Online Video: Selling Mechanism of the future in the present

Written By: Laura Daien

Setting yourself apart from your competition is not always easy, making tactics for promoting your business or products in a new or creative way crucial. Although YouTube is not new, using it for business seems to be a newer trend. Creating personalized videos highlighting products or services or showcasing an artist is a unique way to capture attention. I greatly admire what this artist "Val" is doing with her art diary. There are artists everywhere around the world, trying to be successful and make it big. Artwork tells a story and that's a reason why many people love it. To be able to interact with an artist and hear the story behind a piece is uncommon, unless you're paying to attend a fancy elite show. You Tube has created the opportunity for people to get inside the artist's mind in a way they never would have been able to before. If someone buys a painting from Val, they'll be able to tell visitors about the history and background of the piece, almost as if they painted it themselves. These videos may also help spark creativity in other people who want to be an artist but struggle with inspiration.

The manner in which she explains her artwork including the feelings that brought her to paint a specific  piece makes her relatable and potential buyers may identify with her and feel a connection that they may not otherwise have had when buying artwork. This also taps into the exciting behind the scenes aspects in life that people always crave. By explaining her work in a lighthearted care-free approach, she's not pressuring people to buy her work directly, but virtually having a conversation that ulitimately makes people decide to purchase her work.

Useful and unique video campaigns will have a form of customer interaction in them, whether it be posting their own videos to win, in the case of a sweepstakes or product give-away, or asking people's opinion on certain product/service. Giving customers/viewers the feeling that they can impact the decision a person/company makes about a product, makes the video marketing successful. It's almost like a TV commerical that people have the ability to respond to.

Video is successful overall if you aren't pushy if you're selling something, are funny and lighthearted and have a way for people to interact with you. Lastly, it's important that even if you're doing video that you link it with all other methods. A YouTube channel should like to a website and a Facebook page and a Twitter account. All forms of communication together are key to success and need to remain linked.