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You have likely heard how versatile video can be when promoting products or services, from a story driven concept to complex topics like design and construction. Depending on your organization's goals, the opportunities are abundant, and sometimes difficult to know where to begin. Below we have 15 opportunities for using video to make your promotion a reality. This is in no way an exhaustive list and please leave suggestions in the comments of other creative ideas you have for using video.
Fundraiser promo
Fundraising can be a difficult process for any organization or non-profit, but luckily there are tools to make this process simpler. Video happens to be one of the most effective and growing tools in this area. In fact, since the Covid-19 pandemic began, it has been found that fundraising campaigns with a specialized pitch video can raise 4x more funds than those campaigns without one. These types of promotional videos prove to be an effective way of both communicating and emotionally engaging with your target audience, and often can be repurposed to suit both short and long term goals of the fundraising campaign.
Educational Pieces
With video being one of the top learning mediums, especially after 2020, it has been an instrumental tool for many organizations and educators. Video has the ability to create an emotional connection while also being visually stimulating and versatile to fit any topic. It has the functional ability of communicating complex ideas in a highly efficient way by utilizing clear visuals paired with short text and a well-formulated voice-over.
Customer Testimonial
One of the most powerful tools your business can utilize is a testimonial from one of your happy customers. Positive customer testimonials in either B2B or B2C interactions have been overwhelmingly proved to reflect well on the associated company. According to BigCommerce, around 92% of consumers check online reviews, and about 88% of these customers trust these testimonials at the same level as personal recommendations. These serve to create trust between your company and your potential customers, and these reviews translated into a video testimonial can make them all the more powerful as it engages the viewer visually, audibly, and emotionally. Click here to see an example.
Event Promo Videos
Following the numerous event cancellations of 2020 due to the pandemic, there has been a resurgence being held this year, making events compete with one another again for attendees. Prior to 2020, according to Eventbrite, 94% of event creators say they have used video to effectively market their event. There are a multitude of ways video can be used to promote an event, depending on the type of event and goals. You could use a short promo to raise awareness, another short one closer to the event date to drive ticket sales, and then an actual in-event push video to promote your message, service, or product. There is also the opportunity for a recap video to share the success of the event, the footage from which could then be partially repurpose to put together a promotional video for when the event is held again (this formula works especially well for annual and bi-annual events).
Event Highlights
On the topic of highlight videos for events, there are a variety of ways highlight videos can be used. Some can be compiled from footage gathered over the year of different things the company or organization have done to be shown at the actual event. An additional option is to have a team going through the event, capturing video of the attendees, activities, and speakers. This footage can then be compiled into a different kind of highlight video to showcase the event itself and sent out to participants to thank them for coming or revamped to promote the event for whenever it happens again. A highlight reel can be an adaptive tool to be used in promoting and supporting your events.
Event Live Stream
Another way to help promote your event and your organization over all, a live stream is a great avenue to explore! Now, this won’t work for every event. Some are just too large and spread out. But for many it is a way to expand your audience and engagement base. Take for example an event to raise funds for a charity, perhaps a fundraising dinner with some speakers. By live streaming & recording what the speakers have to say and allowing for simultaneous online donations for remote viewers who wish to offer their monetary support, the donor base is vastly increased and you have more material recorded for future use.
Before & After
This type of video format is well suited for those in the home services industry, like construction, home renovation/remodeling, roofing, landscaping, and a multitude of other services. Take a re-roofing project for example. By gathering footage before your crew does any work and then footage from when the job is done, you can really see the difference and illustrate both your product and the skill of your team. It provides a great visual for people looking for examples of your workmanship. Click here to see a short example.
New Product Announcement
If you are launching a new product, video is a great way to promote it. You can show potential customers how to properly use it, the value it brings, and any special features or offers associated with the new product. You can then share that video across channels to drive awareness and sales.
New Services Announcement
There is a similar opportunity for highlighting new services you and your team have to offer through video. Depending on how new it is, you may want to announce the service’s launch, explain the service (such as what it does for the customer), or you may wish to combine the launch with a testimony of an early adoptee customer. There are several options when it comes to announcing a new service–it all depends on which aspect you would like to promote.
Employment / Recruiting
Employment and recruiting is easily one of the most pressing issues for companies and organizations today. Why exactly people are experiencing such difficulty finding qualified help we can’t quite say. In the face of this challenge though, companies are getting creative in their recruiting efforts, especially when it comes to video. Some use employee testimonials about the opportunities they have experienced at their company, others have current employees outline the benefits that come with the job and what that means to them, and some simply promote their workplace culture so that potential applicants can gain an idea of what working there might look like before they even apply.
Program Promo
Similar to an event promo, taking the time and effort to put together a promotional video for your program is a great way to invest in a highly versatile tool. Programs that seek to be successful need to be known about, so promotion is a must. Video serves as a great medium for explaining more complex aspects in a short amount of time using audio, visuals, and text graphics for communication of key information. With this, promoting your program, how to be involved, the benefit that comes from it, leaves an array of options for your team. Begin by defining your goals for how the video will support your program and go from there.
Public Service Announcement (PSA)
In 2022, most people, especially from younger generations, will not take the time to read a written PSA. Rather, this information presented in short form video and placed strategically (such as across socials with proper tagging and/or as ads) allows for more direct targeting for the PSA’s outreach. It opens up more channels and stands a higher chance of actively reaching and engaging your target audience. Click here to see an example.
Anniversary
Anniversaries deserve to be celebrated, especially for businesses that continue to thrive and grow as the years go by. Whether it’s a five year anniversary or a 75-year anniversary, a video is an excellent way to share your journey with your community. It also serves to build on your brand image (or rebrand if need be), establish trust and dependability, and serves to promote your company to potential customers. Click here to view an example.
Drone
While drone video is usually used as a supplement to more complex videos, it can serve as a standalone depending on what you would like to show. It pairs especially well with more general promotions, when paired with compelling music and voice overs. It can also function as a great way to film before and after videos of larger projects (like commercial buildings) that can serve as a great example of your businesses work and craftsmanship.
E-commerce Video
While reviews are extremely important for selling products and services virtually, having demonstration videos can also be highly influential in making the final sale. This kind of video can also take the form of explaining how you source your materials, such as fair trade products, local suppliers, or recycled materials. Or it might look more like a how-its-made video to give the viewer an idea of the process that went into the products. It all depends on what your goal for the video is and the kind of content that will drive your target audience to make the purchase.
So what does this mean for you?
The above list is in no way a comprehensive guide for the many ways to promote using videos, but we hope it offers an idea of how versatile and adaptive this medium can be. If you have any additional ideas for the ways to promote using video, we’d love to hear about it in the comments below or any thoughts you have on our list so far. If you are interested in discussing any of the above video types for your business or organization, we’d love to chat with you about it! You can reach us by phone at 503-979-2141 or email at info@skylinevp.com.
