Why Video Is Vital For Business In The Digital Age

For as long as we’ve had the means to watch TV, video has been an important part of business marketing. Today it’s one of the most important pieces in your marketing toolbox. video is quickly becoming the preferred way to consume content online and can provide you with analytical insights almost unparalleled to other forms of advertising.

Where are people watching videos?

According to the web analytics company, Alexa YouTube is the second-most popular website both in the United States and globally, with more than 500 million hours of video consumed daily. Those numbers are continually climbing, and within a year, a predicted 1 million minutes of video will be shared by viewers with their friends every second.

Facebook isn’t far behind, with users of the third-most-popular website in the world consuming a total of 8 billion videos daily. In fact, CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to turn Facebook into a video-first platform by 2020.

Why are people watching videos?

Mobile technology has exploded by leaps and bounds since cell phones first became commonplace in the mid-’90s. As a result, today’s users frequently have multiple screens available at once, and all of them have been optimized for video.

What does this mean when it comes to using video for your business? Video’s primary appeal is that it’s effortless for the consumer. Why ask your audience to spend time flipping through product catalogs or reading extensive copy when you can deliver the content directly to them in an actively engaging manner? Consumers can then engage, embed, share and comment on video content at the touch of a button.

How video can work for your business

A survey by Digital Content Next found that 80 percent of respondents had watched a video ad in the past month, with 46% taking one or more of these follow-up actions:

• 44% of buyers viewed an online video while searching for local products or services

• 53% of viewers contacted the business after viewing a video

• 51% visited the business website

• 33% visited the store

 When comparing products, 96 percent of consumers find video helpful in making their final decision, and four times as many consumers would rather watch that video than read written information and customer reviews.

To successfully engage your brand’s audience, always include a call to action in your video. For example, do you want your viewer to visit your website, follow you on social media or share the video with friends? All you have to do is ask. Trust is key in building strong and long-lasting relationships with consumers, and new eyes will watch videos that your consumers have shared with the idea in mind that someone they trust has found the video worthy of their time.

Insights, insights, insights.

When you build traditional text-based content, do you know how many people read it? Did they read the entire thing? Did one paragraph get more attention than another? Unfortunately, in-depth metrics like these are difficult to generate.

With video, you can track exactly when a consumer stopped watching, how many full and partial views a video has, and how often a video actually generated business for your company. Compared to text, the ability to track individualized video results is unparalleled. Add on software designed for tracking the consumer journey (Google Analytics, Smaply, and Gliffy, just to name a few), and the possibilities are endless.

Want to get in touch with Tabrizi Productions to learn more about what we can do for your business? Contact us for a free video consultation!

Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We offer authentic, affordable video storytelling for companies large and small.

We are locally serving Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and the surroundings of the Silicon Valley area. 

Do you really need to invest in video for business?

I often hear, "Do I really need to invest in video for business?" I always, without question, answer - Absolutely! Video is a powerful tool that will help your business grow internally and externally. Whether you're a niche enterprise or a large chain retailer, video goes a long way to help your business succeed. There are numerous ways you can use video within your business to reach goals and milestones. If you're interested in learning about a few, keep reading!

Video for Business Marketing

Over the last few years, video's popularity has grown so dramatically that it has cemented itself as part of a business marketing strategy that you can't ignore. With a little creativity and a well-thought-out plan, videos can help your business stand out from the rest with a unique and unforgettable voice, capturing and holding an audience's attention while providing useful information. Add onto that the numerous ways you can now share video, from YouTube to social media and beyond, and incorporating video into your marketing strategy is a no-brainer.

Still not completely convinced that you need to include video as part of your business' marketing strategy?

Earlier this year, Wowzyl and HubSpot released their State of Video Marketing Report for 2018, which provides some very useful stats on why video has become so important for businesses. Here are some insights worth pondering as you consider adding video to your marketing strategy.

• In 2017, people watched an average of one-and-a-half hours of video a day, with 15 percent watching more than three hours of video every day! That's a lot of opportunities to connect with your business' audience.

• In just one year, the number of businesses that use video as a part of their marketing strategy grew by 81 percent – a growth of nearly 20 percent. There's a pretty good chance your competition is already using video.

• More than half of the 19 percent that did not use video in 2017 have planned to use it this year, which means that more than 90 percent of businesses will be using video in their marketing.

• With video being more interactive than text, most people (72 percent) would rather watch a video to learn about a brand or product than read about it.

Need more? Here are a few more stats straight from HubSpot:

• 97% of businesses say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.

• 76% say it helped them increase sales.

• 76% say it helped them increase traffic.

• 80% of businesses say video has increased dwell time on their website.

• 95% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.

• 81% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand's video.

• 69% of people have been convinced to buy a piece of software or application by watching a video.

• 85% of people say they'd like to see more videos from brands this year.

As you can see, businesses who use video in their marketing efforts often see amazing results in their engagement, website traffic, and sales. From advertising to newsletters, videos are a terrific way to interact with your audience and need to be included in your marketing efforts.

Video for Business Training

Video for business training is a common tool used for new employees, but it is also an effective and often overlooked aspect for established employees. There are so many opportunities in which video can come into play outside of getting new team members up to speed on your company and their new roles. If you're wondering how to maximize your training efforts through video, here are three ideas that work wonders.

1. Demonstrate How Your Products Work

Videos are a great way to teach your employees, whether they're new team members or have been with your company long-term, how your products work. The better acquainted and the more in-depth their knowledge is about your products and services, the more successful they will be in their job roles. Videos are able to demonstrate better than text can ever explain the ins and outs of your business's offerings. Just remember to make sure these videos are easy to access so employees can refer to them whenever they need them.

2. New Management Training 

Most often, when videos are used for training, they're used for entry-level employees who are new to your company. Did you know you can provide higher-level staff with coaching through video, too? Managers are the support system for your business. They offer guidance, support, and training to those who help reach business goals. For a manager to be successful, they need to have support as well. Whether they're explainer videos, FAQ videos, or something else, videos are a great way of offering guidance on managing their roles responsibly and providing them with the knowledge to help their team reach their objectives.

3. Easily Accessible Training for All Employees

No matter what position an employee holds or how long they have been with your company, training videos provide an easy way to share new policies, products, services, or goals and train them to use the information. Also, for established employees who have been with your company for a longer period of time, easily accessible videos are a stellar way to refresh skills and knowledge.

Video for Business Team Building

Team building with video is a novel way to transfer an understanding of your business culture to employees company-wide. There are multiple ways you can use video to build your team.

• Introducing your entry-level employees to upper management. Often times in larger organizations and enterprises, there is a lack of connection between upper and lower-level employees, causing a possible disconnect in your team. When your entry-level employees are familiar with who their managers are, it creates a more unified organization. When your business spans multiple locations, it can be difficult to create unification between different departments. Video is the perfect solution to introduce the different members and departments of your team. Have them talk a little bit about their role, their history with the company, why they love their job, and some personal details about themselves.

• Sharing knowledge with others. A knowledgeable team is a strong team. Video is a fantastic way for more experienced employees to share their years of assembled knowledge with those who are newer to the company. When everyone has the same information and shares their insight, it creates a more dynamic team and enterprise.

• Motivating employees to reach goals. Videos are naturally engaging and entertaining; because of this, they are a fantastic tool to motivate employees to reach goals. Having someone on video which is excited and enthusiastic about what they're talking about is powerful. When everyone is eager and engaged in the goal, from the top down, it creates a team that is unified and willing to stick together to reach them.

• Transfer Your Business' Culture. Your business culture tells a complex story that is difficult to convey to new employees. The longer your company has been in business, the more involved the story becomes! Video enables you to capture the unique picture that is your company's culture. Elements of your organization's culture include:

• How formal or informal your company is. Are jeans and t-shirts acceptable, or is everyone required to wear formal business attire?

• The diversity within your company, in all aspects.

• The history of your business.

• Unique advantages of your company. Are pets welcome? Do you offer a health bar or gym? Do employees get to work from home

• How much you value your employees – from entry-level to those at the top – and how you show your appreciation.

Video can highlight varying perspectives from different departments, can be used to bring employees up to speed, and reveal comprehensive snapshots of your business and what makes it unique. A strong sense of culture creates a team that takes pride in the company they work for and is willing to go the extra mile to reach business goals.

Beyond marketing, training, and team building- video also has the potential to welcome guests to your website, help onboard new staff and relay important messages about your organization. With so many ways video can be used, I stand by my answer – yes, you need to invest in video for business. Do you know of any other ways that companies can use video? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

If you're ready to take the leap and work with a video production company, we'd love to help! 

Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We offer authentic, affordable video storytelling for companies large and small.

We are locally serving Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and the surroundings of the Silicon Valley area. Sound like a fit? Fill out this form to schedule a free consultation. 

HOW TO USE VIDEOS IN THE ONBOARDING PROCESS

To this point, most of our blog posts have focused on how to use video to engage with your customers and those outside of your business. However, video is also a fantastic way to interact with your employees, especially those new to your company!

Think back to when you started a new job. How did you feel? Were you nervous, maybe even a little scared? While landing a new job is exciting, it is often combined with those feelings of nervousness about the new journey that’s ahead. Videos in the onboarding process are a perfect way to engage with your new employees and provide them with the tools they will need to be successful in their new role, as well as ease any fears they may have.

4 Reasons to Use Videos in the Onboarding Process

Wondering why you should use video as part of the onboarding process? Here are four reasons from the eLearning Industry.

1. Videos provide storytelling.

Using videos as part of your onboarding allows you to tell new employees your brand’s story as you want it told and in a way that resonates better than what they can get from pages in an employee handbook. Videos provide the perfect outlet for your new employee to connect visually and emotionally with your company. These stories also open the door for discussions following the video, as well as opportunities for learning and development. Allen Communication explains, “By telling impactful stories, we help employees understand what their onboarding will cover in the future and prepare them to learn...Much like the flipped classroom, video can be a precursor to insightful discussions around the topics that will be critical for the onboarding process.”

2. Videos increase engagement.

Videos are a great way to keep new employees engaged in the learning and onboarding process. This engagement helps them adjust to their new role within your company while retaining information. Videos are able to create long-term memories for job duties and provide a connection with your brand that other, more traditional methods cannot obtain.

3. Videos quicken the onboarding process.

Beyond engagement, videos are able to speed up the onboarding process. How does this help? When employees become more comfortable and confident in their new jobs at a quicker pace, it reduces the time and resources needed for training. This is especially true when there’s a lot of information for the employee to take in. It is an employer’s responsibility to effectively help employees confidently maneuver into their jobs so they can branch out and start developing themselves within their career and your company, and a standard video can ensure the trainer doesn’t miss any critical points.

4. Videos are cost-effective.

Hiring and training new employees is one of the most expensive processes a business goes through. Videos with onboarding are not only cost-effective but will provide a better return on investment (ROI) for an organization. Effective onboarding videos give employees the information they need and have the ability to motivate them to produce results that will allow them to succeed in their position within your business.

4 Types of Onboarding Videos

Make sure your onboarding process is a memorable experience that creates excitement for new employees by letting them see more than words in a handbook. Videos are a great way to introduce them to different departments, people, and activities within your company that they may not know of otherwise. Thankfully, you’re not limited to just one type of onboarding video; here are four you can take advantage of from Allen Communication.

1. Expert-led webinars. Webinars led by experts are a great way to start the onboarding process and set expectations. They provide support for your new team members who are not familiar with the company’s expectations and can relieve any concerns they may have. According to Allen Communication, “By having experts engage with new employees, you add credibility to the topic, and you help put them at ease by providing them with a set of tools and techniques from a great source.”

2. Screen captures. While there are numerous ways you can teach new employees, include writing down specific directions or creating a presentation that combines words and pictures to explain each step of the process along the way. A screen capture of the process while offering an audio explanation at the same time is an effective teaching method for several reasons. The article from Allen Communication explains, “They let the instructor talk in real-time, which helps engage learners as if the instructor is right there with them. There are multiple screen capture programs available, and they are excellent tools to provide learners with an audio/visual look at a real-life process in action.”

3. Video tutorials. Using video to walk your new employees through your company is another effective strategy, especially if your business is in manufacturing and production. Tutorial videos help employees get their footing in their new role and environment while also showing them where to go for important information and in emergencies. As the Allen Communication article states, “[Onboarding videos] also allow for a more detailed look at the intricacies of specific industrial machines, affording learners the ability to familiarize themselves with these machines without damaging the machine or hurting themselves.”

4. Faces of the company. Onboarding videos also provide a great opportunity to introduce higher-level management to new employees, as well as the different departments and the culture within your organization, helping them get a better feel for the company as a whole. Allen Communication explains, “You want the employees to feel at home and be comfortable in their new roles, and implementing this technique gives them that feeling that they are welcome. Also, it gives them an opportunity to see the real faces of employees and senior management of their place of work.”

Steps for Creating an Effective Onboarding Strategy

So how do you put onboarding videos to use for your company? Ponopto provides helpful steps to create an effective strategy, which include the following:

1. Identify onboarding activities for all new employees. Before you can start using videos for onboarding, you need to know what actions are required to help your new employees begin their roles successfully. Once you have that information, you can strategize which types of videos will work best to reach your onboarding goals and which activities will need a different approach.

2. Create a schedule. The first 90 days are important for new employee success and to keep turnover low. It’s important to remember to remain flexible so employees can fit their onboarding activities within their new responsibilities. Depending on how heavy of an onboarding program you have, try to space out videos over a period of time, so you don’t overwhelm new employees. It can also be helpful to allow your team to have access to the onboarding videos beyond the scheduled times so they can review the videos on their own.

3. Determine the video activities and schedule for individual groups. While creating videos for all new employees is extremely helpful, creating specific videos for different roles, departments, or locations within your company can have an extremely powerful effect on the onboarding process. It allows you to provide new employees with the specific tools they need to be successful in their new roles.

4. Share your strategy. Don’t keep your plan to yourself; share it internally to help gain additional insight that can be used in the onboarding process. Ponopto explains, “Sharing your onboarding map across departments allows you to add more useful cross-functional training activities to the map. Sharing your map can also help ensure your organization buys into the new program.”

5. Consistency is key. Once you have a plan finalized, it’s important to stick to it. You won’t see any real results if you don’t show every new employee the onboarding videos or if you let them view only one of the videos they are supposed to watch.

6. Monitor video activity. This often-overlooked step is just as important as the videos themselves. Over time, if you’re consistent with your plan, you will start seeing how well your onboarding videos are working. On the other side, if the videos are not resonating with new employees, you’ll be able to notice that too. Some key areas to monitor are retention rates, new employee engagement, and performance.

Final Thoughts

In addition to sharing your brand with new customers, videos are a fantastic chance to get your employees up to speed and start them off on the right foot. Onboarding videos are cost-effective, increase employee engagement and retention, and tell your company’s story in a way that manuals can’t. With the help of the steps above, you’ll be able to create a video that helps your employees reach their fullest potential as quickly as possible.

Ready to dive into onboarding videos but need a little help? Tabrizi Productions has extensive experience creating custom pieces that highlight what makes your business unique. 

Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We offer authentic, affordable video storytelling for companies large and small. 

Contact us today to learn how we can put your new team members at ease with an onboarding video!

5 WAYS TO SHOWCASE YOUR COMPANY WITH VIDEO

Showcasing your company with video is fast becoming a necessity. It's estimated that, by 2020, 75% of global mobile traffic will be via video. 

Jumping on this visual communication shift, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has stated that by 2021, at least 90% of the platform will be video content. So naturally, this drives a crucial question – does your business strategy include video content?

We know video content will be essential to every business within five years. By increasing the use of video beyond just marketing, companies can capitalize on this growing trend.

INVESTING IN VIDEO CONTENT CAN HELP YOU:

• Reach more top talent

• Save your business time and money

• Spread brand awareness

• Grow your audience exponentially

Read on to discover five ways your company can integrate video content and boost your business's overall value.

how to integrate video content for your business

1. REACH TOP TALENT

Suppose your business recruitment strategy in the next few years only includes Monster, Indeed, and the like. In that case, chances are you'll be missing out on an opportunity to attract bright talent on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and other platforms that host video content. 

Plus, for candidates with winning personalities and skills, a job hunt without deeper insights into the company's culture might be a dead end.

Consider the recent job posting from New Zealand's police force; the video became a trending international discussion. Beyond drawing worldwide attention, the recruitment video highlighted available roles and addressed the questions that every job posting should answer but often fail to mention. 

Every recruitment video should answer the big question - "why you should work for us and join our team." Video recruiting is quickly becoming a key approach because of the versatility, personalization, and the ability to address the "Why."

Keep in mind that a recruitment video doesn't have to be flashy. Businesses can also use laid-back, quirky video content to broadcast their job openings to applicants.

Recruiting with video allows your business to:

• Widen its candidate search and more effectively reach top talent

• Convey the 'why' for candidates who contemplate joining the team

• Share insights about your company with a wider audience

If you plan to bring on new candidates this year, then keep in mind that recruiting videos is one of the fastest ways to witness results from video content.

2. MEET THE TEAM. FOR REAL

When it comes to answering the question of 'why us,' the core of that answer should be about your company's culture and mission. The voice of your business should be something captured with video and thereby easily shared worldwide for brand awareness. 

One of the first things I did when starting Tabrizi Productions was highlight our brand through video. To put it simply: video content can transcend audiences, from potential recruits, new hires for training, B2B partnerships, and – most of all – your client base.

Whether you're a small to medium-sized business, startup, or nonprofit organization, capturing your business's culture on video is also emotionally powerful. Video has the added advantage of coupling your business's identity with feeling and eye-catching purpose. 

Consider Home Depot's recent culture video that highlights some of the team and cleverly interweaves the company's mission. A video about your business' culture can emote in a way that printed words cannot.

Videos highlighting your business' culture can:

• Convey your company's mission in a clear and memorable way

• Express emotion and solicit a connection from the viewer

• Allow you to share your brand across a variety of audiences

Overall, capturing your business's culture on video becomes a window for viewers of all kinds to identify with and relate to your brand.

3. LIMITLESS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Let's be honest; once new candidates start at your company, their onboarding process will demand significant time from current employees. 

But the training required for new hires is likely repetitive, and, as companies are finding, this repetition can easily lend itself to onboarding sessions through video content. 

Create detailed video content in a clear presentation with screen share and voice recordings, and your business will have reusable recruitment content without sacrificing time from other employees. Best yet, with video training, new employees can pause, replay, and save content for future reference and possibly learn at a deeper, accelerated pace. 

But why stop with the onboarding process? With the advent of technologies and educational webinars, even large companies like T-Mobile are awakening to the idea of professional development and career growth through video content programs. 

Developing training video content is business savvy because it:

• Saves time and resources retraining the same content

• Empowers employees to stay on and continue their professional growth

• Elevates your business and its network by joining a progressive movement of video education and engagement

There is more than one way to create training video content. But when it comes to saving time and resources, the advantages of professional development through video make it a rising approach within businesses of all sizes.

4. PR THAT SHOWCASES YOUR BRAND AND VISION

Public relations is a marketing necessity for all organizations - a necessity that should include a video content strategy. 

Whenever you speak about your business, this is PR. But when it comes to generating strong public relations exposure, most companies lack visibility, budget, or both. So video content is fast becoming the tool for creating authentic, affordable content about your brand. Even better, it's also entertaining and shareable.

Businesses are even looking to low-tech video recording efforts as well. For example, recently, Verizon undertook a video PR campaign where two ordinary friends documented their road trip with the video camera on their smartphone. Although you'll still need to pay attention to lighting, framing, focus, etc., this example demonstrates that showcasing your brand with video does not have to be a costly endeavor, and you do not need to invest in videographer services.

As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words! Likewise, creating video content to showcase authentic messages about your brand can be worth thousands of words and potentially millions of shares.

5. REACH 10X MORE WITH VIDEO AD MARKETING

Using video content for ad campaigns is not a new endeavor. The striking development in this area is how more platforms, like Facebook and Google, will weigh video content over written content in the near future. 

In 2017, we witnessed that some of the highest viewed ad campaigns were video segments – with more than 100+ million views in some cases. Marketing data tells us that video content sees ten times the number of shares compared to still images and written content, a figure social media and news platforms seem to support as they continue to bet their algorithms on video content. It seems that the widespread use of video for ad marketing campaigns will continue to rule.

Whether your business is already rocking a video ad strategy or not, consider ways your brand can step up its video marketing profile.

"Look within your team and discern more about your employee's interests and skills..."

How to Create a Video Action Plan

Whether you're looking to amplify your company's existing video content strategy or aiming to create a video strategy from scratch, consider the following steps:

First, sometimes the seeds for a new or updated undertaking can be under your nose! Look within your team and discern more about your employees' interests and skills. Are they passionate about video? Do they understand how to use video editing tools, such as iMovie or Adobe?

If they possess enthusiasm for video, but lack recording and editing skills, consider investing in their professional growth and secure them video training for the team's benefit.

Second, be sure your business has a clear mission or vision for your company culture. This can be determined by your leadership and narrowed down with input from your team.

Next, consider your market and research the best networking platforms associated with your audience. It might be helpful to poll your customers and discover the web platforms they most frequent. For example, are they more likely to visit Facebook on the weekend and Instagram during the week?

After you've learned more about your market, evaluate the types of video content that perform best on the networking platform, you'll be using. Also, consider your company mission and your business culture and brainstorm a dozen different ways to convey those messages through video.

The combination of platform, company mission, and market audience should ultimately define your video content strategy.

Understanding your company's strategy for video will help determine your video equipment needs. Will a smartphone suffice, or would you need to rent or buy a higher-end camera? Do you need a computer for editing?

IMPORTANT: businesses often start with the stage (rather than doing the research in the earlier steps), resulting in unclear messaging or unnecessary equipment purchases.

Once you've published your brand's first videos – celebrate!

Finally, measure the statistics from your videos, including the number of shares and the average time spent watching. As a team, continue to reevaluate and refine ways to showcase your brand. Did shorter videos garner more shares? Were videos that showed people from the team able to reach a wider audience than videos with the product but without people?

For any one or every one of these steps, consider investing in a video consultant or a boutique video production company. It will help your business determine the right video content for your audience and set up your content with the best tools and special effects to create a professional showcase for your brand's message.

FINAL THOUGHTS

With the growing trend for video content throughout social networks and the media, a winning business strategy should include video. Social media platforms are betting on video content more heavily than other communication.

This is because videos can transcend a variety of audiences. It can effectively recruit candidates, train employees, capture your business' culture, enhance your business's public relations, and reach ten times more customers with your ad marketing.

There are steps you can start making now to build your video content strategy, but investing in a video consultant would definitely empower your team with professional video insights to showcase your brand far into the future.

If you're not ready to invest in a video production company yet, we encourage you to check out our free 5 Steps to Stellar Videos with your iPhone downloadable and our #DoItOnCamera Coaching course to get your business set up for success. 

However, if you are ready to take the leap and work with a video production company, we're here to help. Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We are locally serving Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and the surroundings of the Silicon Valley area. Sound like a fit? Fill out our no-obligation form to schedule your next video production project.