10 Video Marketing Lessons from Infomercials
Infomercials can be an effective tool for introducing your product to the market and increasing sales. Even the most cheesy, ridiculous and hilarious infomercials have led to millions of dollars in sales as well as gaining attention from retail outlets. Whether you are creating an infomercial for TV or a video marketing piece for your website, these tips can help you sell more product with video: Showcase new technology or revolutionary products. If your product is new technology, a revolutionary product, or something out of the ordinary, the customer most likely is not familiar with other similar products. An infomercial or website video is a great way to explain and demonstrate the product in a way that customers will understand and respond to.
Focus on the problem. Elaborate on how the customer’s life is negatively impacted by the problem that your product solves. Go in to detail about the stress and the hassle the problem causes. Then launch into how your product can solve that problem and make the customer’s life easier, happier, and less stressful. This is the basis to instilling desire in the customer for the product.
Provide authentic testimonials. We’ve all seen the infomercials with actors pretending that the product has changed their lives. Most of the time they aren’t believable, and speak in general terms. But an authentic testimonial from a real customer can go a long way towards convincing your customer that your product will in fact do what you say it will. (More: How to Effectively Ask For a Customer Testimonial Video and 5 Types of Questions to Ask for a Great Customer Testimonial Video).
Write a great script. Infomercials have a bad reputation of being cheesy, but the cheesiest infomercials have been the most successful (Do you own a Snuggie?). Great script writing for sales strikes a balance between authenticity and hype, subtle and aggressive persuasion, and establishes a sense of urgency.
Be honest. A good infomercial doesn’t twist the facts or give false information. Of course there are ways to make a product look better and more appealing, such as lighting, staging, etc., but stay honest and true to the actual product you sell. It only takes a couple of seconds for a potential customer to Google your product and find the truth by reading a few customers reviews.
Keep your video at the right length. If your product is expensive, you will want more time to fully explain why the product is worth the price. With a less expensive product, the customer will come to a decision on whether to buy or not more quickly, so a long infomercial can become repetitive, boring, or even annoying.
Present a clear call to action. Have you ever watched an infomercial and literally had the phone number stuck in your head for hours after it was over? That’s what you call a clear call to action. Be clear, be repetitive.
Invest in professional video production. The quality of the video production can make or break an infomercial or video marketing project. Professional video production not only makes your product look great, it makes your business look credible. (More: 10 Impressions a Poorly Produced Corporate Video Gives to Customers)
Share it online. When your video is available online it makes it possible for others to share and watch the video on demand. Place the video on the homepage of your website, put it on YouTube and post it on your social media accounts. A video is also a great addition to a Kickstarter page or other crowd funding account. (More: 7 Keys to a Successful Video Distribution Strategy)
So tell us...what's the cheesiest, most ridiculous infomercial you have ever seen?