What can your small business learn about video ROI from online retail giant Zappos.com? Find out in this week’s episode of “Let’s Talk Video”!

Today’s viewer question comes from Cheryl in Orlando, FL. She writes:

Dear Jaime and Steve,
I’m a new entrepreneur and I want to do videos for my business but I’m concerned about ROI. How can I justify spending time and money on videos when it seems difficult to calculate what type of return I’ll be getting on my investment?

Thanks for your question, Cheryl. We know that ROI is a big concern, especially with new entrepreneurs, and it’s a great topic of discussion, so thanks for sending in your question!

Watch the full episode below to see our answer:

 

Regarding online video ROI, there are certainly some things that are easier to measure than others. For example, you can measure how many views each of your videos have received, how much organic traffic you’re getting from your videos being discovered by search engines, and how much referral traffic is coming to your website as a result of your videos being viewed on YouTube, your social media pages or other people’s websites or blogs.

Otherwise, unless you’re creating videos that you’re charging people to view, measuring ROI for your online videos can be a little tricky. However, just because the ROI may not be completely obvious for some of your videos, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t one. You may just have to be a little bit creative and think outside the box in order to determine your video ROI.

Here are 3 tips that will change your mindset about how your online videos can help you create more revenue for your business. Keep in mind that these ideas will only work if you are using video properly. You need to be creating high-quality online videos that are well-produced and extremely purposeful, meaning each of your videos plays a very specific role in your overall online video strategy.

Video ROI Tip #1: Use video to create a positive perception of your company

First, it’s really important to note that perception is extremely valuable when it comes to building a successful brand. What people think about you and your company after watching your videos is the most important thing to consider. The real power of online video lies in building an emotional connection with your viewers. You can use online video to tell your personal story, share your knowledge to add value to your audience, and create an ongoing relationship with your viewers. Using video in this way will lead to more people knowing about who you are and what you do, and will greatly add to your credibility and authority in your area of expertise.

When you brand yourself with high-quality videos, it creates a certain perception. One that says you are up to something great and that you are a leading contributor in your field. All that leads to people taking you more seriously and wanting to learn more about what you have to offer them. This will quickly translate into increased revenue for your business.

Video ROI Tip #2: Use video to increase your marketing list through lead generation

Another powerful use of video is to help you generate more leads for your business. For example, you can use opt-in videos on your website. Request that viewers give you their name & email address in exchange for something that they would find helpful. The free gift you offer to subscribers might be a valuable resource guide. This could be an ebook, a whitepaper, or our personal favorite: a free video series where you teach them something really juicy in your area of expertise. While you’re not directly selling these videos, you are increasing the size of your email subscriber list. Adding qualified names of people who you know are in your target demographic, and are interested, is of huge value to your business. Those are people that you should be marketing to both now and in the future. Your leads will become your future sales!

Video ROI Tip #3: Use video to promote your products and services

Finally, you can use online videos to promote the products and services that you are selling. Just because you’re not charging people to watch your videos doesn’t mean that these videos aren’t making you money. For example, if you create a video to showcase and promote each of your products or services, then you can easily measure the results of those videos by seeing how many people click the purchase button after watching your video.

Invest In Yourself And Others Will Follow

Don’t spend money that isn’t necessary to help you grow your business. Still, there are certain things that we do recommend that you consider spending money on. Either to help start your business off on the right foot, or get you to the next level of business growth faster. No one knows better than you do what you need to spend your money on. You certainly will need to weigh out the benefits and costs each action, but in general you have to be willing to make an investment in yourself and your business. You can’t expect others to invest in you if you don’t invest in yourself first.

Too many entrepreneurs try to save money by doing everything themselves, and a lot of them end up coming across as amateurish.  This ultimately reflects poorly on their business. They either don’t succeed at all, or it just takes them a lot longer than it should. The truth is it can be a much more painful process to do everything yourself.  Don’t struggle for 5 or 10 years when you could have made an investment to reach success faster. There will be much less pain and suffering along the way.

Thanks for your question, Cheryl. We really hope that we gave you some new insight into thinking about your online video ROI.

If you got great value from the information in this video, please leave us a comment below. Tell us: how do you measure your online video ROI?

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If you have a question that you’d like answered on an upcoming show, please email it to us at: LetsTalkVideo@GeffnerProductions.com