If you did any holiday shopping for, say, appliances or fitness gear — items that are practical and not cheap — you probably watched online videos. You tried to envision yourself and/or your giftee actually using the product. Maybe you watched the same video more than once, to reassure yourself. Maybe you sought further assurance in other videos, testimonials, reviews and social media.
You tried, in other words, to get as clear a vision as possible of what the thing is, how and why it works, what it looks like in use. Videos helped.
This process is obvious and familiar in the marketing of consumer goods. But it is not so prevalent in the marketing of technology solutions.
Words are not messages
Too many videos simply assert their message — as if making the word PERFORMANCE perform acrobatics on screen (“kinetic text”) will persuade a buyer that performance is what your solution delivers. What’s worse, many storytelling videos with character animation convey no clear message at all if you watch them with the audio off (or in a noisy environment like an exhibition hall).
To be sure, performance is something every buyer of technology solutions is looking for, and every technology solution claims to deliver. But if that’s the case, then it’s at least worth asking whether you should bring it up at all. If all your competitors are delivering an equivalent message, your video may be a time-waster unless it shows the viewer something not seen before.
Here’s an example of a proof point that does not waste any time. The new Brocade 7840 extension switch actually does have a 4X performance advantage over competitive switches. But its application — data replication for disaster recovery — is seen as routine in many data centers. What does it matter, after all, how fast you replicate data when that data that is unlikely ever to be needed?
So this video needed to establish visually exactly why the performance boost matters. It does use on-screen text to aid understanding (noisy environment or not). But the point is made visually — that even a slight dip in performance jeopardizes the ability to meet recovery objectives. Even if you’re not familiar with recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives, you’ll be able to follow the story here.
Completeness of vision
Of course, buyers of technology solutions are not going to make a purchase recommendation or decision on the basis of viewing a video. This is why it’s important to consider video content in the context of of an integrated strategy.
For example, if the goal is sales enablement, you may want a series of ultra-short videos that provide the sales team with good reasons to communicate: “Hey, this 20-second video shows exactly how our solution integrates contact center operations without expensive software integrations.”
On the other hand, if you’re trying to support a field marketing team working with large accounts, you may need to produce videos that directly acknowledge the key business drivers at that account and show how your solutions could fit operations where they are not being used. You may also want to use videos to illustrate key points in white papers or even proposals. These could be motion graphics (illustrating the steps in a process, for example), testimonials, or executive messages.
The key point is — video is a visual medium. Use it to clarify and complete your prospect’s vision.
For more about designing videos for sales engagement, download our free report Creating Videos that Support the Technology Buyer’s Journey.
