Promotional videos do allow you to connect with prospects and buyers in a very meaningful way.  They also allow you to show a potential customer how something will benefit them before they commit to a purchase.  Add to all of this the fact that the cost of creating an internet video is a fraction of that of a broadcast television commercial; internet video seems to be a very easy and cost effective way to get the word out about your products and services.

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However, just because a business creates a video places it online and gets viewers to it, doesn't mean that it will translate into more prospects and customers.  Either the video itself or the process the video leads to, needs to sell the prospect on what you are promoting.  Your video then will need to have all of the elements of traditional copywriting, if it is going to be effective. 

We initially talked about getting a viewer's attention with our video.  In most cases that would involve either the first thing that we say to the prospect or even the video's title.  In some cases, a video title has to be directed toward whatever the relevant keyword is. But even if that is the case, we should be trying to structure the title so that it is attention grabbing. 

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Grabbing attention of a prospect is made easier when we focus our conversation on how our product or service benefits them as opposed to what our product or service is.  In professional marketing and copywriting circles, it is called differentiating between the features and benefits.  People's attention is turned toward us more when we can focus their gaze on the benefits in our products and services.

We spoke previously of how we want to use the elements of a good headline, to grab the attention of the prospect.  We also added that we wanted to discern the difference between features and benefits.  Features as you recall, can only take us as far as how much our customer knows it will benefit them.  So as much as we can tactfully add, we want to make sure that we have the benefits of our products and services in our videos.

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Yet another very convincing element to use in our video is proof.  We want to make sure that those watching the video have a clear picture in their minds that others have received a desired result with what we are selling to them.  In some cases, a visual demonstration of the product could be considered proof.  However, when possible we want to go beyond that to provide social proof.

Video is an effective way to present your content in a more personal manner.  It is also a very compelling way to provide evidence that you have something that others want.  Everything is amplified in a video because the viewer is getting closer to a real life experience than just reading or hearing about your product (or service).

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Video creators can make their video more likely to move prospects into favorable positions by including some of the basic elements of copywriting.  When a business includes the elements of good headlines, benefits and social proof, they are giving the buyer a reason to say yes to the offer.  As you get better at creating videos, you will be able to incorporate these elements into your promotion without sounding trite or overbearing.  In fact, your videos will help you to gain trust even as you are selling...

If you are familiar with video sharing sites such as YouTube.Com, you have seen that it doesn't take much in order to make a video to be uploaded.  In fact, one of the benefits of doing internet video is the fact that you don't need a big production budget or expensive equipment to get your message in front of people.  All that you really need is a video camera of some kind to shoot the video, a way to capture it and a way to upload it.  Once you have those minimums you can create an internet video.

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However, with just a little more equipment, you can typically make an internet video that really accomplishes your purposes. It is okay not have a large budget, but it isn't okay to have a visual picture that cannot be seen or audio that cannot heard.  We will talk about a few minor adjustments, that if you can make them, you will be able to create a video of decent quality for customers and prospects.

In many cases, companies who have websites, internet forums, password protected shopping carts and members areas, need to be able to give their customers guidance on how to navigate those things.  Savvy companies are doing this in today's very competitive environment because they do not want prospects leaving their website in frustration.  This factor multiplies when you consider that many people are accessing the web from their mobile device.

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However, if you haven't guessed, that kind of video is a little different.  It would not make sense for you to record yourself or a staff person sitting at their computer when the subject of the video is really what is happening on the screen.  You need to show what is happening on the screen so that the individual can follow along while they are at their computer.   This is called a "screen sharing" video, because you are not sharing yourself in the visual portion of the video. You are really sharing what is on your screen.