Video has officially taken over the web. Stats gathered by Gitnux show the average internet user watches almost 7 hours of video content every week, pointing to the prevalence of video in our daily lives.
What does this mean for you, as a building materials marketer? You should seriously be leveraging video to drive your brand message home and capture a larger slice of your consumer audience.
You can easily miss the mark with your video strategy, however. Sales results aren’t guaranteed just because the vehicle for your message is a moving image. Consistent success with video marketing will only come about by applying best practices.
Here, we’ll share 5 key video marketing tips building product companies can use to make an impact in their market:
1. Focus on the Right Distribution Channels
Before you even think about video content or production, you need to think about where your videos are going to live on the web. Videos need to be deployed in the right places to ensure your target audience has a chance to view them and learn more about your brand.
You’re likely familiar with some of the most popular video channels on the web today, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook Reels. These are indeed places you’ll want your brand to have a presence:
- YouTube registers a stunning 75 billion monthly visits according to Statista, making it the second most-visited website online.
- Reels, the short video form representing Meta’s answer to TikTok, are seeing up to 140 billion plays across Facebook and Instagram each day.
- Stats gathered by Sprout Social show TikTok to be the highest-grossing non-game app on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, with over 1 billion monthly active users.
Using those three channels alone can give you a massive advantage in reaching your audience. Make sure you start to brainstorm content that fits each outlet.
Standing out on TikTok and with Reels, for example, means creating short, snappy videos with some entertainment value. On YouTube, you have more flexibility to be informative and go more in-depth.
It’s also worthwhile to host videos on your own site, such as on your product information pages and relevant blog posts. If you have decent web traffic numbers, presenting those visitors with your video content will engage them — and likely put more of them on the path to buying.
2. Publish Educational How-To Videos
One of the most popular video categories is “how-to” content. Across countless markets, experts create instructional videos and gain popularity by passing along their knowledge to others. Your building materials brand can similarly benefit.
If you’re going to make how-to videos, keep these few important points in mind:
Target a Specific Audience
A building materials company might have multiple audiences with different needs, such as professional installers or DIY homeowners.
By tapping into your knowledge base of topics that matter to each group, you can make effective how-to videos accordingly. Content aimed at installers is going to be more technical in nature, and won’t need to walk through the basics. When targeting the DIY crowd, you might spell out more details to avoid confusion and promote safety.
Use a Consistent Presenter
If possible, use the same few people from your company to create all your how-to videos. This kind of consistency will help build trust with the audience to help you earn brand loyalty.
Record Video In the Field
Instructional videos that feature an expert actually installing the product or showing off its features in context will be far more effective than a video you record in the office, in front of a green screen.
Where how-to videos are concerned, keep in mind the importance of creating content that’s immediately relatable and useful from the viewer’s perspective.
3. Create Enlightening “Buyer’s Guide” Videos
Another category of content is the “buyer’s guide.” Rather than demonstrating how to do something, buyer’s guide videos are meant to show off various products, by highlighting their advantages and use cases.
Creating useful buyer’s guides need not be a particularly difficult task for most building product companies, but there can be a learning curve involved. Remember these tips:
Avoid Being Too “Salesy”
While the underlying goal is to sell products through the use of these videos, buyer’s guides shouldn’t be sales pitches per se.
Rather, they should be seen as informational content that genuinely shines a light on what your products can do and what applications they have, vis-a-vis your customers’ needs and pain points. Think in those terms when scripting these out, and your audience won’t feel “pressured” to buy — they’ll appreciate the helpful insights.
Keep It Brief
Going into detail on your products is good, but balance it with promptly getting to the point.
If your videos go on for longer than 10 minutes, it’s unlikely your prospects will watch them all the way through. YouTube videos made for marketing purposes tend to perform best in the 6 to 8-minute range, according to Brafton.
Sometimes you’ll have more to say than would neatly fit into an 8 or 10-minute video. In that case, you can always record both short and long versions of the buyer’s guide.
This way, the shorter video can hit on the most essential points, and can suggest that viewers check out the expanded version (which might take on more of a “webinar” format) if they want more detail.
Consider Using Two People
While you can certainly produce an informative buyer’s guide with just a single expert on camera, the dynamic of two people playing off of each other often works better.
How might this play out? One person might be the “host” of the show, asking questions and setting up demonstrations for the other person, who’s framed as the product expert. You could also show a “homeowner” getting expert help from the product specialist. There’s lots of room for creativity!
For great examples of buyer’s guide videos, check out the YouTube channel run by Western Metal Deck. You’ll see that the metal decking manufacturer adeptly showcases the uses of their various products, while giving their viewers everything needed to move forward and make a confident purchase.
4. Use Relationship-Building Videos on Thank You Pages
Far better than a generic email after a purchase, a video on the “Thank You” page that customers see after an online purchase can personalize transactions, while making things feel more meaningful and authentic.
A Thank You page might not be the obvious choice for video content, but considering the purpose such pages serve, it makes all the sense in the world. A video placed there allows you to show direct appreciation for the trust a customer places in your brand. In turn, it’ll be easier to earn more purchases and referrals later on.
To make these effective, keep the video direct and to the point. Try to get the whole message across in less than 2 minutes, as going much longer could run the risk of losing the customer’s attention.
In addition to thanking the customer for their business in the video, suggest other ways they can get more value from your brand — such as utilizing customer service or watching other videos you have available. It’s also one of the best places to test upselling your complementary products or services.
5. Leverage FAQ Videos to Answer Common Questions
You may already have a dedicated frequently asked questions (FAQs) page on your site, or a spot that serves that purpose near the bottom of your product pages. Those are good strategies, but you might accomplish the same even more powerfully with FAQ videos.
Such videos could live on your website, on a YouTube channel, or in both places. You can also address multiple audiences. For example, you might address questions from DIYers about installation, explain the nuances of product maintenance or troubleshooting to contractors, or even speak directly to first-time homeowners who are just learning how to care for their property.
Want to make your FAQ videos a hit? Keep the following in mind:
- Get to the point. As with other types of marketing videos you should put out, shorter FAQ videos are typically your best bet for holding customers’ attention.
- Answer just one question at a time. Do your best to just answer a single question in each video. You can always make a new video as new or related questions come up.
- Speak clearly. The goal of these videos is to deliver useful information, so make sure the presenter speaks clearly, projects positive energy, and stays away from confusing industry jargon.
By covering all the bases with FAQ videos and answering questions with clarity, you’ll reduce customer support strain, elicit lots of positive response, and unlock smoother buyer journeys.
For a Winning Marketing Approach, Pair Your Video Strategy with a Premium Dealer Locator
Overlook video as part of your building materials marketing strategy, and you’ll be leaving a golden opportunity behind.
With some of your competitors not currently leveraging video to its full potential — and others getting smarter and catching on — now’s your time to leap ahead, simply by investing the time and effort to produce quality videos on a regular basis.
Of course, grabbing a prospect’s attention with a great video is only the start of engaging them with your brand. From there, you need to reel them in and guide them to local cash registers, where they can actually buy and benefit from your products. That’s where a premium dealer locator software like Bullseye Locations comes in.
Bullseye is an enterprise-level dealer locator tool that helps you reliably guide your prospects to the perfect nearby dealer or contractor in a matter of minutes. Bullseye-built locator pages create a fantastic user experience for web visitors who are ready to buy, and just need to find the right local pro.
Just mention how easy it is to find a local dealer or installer in your video ads and content, point them directly to your locator page, and see what a difference it can make for your sales!
Ready to see how it can work for your brand? Reach out today to schedule your free demo of Bullseye.
