Talking to Customers 101: Creating World-Class Videos

Using videos to help train sellers and customers is becoming a very popular solution for many businesses. It turns out that short videos perform better in our time-starved eCommerce world. No matter what business you’re in, your customers may already be looking for you on YouTube—so it’s likely in your best interest to be there. Whether the video is about a product or about a way to improve an eCommerce Web site, the increased engagement you get from video is invaluable.

Here are some tips and tricks for making great educational videos.

1. Review the competition. What types of videos are currently being used for businesses like yours? Which videos are capturing the heart and soul of your customers? Decide what you like and what you want to do. Think about using music!

2. Plan or script the video. Don’t try to wing it; your viewers can tell if you weren’t well prepared.

3. Keep it short. Crisp, concise, and interesting is the way to go.

4. Do some test runs. Even with a great script, you might make mistakes. Don’t add to the pressure by thinking you have to do this video in one sitting.

5. Make your title and description compelling and interesting. The title is the first thing your potential viewers will see. Write it around the kernel of truth that everyone is looking for.

6. Link your video to your Website. Make it easy for a potential customer to find your Website after viewing the video. A great video is a perfect way to draw the customer in.

7. Use keywords. YouTube allows you to specify keywords. Set search terms that will help customers find the video. Use the keyword in its singular form. A search for “sale” might not find a video that uses “sales” as a keyword, but a search for “sales” will always find a video that includes the keyword “sale.”

8. Market your video. If this is the first of many videos to come, start the buzz. Use social media sites like Facebook, blogs, and such. Talk about the video in the forums.

Recently, the Amazon Webstore team has ramped up its production of short instructional videos. We found that presenting a few concepts in a short, well-executed video could immediately have a positive impact on our customers. Watch one of our latest videos here, about customizing the search attributes on your Webstore.

Having completed your first educational video, you will want to end with a call to action. If you have followed these tips and tricks, you will be in a good position to start building a relationship with your customers and community. Now go out there and do great things. Roll cameras! Action!

Image credit: jsawkins, “Camera operator setting up the video camera” December 21, 2009 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)