Key points
- Your goal is not the number of views. It is to be seen by the people who can become your customers.
- Four kinds of video are enough for a business: answer, show, prove, announce.
- Every video ends on one precise action: come, call, write, order.
- One video a week for six months is worth more than ten videos in a month followed by silence.
What people expect from a business on video
Many owners look at what well-known creators do and conclude that video is not for them. They are right about one thing: you do not have to dance, or follow the song of the moment. Nobody expects that from a plumber, a bakery or an accounting firm.
The viewer expects three things. To understand what you do. To see that you do it well. To know how to reach you. A video that brings one of those three is a good business video, even filmed on a phone in the workshop.
The four videos a business needs
| Kind of video | What it shows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | A question your customers ask | “Do I have to change all four tyres at once?” |
| Show | Your work being done | The bread coming out of the oven at five in the morning |
| Prove | A real result, before and after | A bathroom, on the first day and on the last |
| Announce | Something new, opening hours, an offer | “We open on Sunday mornings from March” |
Alternate the four. An account that only announces looks like a billboard, and nobody follows a billboard. An account that only shows is pleasant, but nobody knows what to do next. If you have never published anything, begin with our guide to starting video content.
Who speaks, and how
A business has no face, but the people who work there do. Viewers trust a person more than a logo. If someone on the team is comfortable, that person speaks. If nobody wants to appear, show the hands, the place, the product, or choose an animated video.
- Speak as you do at the counter. The sentences you say to a customer who walks in, not those of a brochure.
- Say “you”. The video speaks to one person, not to “our customers”.
- One message. One video, one idea, one action.
- The place helps. Your workshop, your shop, your van say who you are without a word.
One business video, step by step
Choose one kind of video
Answer, show, prove or announce. This week, only one.
Write the first sentence
It states the subject at once: the customer’s question, or what we are about to see. No “hello everyone”.
Film vertically, on site
Near a window or outdoors, the phone held straight. Three to six short shots are better than one long shot.
Add the words on screen
The subject at the top from the first second, then subtitles. Many people watch with the sound off.
End on the action
Only one: the address, the phone number, the link. Said aloud and written on screen.
Publish the same video on both accounts
One vertical video suits both apps. Adapt only the caption.
A garage, 35 seconds, an “answer” video
- First sentence: “That orange light: can you keep driving or not?”
- Shot 1: the warning light on a dashboard.
- Shot 2: the mechanic, bonnet open: “Orange, you can drive home. Red, you stop.”
- Shot 3: the reader plugged in, the result on its screen.
- Ending: “We read it in ten minutes, no appointment needed.” The address and the opening hours on screen.
Keeping it up over time
The hardest video is not the first, it is the twelfth. Block a fixed slot: one hour, the same day every week. Film two or three videos in one go and publish them one at a time.
To know whether it is working, do not look only at the views. Ask new customers how they heard of you, and count the messages and calls that mention a video. A video seen by three hundred people in your town may bring you more than a video seen by a hundred thousand strangers.
The mistakes businesses make most often
- Copying creators. A trend that has nothing to do with your trade amuses for a moment and brings no customer.
- Talking only about yourself. “We are delighted to…” The viewer wants to know what changes for them.
- Forgetting the address. A good video with no way to reach you is a missed chance.
- Using music without checking. Each app has its own rules on the music a business may use. Read them on its official help page before you publish.
- Stopping after a month. First videos get few views, for everybody.
Before you publish a video for your business
- The first sentence states the subject.
- The video carries one idea.
- The people who can be recognised have agreed.
- The video makes sense with the sound off.
- The action to take is said and written.
- The next video is already planned.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be on TikTok and Instagram at the same time?
Start with the app your customers use most. Once the habit is there, publishing the same vertical video on the second one takes a few minutes.
How many videos a week for a business?
One a week, kept up for months, is enough to begin. Move to two when the first no longer costs you an effort.
Can anyone promise a number of customers from videos?
No. Nobody can predict what a video will bring in. What you control is how clear the message is, how regular you are and how simple it is to reach you.
Do I have to pay for advertising?
Not to begin. Publish on your own accounts first, see which videos bring messages, and think about advertising afterwards, for the ones that have already proved themselves.
With Meratek
How Meratek helps your business publish
When nobody on the team wants to be filmed, write your idea in a few lines: Meratek asks you a few questions, writes the story, adds the voice and builds a vertical film, ready for both accounts. In the Motion tab, the Motion design mode presents your service with your real screenshots, and the Face motion mode starts from a video in which you speak and adds the subtitles and the pictures.
The price in credits is shown before you start, and one hundred and forty credits are offered when you sign up. Meratek builds the video. It does not publish for you, and it promises neither views nor customers.
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