So I follow a couple of blogs and lots of new marketing is showing that video is the best way to engage new customers with new products. Here are 50 ways you can do a product video. Also a few samples of the ones I have done for the new Mini Mall on Roku.
- Host a video contest and publish the best video. This can generate a lot of fun and buzz while getting you a great cloud-sourced video ad. For a great example of this, see the Gmail video contests.
- Do a parody or remix of a popular video. If you can parody a popular video right as it’s taking off, you can often get hundreds of thousands of hits.
- Upload a few video testimonials. Having others see how much people love your product or service can have a powerful effect.
- Do a how-to video series. People love learning, especially on a specific topic that they’re passionate about.
- Demonstrate a product. It can either be your own or someone else’s.
- Answer common questions. Do one video per question, or a bunch of questions in one video.
- Address common objections to taking action. Find out what excuses people commonly have to not taking action and tackle them head on in a video.
- Do an inspirational speech on video.
- Subtitle an existing video. If there’s an existing video in your market, one quick way to get a lot of views is to reproduce it with subtitles. Make sure there are no copyright issues before doing this.
- Tell a story visually. Use a storyboard to walk them through a story that has a lesson in the end.
- Do a stop motion graphic. These are very difficult to create, but have a tendency to go viral when they’re done well.
- Hire a professional voiceover from Fiverr. If you have just the visuals and don’t want to use your personal voice, get someone from Fiverr to do the voiceover for just $5.
- Get someone else on camera to teach. Have someone well known in your industry teach on camera.
- Create a slideshow video. Use a slideshow from PowerPoint to create a video. Narrate each slide to walk people through the slides.
- Guide someone through an experience. For example, a guided meditation or a guided writing exercise.
- Do a membership that ships a video every month.
- Use video on your sales page and squeeze page. You can often get higher conversions through video landing pages than any other kind of landing page.
- Show the behind the scenes of your business. People love seeing the nitty gritty of how things are done.
- Let them get to know your team. Introduce other people in the office on vide.
- Do a publicity stunt. Do something gutsy in public and film it.
- Piggyback off a popular current topic. For example, do an election video during the elections.
- Do a screencast. Record your screen while demonstrating something.
- Tell a story from your life about your topic.
- Share a random thought or rant. Don’t edit the video.
- Say something controversial or take an uncommon stance
- Do a timelapse video. Setup a video camera and let it film for a long time, then condense it all into a few minutes.
- Prove or disprove a myth.
- Pose a puzzle or question. Then answer the question in a later video. This gets a lot of people involved and also gives you the chance to provide content later.
- Show and tell your tools. For example, if you’re teaching how to fish, do a video specifically on all the different kinds of rods, reels and baits.
- Talk about a mistake you saw someone make. Dissect it and show them how to avoid that mistake for themselves.
- Do a public poll and film it. Go into public and ask people their opinions on a certain topic. Post it to show what popular opinion is in a certain field.
- Ask employees of distributors questions. For example, if you have a fishing site, call up the fishing rod manufacturer and ask them questions about the rods.
- Host an in person competition and put that on video. For example, have a fishing contest, interview the winner and put the whole thing on video.
- Issue a challenge and ask people to submit videos. For example, challenge your audience to catch a certain sized fish using only a certain bait. Whoever can show video proof wins a prize.
- Give advice to yourself from when you first started. Film a video as if you were talking to a past self, then publish that video.
- Explain the theory behind something. Instead of just teaching how to, share the why.
- Talk about the emotional difficulties they’ll face on their journey.
- Do something ridiculous on video. Make it funny or just plain outrageous.
- Post a video response. If your response is good, it might get picked up in the “related videos” tab and get a lot of views.
- Explain the laws around your field.
- Cover an event. For example, a live seminar, conference or trade show.
- Have people hold up index cards with statements. You’ll need at least a dozen to make a good video.
- Video log your entire day. Then speed it up and show people what your day is like.
- Impersonate someone. For example, if you’re a piano player, try dressing up like Lady Gaga for a song.
- Unbox a product. Unpack a new product while explaining exactly what makes it special.
- Do a hidden camera video of something. For example, go behind the curtains at a concert and show people what that’s really like.
- Introduce yourself to your audience. Tell them who you are and what you care about.
- Make a list video. For example, 25 tips on how to do X.
- Co-ordinate with other successful video producers. Publish the video to both of your lists to get more reach.
- Use TubeMogul to distribute your video to dozens of video sites at the same time.