When talking about using video to sell and making sales videos, I hear this line all the time; “I don’t want to be too salesy”
Many of the professionals I work with come to our studio because they struggle a bit to talk about what they do, comfortably, on video. That makes sense, it’s a new and evolving skill that’s now become a must in this post-pandemic world where we’ve all leveled up in our use of video to communicate (that’s not going away). The funny thing about the sentence “I don’t want to be too salesy” is that it’s just not true.
Nobody wants to be seen as ‘pushy’ – or obnoxious, but everyone would like to make more sales, that’s why we’re here, the fundamental purpose of a business, or a business person, is to make sales. In fact, the number one reason most small businesses and startups fail is they neglect to ask for the sale and nothing happens, in any business, nothing happens until somebody sells something. In fact, the most basic marketing video you should have for social media is a simple selling introduction letting people know what you do – and why they might want it.
So – let’s stop worrying about being too pushy (if you’re worried about it, you likely won’t be) and consider a few ways to use video to help us sell and even, sell for us. Number one; if you’re engaged in any sort of Ecommerce – selling big ticket items from your website or using it to book appointments, you’re crazy to not have a video right there, telling prospects what to do, why they want to do it – and where to click the buy button and type in their credit card number.
The world of business is no longer restricted to 9-5, people are researching, learning, shopping and buying on their schedule – not yours. We can’t be available 24/7 to pick up the phone and answer questions, so having a video to give people everything they need to buy – clarity about the benefits, confidence in you and your product, and a clear course of action — will make it easy for people to take action, at 10 o’clock at night or two in the morning – you’ll make sales. If you don’t have such a video, it is costing you money – so stop that!
Here are a couple of non-salesy ideas for sales videos;
the welcome and thank you video for your landing page or home page; people come to your site with a problem or need, seeking information about what you do, why they need it and justification to help them buy it; nobody goes to the website for widgets unless they need a widget – much as nobody goes to a lawyers website if they don’t have legal needs – or a coaches website unless they’d like to be better at something. Your video should be you, giving your presentation, explanation – or pitch. Tell them about it, lay out the benefits they will get, talk about other customers who got those exact results and then tell them how to buy, right now. When someone wants to buy your stuff, it’s rude not to sell it to them, even at 2 in the morning.
Does your sales process rely on a salesperson making a sales call and giving a presentation or demo? Record that and make a video – of your best salesperson, on their best day, giving their best sales pitch ever – and make it available 24/7 on your website and social. You can also use this video to send as a follow up, often we will present our solution to someone – and we’re forced to rely on them to relay it all to other decision makers. Send a video of the whole presentation or just the highlights as a followup so they can share it with all the others. If, for instance, they had three different companies present their solutions, two leave behind a proposal and maybe a printed out slide deck and you do that and then immediately followup with a video that shows your product, promise and personality – who is most likely to get the order?
Another great sales video can be framed as “how-to” – “here’s the problem we solve with this thing that we sell, that you just bought, here’s exactly how it works (see how easy?), here are the benefits and results you will get and are getting as a customer’ – explaining the details to a customer vs pitching a prospect. It’s a subtle difference, and an important one because it provides implied social proof of the results and triggers a little FOMO – fear of missing out.
Remember; “Selling” is nothing more than the transference of energy and excitement from one person to another “If you knew what I know about this thing and how much better it will make your life, you’d be jumping up and down to get it. Here, let me give you the inside scoop about this … and how to buy it so you can have it – and be happy because of the results” Simple.
Another great way of selling by not selling is to let your customers do the talking; Customer Video Testimonials are simple to do, fun to do and can be very effective!
People who find their way to your website, so close to your ‘buy button’, generally are interested enough to buy – if you ask them to. It’s rude not to. Ever walk into a retail store wanting to buy what fixes your problem and you can’r get anyone to pay attention to you, let alone help you find it and take your money? It’s super frustrating, isn’t it? This is how you never do that to your customers.
If you’d like to get the boss in on the marketing and outreach, check out this video on CEO Video Marketing Strategies.
