A few years ago, so-called “user-generated content” emerged. Today we now accept that blog posts, tweets and other nuggets of insight are trustworthy and, in some cases, highly entertaining. In the realm of video, YouTube not only made digital expression accessible to all, it forever changed the expectation for video content. YouTube proved that simply-produced and authentic video could be as, if not more, engaging than professional content.

Despite the popularity of social media (what is essentially evolved user-generated content), businesses were, until recently, reluctant to adopt the more freewheeling and often spontaneous sensibilities YouTube-style video. Today, however, erstwhile “corporate video,” often highly produced with b-roll, scripted actors and music, can seem disingenuous and inauthentic. Consumers – even buyers of technology and business services – have come to expect a more authentic dialogue. And this is good news for businesses that want to use video to engage and convert – authentic video can be easier and less costly to produce!

So, we are often asked, how much authenticity and simplicity is enough? After all, we’ve got we’ve got a valuable brand here, and we can’t risk undermining it. Although every company is different, we start with three simple rules for an effective video:

• Meet basic expectations for lighting and sound. Make sure that faces aren’t in shadow or direct sunlight, and be sure ambient noise won’t drown voices out. If you’re thinking of buying a digital video camera, consider one that has an external microphone jack.
• Feature real people from your business talking about subjects for which they are truly passionate. Don’t worry if they’re not Al Pacino. Do worry if they don’t convey authentic enthusiasm.
• Make the video more conversational and less scripted. Talking points are better than a formal script. Don’t let message perfection be the enemy of authenticity.

Some companies may have a budding Leonardo DiCaprio or a closet Apple Final Cut Pro editor, but you don’t need that level of talent to get started. You simply need to find your company’s comfort zone for quality versus expediency. It’s best to start small and experiment, proving to yourself – and your management team perhaps – that a simple, authentic video can actually convert online leads into sales. That’s reason enough to give it a try.

To read about other tips for using video to convert online visitors to leads, please download our eBook, Best Practices for Using Video to Convert Visitors to Leads, here.

And be sure to come back to our blog for more tips and tricks.

Video doesn’t have to be difficult or costly to produce.  Our mission of late has been to help businesses see this firsthand by starting slowly, measuring and then comparing BV (before video) and AV (after video). So, here’s a recently completed example to which many companies can relate: using a video app to drive higher webinar attendance. Building Engines was eager to try the simple BV/AV test. They were looking for new ways to draw people into webinars and adding video seemed like a cost-effective solution. For them, the goal was simple and easily tested – add a short video promo to traditional webinar promotion (through email) and see if it converts more attendees. So, instead of just sending an HTML email with a registration button, Building Engines included a video promotion with the email.  See below.

By clicking on the video to the right (in the image above), the prospect would go to the following landing page to get a taste of the event:

Click here to play the Video App.

So, did it work? Yes. The campaign kicked off with the email distribution just one week prior to the webinar. The company sent 11,000 emails to their house list, which typically returned a click-through rate of approximately 7%. This time, however, the click-through rate was 13.8%, twice that of its BV distributions. So how did the video app perform in this case? It was quadruple the number of registrants over the prior month and was the second highest webinar ever done by Building Engines. In addition, more than 65% of the attendees were “highly interested” during the actual presentation itself as rated by GoToWebinar’s engagement tool. But don’t just take our word for it. Choose what you would like to hear from Sarah Fisher below as she talks about parts of her first successful BV to AV experience.