According to a recent study conducted by marketing company Alterian, half of the marketers polled believe that social media is the crux of customer engagement. Whether or not you agree with those marketers, communicating with your customers and the marketplace in an engaging way is nevertheless an excellent strategy for capturing attention, gaining interest, and setting your company and your products apart from the competition. So if you’re hesitant to dive head-first into Twitter, Facebook, and blogging, what else is there?

What about video?

Believe it or not, decent video footage is not too expensive to produce. With the increasing popularity of vodcasts, most customers will accept footage that isn’t the most polished. In fact, it may be more attractive to your customers if they have a look at your company that is more “real” than scripted.

GE, one of the most pervasive brands in the world, understands the value of producing video that is not perfectly staged. I visited their vodcast page, “GE on Demand,” this summer while I was researching corporate use of social media. One of the first things I noticed was a vodcast interview of one of their vice presidents regarding innovation. What caught my attention wasn’t the “meat” of the interview, but rather the setting in which it was conducted: the executive’s office. It wasn’t some impeccably clean executive suite with a stuffy VP sitting behind a huge mahogany monolith; rather, it was a regular guy sitting among piles of papers and books. It was real. It gave the video a more genuine quality, and I was able to relate to him as a regular guy having a conversation.

Since then, that particular vodcast has been replaced by more recent vodcasts. For the most part, they are all well-done, presentable videos. But there are little nuances that show a slightly more “real,” less scripted side of GE: employees walking back and forth in a hallway behind the speaker, scientists and engineers wearing bulky safety goggles that create glare into the camera, slightly shaky videography, etc. If anything, these details add to the viewer’s engagement and genuine quality of the message, just like the VP’s office clutter.

While your video project doesn’t require the most sophisticated equipment and technique, it does require some forethought. What is the story you wish to tell? How is that story best captured by video? Remember to stick to the topic at hand and keep the video to a reasonable length.

So start thinking about telling your story with video. Invite your customers into your business and show them what you’re all about. You don’t have to create the next Hollywood blockbuster, but you can certainly create video that engages your customers and shows them the real you. 

Tags: customer engagement, market leadership, social media, video, vodcasts

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