How Manufacturers and B-to-B will use Social Media is bound to change and mature over the next few years, an outlet I’ve found tremendously helpful is YouTube.
- Product demos, especially of large systems
- How-to-fix videos, of especially complex steps in the field
- Training videos for staff
- How customers use the products
- The types of OEM products that customers sell
- How product can be damaged and how to test/look for that type of damage
- How the product is made as a sales tool for building credibility with customers
- Commentary captured per Youtube video can be used to improve future videos
As in all things, the more professional the video, the more professional the impression that will be made.
- Watch videos you like and don’t like and take notes:
- How long should you make it?
- Break into smaller segments as appropriate (think in terms of chapters) and to enable better streaming
- Break into chapters where steps 1 and 4 go quickly but 2 & 3 may need to be reviewed a few times. By breaking into smaller sections the user can more easily re-review the trickier steps
- Title sections so it is obvious if one section is missing in the search results
- Scripting of the voice-over. How the voice-over talks
- Camera work. Put it on a tripod and keep the zooms to a minimum
- When interviewing people, put their names and titles at the bottom
- Where and when to put the company name on the video
- Don’t forget a call to action
a. Call us
b. Go to our website
c. Depending on the content, it may be appropriate to make the video available to download officially – once they’ve registered on your website - Title appropriately
- Measure results. If the videos aren’t getting the financial results you need, re-evaluate why