Article #4

What Is The Difference Between Regular Videos And Marketing Videos?

I have got a depressing statistic to share with you. The vast majority of videos on YouTube have very little views. We’re talking less than 100. You image taking the time and trouble to shoot a video and then uploading it to YouTube only to get less than hundred views. 

I am not talking about somebody shooting a footage of their high school dance party or dance scene from a local play. I’m talking about videos that are intended by marketers to convert their audience members into buyers. I’m talking about intentionally produced, crafted, scripted, and uploaded videos. In fact, a lot of these videos were not cheap. The marketer who uploaded them actually spent money on them. Still, there they are, gathering digital dust, stuck at 100 views or less. One of the main reasons this tragedy happens is because a lot of video marketers are unclear regarding the differences between regular and marketing videos. 

A lot of people are thinking that as long as they shoot videos a lot of the benefits of marketing videos will magically happen. They will be able to communicate on a very direct level. They would be able to send all sorts of signals that can convert the viewer. They would be able to present what would otherwise be complicated information in a very direct, personal, and immediate way. 

Unfortunately, they produce one video after another and nothing seems to work. It all comes back to this confusion regarding regular videos and marketing videos. 

Regular videos are supplemental in nature

Please understand that if you want to make money with your videos you have to know, what they can and cannot do. When you make a regular video, this is essentially video that is content. You’re either explaining stuff, you’re revealing information, or you're just entertaining the reader. Nothing wrong with that. This is supplemental to your efforts at building a brand. These videos get the reader to feel like they know what you’re about, what your brand is focused on. You might even get the reader to like your brand, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they trusted enough to buy from it. This is the difference. 

You have to remember that to sell anything online you have to walk a person through the KLT process. KLT stands for know-like-trust. For a person to buy, you must first trust you enough to want to buy from you. For them to trust you, they must first like whatever it is you’re offering. They must like your brand enough to trust you. For them to develop a liking to your brand, they must first feel that they know enough about the problem that your brand solution solves. There are many stages to this. There are at least four stages before you get people to rip out their credit cards and buy stuff through an online form. 

Regular videos only take care of you on the K and L phases. They do a great job getting the prospect to feel like they know enough about their problems and the likely solutions. Supplemental videos can also do a good job getting the prospect to like a particular approach or particular class of solutions but they don't go far enough. They don't take you to the trust stage. This is where marketing videos come in.

Marketing videos build trust

The great thing about video marketing is that you’re able to walk a person through the KLT process within the same video. First, you present the problem. This filters the viewer. If the viewer does not have the problem the video talks about, that the viewer is not going to remain a viewer for long. They are going to close the window and watch another video. The video doesn’t speak to their needs. 

The video then presents the general solutions or common solutions to the problem. It sizes up the advantages and disadvantages of the solution. By this point, the viewer would feel a preference for one solution over the other. Effective videos then go to the next step. They present credible and authoritative information in the form of case studies and stories that they get the viewer to trust that the specific solution that they are promoting is the solution they should use. That’s how you get people to buy. 

Also marketing videos are written and produced in such a way that they tightly integrate with your other marketing initiatives. This way you can easily share them on Facebook, you can tweet them on Twitter as well as share them on many other platforms. This is the difference between regular videos and marketing videos. Don't get your wires crossed. 

You don't have to spend a ton of money making one marketing video after another. Highly effective marketing videos take a lot of time or they cost money. Instead, you can produce cheaper regular videos to walk your prospects through the KLT process and then let your single or couple of videos convert them. That’s how you play the game. That’s how you get viewers to trust your solution.
