Best practices for your homepage video
One type of video we do fairly often here at T&S is a 60-second commercial of sorts for the main page on our clients’ websites. Of course, it doesn’t have to be exactly 60 seconds—ours isn’t—but it does need to be fairly short.
Oh, by the way, I’m Tuan Pham, videographer extraordinaire here at T&S. Although I was introduced a while back on the blog, this is my first actual blog article. Please be nice!
For homepage videos, we’ve put together a format for best practices that our clients tend to use as a starting point. It’s a format we stuck pretty close to on our own homepage video, so I’ll break it down for you.
First, if you haven’t already, take a look at our video. You can watch it below. It’s cool, I’ll wait.
Okay, let’s take a look at all the elements of this format.
1. Pattern interrupt
We start things off with something different. Most people coming to your homepage have watched a lot of videos, so if we sound like everyone else, they’re less likely to pay attention. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing, just something small that sets your video apart immediately, so the viewer will pay attention.
2. Who you are
Most of our clients either provide expert services, or they’re a nonprofit. Or both! But we find it’s important for them that the individual in the video be the face of the company. So introduce yourself!
3. Your target market
Hopefully you have a pretty focused target market. If everyone is a potential client, then nobody will be an actual client. Sure, you may exclude some, but those that are the best fit for you will be that much more likely to sit up and pay attention.
4. Pain you solve
It can be tempting to immediately start talking about the features and benefits of your service or product. Resist the urge! Instead, talk about the pain—or multiple pains—that you solve. That puts the focus on the emotions and problems your viewer is having, rather than how awesome you are.
5. No assumptions
How often does online marketing material say something like, “We’re a great fit for you, so call us today?” How in the world can they know that? In reality, not everything is a great fit. To stand out, specifically mention that you don’t know if you’ll be a good fit for them or not.
6. Call To Action
Make sure you give them guidance on what to do next. The marketing industry tends to call that a Call To Action (CTA), but here at T&S we like to call it a Clear Next Step (CNS). They can decide on their own if they want to take that step or not, but let them know what could potentially come next!
7. Specific services or products
Share what you actually do! Of course, your homepage video isn’t the place to go into tons of detail. You may need to spend some time determining categories you can group all your services or products into. But once you’ve done so, include that information in your video.
8. Contact info
Sure, people are probably viewing the video on the homepage of your website, and your contact info is already on there. But in today’s social media world, it’s also possible they’re viewing it on a site like YouTube or Facebook. Be sure to put your contact info in the actual video, unless it’s likely to change.
That’s it! These eight components are great best practices for your homepage video, especially when you’re initially working on your script.
Oh, and if you end up using any of these guidelines, we’d love to check out your video. Feel free to share it with us!