Technology companies create solutions that are complicated, have various levels of functionality as well as varying levels for usage. Whether verbally or through content creation, marketers and sales professionals will run into a consistent issue: How do I explain this without rambling on and on?
The most common actions in practice have been:
Let’s host a webinar and drive attendance so prospects can hear technical experts speak about the solution and the environment
OR
“We need more literature.” This includes whitepapers, case studies, Gartner press releases, etc.
That’s all well and good, but the overwhelming liveliness of this digital era is quite obvious. People would much rather watch a video than read a 3-page whitepaper. Some of my most successful email campaigns included an embedded link to a short video explaining the product or service. It was a 2-minute video with layman’s terminology that explained exactly what the technology did and what problems it solved. I got more from that video than any technical jargon drenched document.
Companies are slowly trending toward the action of producing better quality and higher volumes of video, which means they understand the direction content marketing is headed toward.
At the very least, technology companies should incorporate a brief video synopsis that creatively covers what the technology does, smack dab on the front page of their website. It doesn’t have to have the quality of a million-dollar Nike ad, but it also shouldn’t have a Siri-like voice monotoning over 2-D graphics either.
People don’t want to take an extra 20 seconds and click an extra few tabs to find out more. Instant gratification, instant access. Mankind has grown pretty impatient through these years of technological advancement.
Now on the topic of video, I have a question for you. I’ve been hearing that a lot of salespeople have been using video as a platform to introduce themselves to prospects and clients. As an inside sales rep, how would you feel about having a recorded video of yourself being freely distributed throughout your target accounts?
And on the flipside, putting yourself in the prospect’s seat, how would you feel watching a video of an inside sales rep introducing themselves and their solution via video? Would it be more personable, more intrusive, or would you just ignore it?
This is by no means common practice, but it is something that is occurring more frequently than I anticipated, so I’m all ears about how you view video and the role that will play for sales and marketing efforts.
