Whether you’re a startup with world-shattering new product that will revolutionise the way we play ping pong, or a corporate giant with innovative, new auditing software, a product video is an essential part of bringing your product to market. Here are a few tips we’ve gathered to consider when you’re producing your video.
1. Don’t focus on the problem.
It’s an age-old sales tactic to outline the problem that your product fixes. Ditch all that and keep your video positive by emphasising the benefits your product will bring to the user. Take a look at the videos that promote any of the world’s greatest selling products and services (iPhone, Fitbit, Facebook), none of them start with the phrase “Ever had that thing happen that really isn’t great? You need the X” and the reason for that is that they credit their audiences with being able associate the capabilities of the product with their own experience and see the benefits.
2. Be brief
This is essentially a tip for every promotional video of almost any kind, but the rule is specifically that you should use the minimum amount of your audience’s time in order to convey your message. Audiences are not forced to watch your ad and if they aren’t engaged, they’ll go – what’s more, they’ll associate boredom with your brand, however subconsciously and that’s hardly likely to improve sales. A decent guideline is to try to tell your story in 90 seconds, if you need longer, you’ll need a stronger concept and a greater variety of content in your video in order to retain interest.
3. Instill identity
A product video is a great opportunity to show the world who you are, and it’s essential that you sell your product in a way that aligns with the rest of your brand values. Also think about how you can use your identity to enhance either your sales message or the engagement of the video. For example, Zendesk uses an approachable, irreverent tone to showcase what could be a very dry product (https://www.zendesk.com/product/tour/) and dollarshaveclub.com (https://vimeo.com/92288886) chooses a brashly hilarious tone that resonates with their target market.
Even if your product isn’t brand new and doesn’t need to be explained, potential customers are ordering online in ever increasing numbers and video is a massive part of that process; not only do people want to see videos of their potential purchases, but search engines are actively directing shoppers to websites that are proactively using video, so video doesn’t only increase your chances of converting a sale, it gets more qualified leads through the door in the first place!
We love building product videos – they’re often a chance to get conceptually creative, so get in touch if you want to talk one through!
