget marketing than the other collateral material.

Can attract and lead to Joint Venture Partnerships Your potential clients and leads are watching your videos and making up their mind to work with you. But guess what, so are your prospective joint venture partners. Think about some of the people that you approached for joint venture. Did you watch their videos among other research tactics before deciding that you would like to work with them?

Well my fellow business owner, it’s showtime! Grab your camera and shoot some videos today.

I would love to see your “business” video creations. So I invite you to share the link of a video you made for your business after reading this post or one you did recently. Go ahead and use the comment box to post the name of your video and the link.