Using Video for Promotion

Short promotional videos can be useful ways for micro-businesses to promote themselves.

Video camera for using video for promotion

Video camera for using video for promotion

They won’t necessarily make people aware that your business exists, but they are useful for demonstrating what you do and bringing your business to life for enquirers. They can be much more effective than a paper brochure or static web page for doing this.

Using video for promotion doesn’t mean creating lavish Hollywood epics. Two or three minutes is the ideal time as it gives the viewer a flavour of your micro-business but isn’t long enough to bore them.

Potential uses for video include:

  •  An overview of the micro-business and what it does
  • An introduction to key staff and premises if you have them
  • ‘How to’ illustrations for your product range
  • Demonstrations of additional uses for your products
  • 6 second videos of offers or promotions, circulated via the ‘Vine’ service from Twitter.

You can have your videos hosted on youTube and then have a link to them on your website. The video can be embedded into your site so that the viewer only has to click on it to watch, but it reduces the bandwidth taken up by your website which may avert a potential issue with the company that hosts your website.

You can set up your own channel on youTube and host videos there which can also help with search engine optimisation. Google likes video and also owns youTube so it can only be a good thing. For guidance on other search engine optimisation techniques, read Search Engine Optimisation in the Marketing Advice section.

Facebook is another way of using video for promotion. If your micro-business has a Facebook page then post your videos there too. This can help to make the Facebook presence more interesting than a static repeat of your website plus it may provide opportunities to enter into conversation and interaction with friends and followers, e.g. asking customers to post videos of the product being used.

You will also need to consider how to produce your videos. If you want to use video as part of your marketing activity, read Producing Promotional Videos in the Marketing Advice section of this site.