Video has become one of the most cost-effective ways to promote, train and support customers.
Let me begin with this: if you’re not using video to create a better experience for your customers, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. And, even if you are using video, you’re probably not using it enough.
Video has become one of the most cost-effective ways to promote, train and support customers. It is a way of leveraging relationships to create an emotional connection with your customers. If used the right way, it can both save you money and make you money.
Just ask Bryant Garvin, former head of advertising for Purple, a comfort technology company best known for its mattresses that have taken the Internet by storm. Garvin grew Purple from nearly nothing to $169 million in revenue in just two years. His “secret” was video, and he was kind enough to share several ways he took advantage of it.
Send a video thank-you: Garvin found opportunity in the post-purchase phase. Thank the customer for his or her order through a simple video created by someone at the company. Let them know how to reach you if they have any issues, questions or problems. This shouldn’t be a generic video, but a custom, personalized video. By the way, the time it takes to do this is less than it would take to hand-write a thank-you note, address the envelope and mail it out.
Follow up with video instructions on how to best use the product: As part of that thank-you video, show the customer how to find tutorials on the company’s website or on YouTube. This is akin to having a video version of the traditional FAQ page on a website.
Use video to showcase new products and services: A current (happy) customer is your best opportunity for repeat business. Use video to show demonstrations of new products and services that your company is rolling out. If done the right way – not too pushy or sales-y – videos can be informative and create excitement about what’s new at the company.
You don’t have to stop there. I looked at how other companies used video and came up with some additions to the list:
1. Sales and Marketing: If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a video worth? For a company that does any type of digital advertising or marketing, embedding video is simple and often very cost-effective. I’ve recently started using vidREACH.io to send video messages to my clients. With vidREACH you can send messages to multiple people (I hate the term “mass-mailing”) at the same time. When done the right way, video creates a more personal touch that negates the coldness of a typical marketing message.
2. Onboarding: This idea ties into Garvin’s “post-purchase” strategy. Video tutorials that come after the product is purchased ensure that customers know how to properly use what they just bought. For example, I recently bought a wall mount for a TV. It would be very easy for the store to email me a link to a video on how to properly and safely hang my TV. Just think of any product you’ve ever bought that needs assembly or requires instructions for use. That includes software. The ways to use video onboarding are endless. Additionally, as a benefit to the company, they cut down on customer support calls.
3. Customer Support: Speaking of customer support, having video tutorials for frequently asked questions is a perfect way to give customers the support they need while freeing up contact center agents to deal with more complicated customer service issues.
4. Ongoing Training: You don’t have to wait for customers to reach out with questions before putting a video in front of them. Ongoing video tutorials are perfect for certain types of products and services.
5. Staying in Touch: Almost any written correspondence found in a letter, email or text can be turned into a personal video.
In the past, video was expensive and required trained editors to create beautiful results. That is no longer the case. For the purposes listed above, you don’t need an expensive camera or a fancy editing suite. Anyone with a smartphone can become a videographer.
The ideas in this article are just the beginning. As you start to use video, you’ll recognize even more opportunities it gives you to connect and build relationships with your customers. Connecting with your customers will create a better experience for all and can only benefit your business. What other reason do you need to up your CX game by adding video?
