6 Videos Every Manufacturer Needs On Their Website

Video has become an important tool not only in the marketing of your business, but in the internal training of your company as well. Video harnesses the attention of a viewer and provokes engagement. When done properly, it will also educate customers, and properly showcase your products.

If you’re still in the dark on what kind of video works best for your business, don’t just throw darts at a wall to see what sticks. We interviewed 150 manufacturers about their sales & marketing plans last year, and 80% of them create videos of some kind for their company website.

Here are the top six videos every manufacturer needs:

1. Product Demos
2. Identity Videos
3. Webinars
4. News Updates
5. Thought Leadership
6. Employee Training

1. 63% OF MANUFACTURERS USE PRODUCT VIDEOS.

Product videos showcase…well, your product.

Of all the videos every manufacturer needs, product videos probably make the most sense right off the bat. Manufacturers make things, and these videos show off those things.

Highlight what your product/service does, how it works, and how a customer (whether business or consumer) will interact with it. Seeing someone interact with an object in a 3D world can be easier to understand than trying to decipher a drawing or a photo, let alone written text.

Product demos should also be short and to the point. If you have a considerable amount of material to cover, don’t do it all in one video. It’s considered best practice to keep your videos under three minutes and have individual videos focus on different aspects of your product.

For example, if you’re an automotive manufacturer, don’t push a 20-minute demo of the car. Instead, break it down into shorter videos for under the hood, the infotainment system, interior features, and so on. You can still compile all these videos into a 20-minute playlist for extremely interested viewers, but this way you can also cater to someone who only wanted to learn about one quick aspect of your product.

2. 41% OF MANUFACTURERS USE IDENTITY VIDEOS.

Tell the consumer about yourself.

It is more important now than ever before to educate your customers on your business. This should include your core values, why you make what you make, and what sets you apart. Think of it as the “About Us” section of a website, only in video form.

Customers want to shop with a business they know and trust. Crafting identity videos helps put a face on your business. This also means you need to showcase people interacting with your product or service on some level. They can be real staff-members, real customers, or just actors; but either way it’s important for viewers to connect to human beings within your story. That relationship critical to your business.

If you decide to go on-camera yourself, you may want to practice talking in front of a camera several times prior to making identify videos (and for the rest of the videos, for that matter). Some people do not feel comfortable in front of a camera initially. It takes some practice. But practice makes perfect. And if you happen to know that you have employees who shine on video, make sure to include them.

3. 23% OF MANUFACTURERS USE WEBINARS.

Webinars are where you can get in-depth with your product or service, because you know your audience is definitely interested.

This is where the longform videos every manufacturer needs are not only acceptable, but optimal. Other videos need to be short and sweet, because your audience may be higher up in the sales funnel (which means they’re not invested enough to give you more of their attention span).

Movie trailers are 2-3 minutes for a reason. They educate the viewer on the movie, show off what might capture the viewer’s attention, and then end. Think of the other video types as a “trailer” for your business.

Webinars are for consumers who want to know the full ins and outs. They know the video may have a long running time, but they’re willing to sit through it to find answers. So you can talk about why you use a specific plastic, where you source your materials, why you work with local farmers, and so on. It’s basically a lecture.

4. 18% OF MANUFACTURERS USE NEWS UPDATES VIDEOS.

Highlight what’s going on in the industry or in your company here.

Maybe you have an exciting new product you want to tease. Perhaps you’ve updated features for current items already out. Or you might just want to express an opinion on the latest regulation changes or up-and-coming practices amongst your peers. News update videos are best placed on the front page, as it’s typically more important to your customers and client base.

Apple, for example, will create little teaser videos for upcoming product releases and place it front and center on its website. If you regularly update this information, it will also keep visitors coming back to your site to check out the latest industry news.

5. 15% OF MANUFACTURERS USE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP VIDEOS.

Basically, thought leadership is all about sharing your expertise to help others (and to establish that you’re an expert in your field).

Even though not a lot of industrial companies use thought leadership yet, it is a fast-growing technique and might be one of the more important videos every manufacturer needs to start creating. Thought leadership attracts viewers and teaches them how to navigate your industry. It also points out to them that you know what you’re talking about, which is why customers should turn to your business instead of the competition.

Take the opportunity to introduce yourself and present an opportunity for your audience to build a relationship of trust with you. If you do anything else, you should show them that you know ways to solve their problems. If you’re already helping them out for free, they can’t help but wonder what you might be capable of if they start paying you.

Plus, it doesn’t hurt to mention if your business has been operational for generations, or you have multiple degrees on the subject, or you’ve earned multiple awards for your work.

6. 12% OF MANUFACTURERS USE EMPLOYEE TRAINING VIDEOS.

It’s far easier for new, overwhelmed employees to watch individual training videos then to sift through a 100-page training booklet.

Somewhat like your initial corporate identity piece, these videos establish who you are for the sake of your new hires. They learn what you’re looking for from your employees, including how you want work done and what you’re expecting from them.

These videos are also extremely helpful when you have multiple locations. You want a uniformed training process, which can be difficult to accomplish if you have locations in varying states or even countries. With employee training videos, all new hires receive the exact same training.

You can keep these videos on a private section of the website. Your customers do not need to see the employee training videos.

Video is vital to move your business forward.

These are the most important videos every manufacturer needs to incorporate into theirs website. As you produce more videos you’ll see which ones draw in viewers and result in increased sales; and which videos may need some work. However, each of these kinds of videos will prove beneficial in one way or another.

And with 2020 right around the corner, now is the perfect time to begin formulating your video marketing and training plans for the coming year.

 

 

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