YouTube is a powerful tool. It is the second most visited website in the world according to Google (the first most visited website). And according to Pew Research Center, 74.5% of adults in the United States use YouTube. But have you ever considered using YouTube to grow your sales? Likely not, but you really should.
At this point, YouTube is a cultural entity of its own — part social media platform and part search engine. It makes sense that your small business should have some sort of presence in a place so important and visible, right? But just having a profile isn’t enough.
You have to build up a collection of simple, but converting videos.
You have to give potential customers the information they need to make an informed decision about your business before they leave YouTube to make a purchase.
Top 5 YouTube videos to grow your sales
There are five key videos you need on your channel to make sure that customers get a well-rounded impression of your business (and to grow your sales):
- Your origin story.
- Customer testimonials.
- Product highlight videos.
- Entertaining or humorous videos.
- Behind the scenes.
Let’s dive in.
1. Your origin story
Like your favorite superhero, your business needs an origin story. You need to answer a few questions or tell the story of what got you here. You may have an interesting or exciting story or maybe you think your story is boring — whatever it is, it’s authentic! People want to see that authenticity, especially in a small business. If you don’t have an origin story, think about these points:
- Who are you?
- Where did you come from?
- What got you started?
- Why is this the business you started?
- What got you interested in this line of work?
- What were some obstacles you overcame?
This video doesn’t have to be long or professionally edited. Here is a great example from Lavendaire, a professional YouTuber. Even as a professional YouTuber, you can see she is mainly using a simple setup of just her speaking to the camera. That is all you need as well!
2. Customer testimonials
To build up that social proof, you will want to include customer testimonials on your YouTube channel. These are videos that are simply customers reviewing your products, services or experiences in video form.
You can upload each testimonial as a separate video or cut them together and upload a few at a time together.
Here is an example of a simple and effective client video testimonial for my agency, Bryan Caplan Marketing.
These will likely not be long or complicated, just simple setups of a person speaking to a camera. You might feel awkward asking for these kinds of videos from customers, but you don’t need many! Ask those who you feel like you have a strong relationship with and who have had an excellent experience with your business. Including a customer testimonial on YouTube will add a bit of legitimacy to your business in this space. A prospective customer won’t have to go far to find a positive customer experience to round out their impression of your business.
Related: Generate reviews — 8 ways to get more product reviews
3. Product highlight videos
Of course, you will want to highlight what you are selling as well! Choose a product or line or products that are new, that are trending or are best sellers and highlight them with a video. Maybe show how they work, a recipe, how to use them in a certain setting, a fun hack or something else. This is where you can be creative! Here’s an example of a product highlight video we just created for Country Paint and Hardware in North Branford, Connecticut. They are just starting out their YouTube Channel and wanted to highlight their seasonal products in an innovative way.
Start off with one video and update them with more products that become relevant to the seasons and changes in taste. You can always make more about different products or even the same product, there is no limit!
4. Entertaining or humorous videos
To add a bit of levity, create a humorous or entertaining video to add to your channel. For my channel, I usually invite my kids to join me for this kind of content. This shows that you are light and have a sense of humor, which is always refreshing. (Bonus: I get to teach them about confidence and how dad makes videos)
You can involve employees and even the product or service in these videos — it is up to you and your creativity. Just make sure you keep it classy and light.
5. Behind the scenes
Sometimes people do want to see how the sausage gets made. In fact, behind-the-scenes videos are quite popular and engaging, depending on your business of course. This short behind-the-scenes video of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s tequila brand is a great example of the power of this kind of video.
Even if you don’t make something on-site you still have some kind of process that goes into your work that you can share with your customers. How do you prepare your business for the day? If your business is service-based, how do you perform those services? How do you prepare? What does that look like? Give your viewers a peek behind the scenes to get to know you, your business and what that looks like — that builds trust and familiarity.
Beyond YouTube
Though these videos will be uploaded to YouTube, they can and should be used in many other places, namely your website and online store.
This way, you can leverage YouTube to grow your sales both on and off the YouTube platform.
Your origin story video is the perfect addition to your About page on your website along with a written piece about your business. Video puts a face to the business, which makes it feel more personal and builds trust. You can add your “Behind the Scenes” video to this page as well, if it makes sense.
Add customer testimonials to your homepage or to a page where your other customer reviews live, this will be a nice change from a sea of written reviews. Include any videos highlighting products on those specific product pages in your online store. Seeing a product in motion in a video is incredibly useful when making an online purchase and will be helpful to customers making that decision.
Seems simple enough, right? Creating a set of five simple YouTube videos is key to establishing a favorable impression of your business on YouTube to grow your sales both on the platform and off — and it’s a great way to get started and get comfortable making videos. Once you see how easy it can be, you won’t want to stop!