With approximately 540,000 new businesses being created every month and over 30 million small businesses accounted for in the United States, it is never a bad idea to internally assess your company’s marketing and promotion strategies. A new year calls for new goals, which may include the need to better brand your business due to the increased competition, especially within the small business sector. With viral video becoming a norm, it is no secret that the video production industry is booming in popularity. Roddy Sherrell, director of operations for Access Media Productions, offers five imperative reasons why your company needs to jump on the bandwagon and use viral video this year.  

Video marketing can legitimize your business and build credibility.

Graphics can be extremely important and will draw attention if done right, but a video featuring the president of your company or having customers give testimony is much better. Video can create emotional connections with consumers and allows your brand to have a personality.

Video marketing is your company’s 30-second elevator pitch to a potential customer or prospective client.

In order to steer clear of cold calling nightmares, video has the ability to get your foot into a potential client’s door. Every salesperson has dealt with “the gatekeeper”. “What is your call regarding” or “I will take a message and have him or her get back to you” are common phrases one hears while cold calling. Having the opportunity to offer the client a 30-second professional video pitch will make your brand stand out and keep the gatekeeper from lumping you in with all the other sticky notes.

A 60-second video is equivalent to one million words on a website.

Video is the future of content marketing. Content marketing is a technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent information to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – basically the hook to reel in cash flow. With the declining human attention span, a business now has 10 seconds to capture a viewer or reader’s attention.  A short video done right can capture one’s curiosity to visit a website, make a phone call or do more research on a product or service.

Video production is affordable.

Production costs are nowhere near what they used to be. You do not need Steven Spielberg to get views on your video … but if you have access to Mr. Spielberg, of course use him! Using a professional video production house with a marketing background is extremely helpful in gaining notoriety and putting together a comprehensive marketing plan for your business or brand. Your videos do not have to be worthy of the big screen, but they do need to be effective in capturing the viewer’s attention, which is why it is best to carefully consult a professional.

Social media is a beast that needs to be fed.

Video has become the most popular content to drive social media, especially with all outlets having video platforms and millions sharing their videos every single day. Businesses, large and small, are all competing for views. In order to win the competition, your videos must be accessible on social media. Investing in social media is a game changer for any business, but using a professional to help develop the content and to set proper releases of the videos is key.

It is easy to see that video content is vital for the success of a business in today’s environment, especially as technology increases in importance. “If you are not using video marketing for your business, you are the person in early 2000 who said they may eventually look into putting up a website,” says Sherrell.  

Access Media Productions has been providing national and international production services for over 30 years. To this day, the Dallas-born company prides itself with providing local business owners and brands the family-owned and operated hospitality rarely found within the industry. The collaborative team is made of in-house writers, directors, producers, editors and audio producers, who coin themselves as “oddly talented”. The production studio has acquired an impressive portfolio of talent, including team members who have worked with dominant brands, such as Disney, Animal Planet, Pixar, Capitol Records, MTV, BMW, Home Depot, Comedy Central and many more.