LONDONDERRY, N.H. /eNewsChannels/ — If you have a video on your website, your company is 50 times more likely to land on the first page of Google than websites without video, according to Dr. Sharon Livingston.
“It’s true, even when the keywords are competitive,” said Dr. Livingston, aka “The Small Business Diva,” who specializes in creating customized interview videos for small businesses. “And good videos on websites, especially the compelling interview type, are new enough that it’s unlikely your competitors are doing it at all or doing it well, so this gives you a real advantage.”
For a video to have maximum impact, it should not be the “talking head” variety, according to Dr. Livingston, a clinical psychologist and one of the country’s best-known market research executives who has conducted over 60,000 interviews. The most compelling is the “partner interview” format, because “a conversation is always more interesting and lively than a person simply delivering a talk.”
“Advertisers know that telling a story about a product or service makes a bigger impact in their customers’ minds than outright promotion, and that’s what this type of interview does,” explained Dr. Livingston of Londonderry, N.H. “By eliciting passion from the business owner, viewers are drawn in, and the features of the product or service come alive.
“People doing monologues often look scared or frozen and sound stilted or like they are reading…which in a lot of cases, they are!
“On the other hand, when there’s an involved ‘partner’ in the interview, viewers vicariously experience the relationship between the interviewer and that person, and by association they begin to feel they have a relationship with the business owner. It’s like sitting at Starbucks and overhearing two friends talking about an exciting find that you just have to try for yourself.”
A partner video has multiple applications, noted Dr. Livingston. It can be posted on a company’s website, used as blog content, as a video newsletter or even as a flash drive business card to be handed out to prospects and customers.
If you’re considering creating a video for your website, here are some tips to keep in mind to ensure maximum impact:
1. Make sure your “partner” is seriously intrigued by what you sell and likes you and your product or service. If the interviewer isn’t sincerely interested, the interview will come off as phony.
2. Practice your interview ahead of time. It doesn’t have to be a complete run-through, but discuss all the questions and possible responses. Taking too much time to think about a response during filming can interrupt the flow and distract the viewer.
3. Be prepared to throw away the first 10 minutes of the interview, as it takes a little time for people to warm up.
4. Remember what got you excited about your product initially, and convey that with authentic enthusiasm.
5. Always keep in mind the “what’s in it for me?” question every viewer will have. Make it about benefitting them, not promoting you.
6. Find an excellent editor who can piece the footage together and add simple special effects such as music, to give the video a more professional feel.
7. Incorporate humor wherever possible. This breaks the tension and keeps the viewer entertained.
For information about the services of Small Business Diva, call (603) 505-5000. Go to: (redirects to YouTube channel) to see recent videos she has produced.
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