There’s no doubt video is a very effective marketing tool. Hundreds of studies point to the fact that the use of video leads to better marketing results. According to Forrester for example, including a video in an email increases the click through rate by 200-300%. According to Unbounce, including a video on an optin page (also known as squeeze page or lead capture page) increases the conversion by 80%.

This is why, when promoting a webinar, it is essential you create a video.

An effective marketing video should include some key elements outlined below:

Attention grabbing

The first few sentences should really capture your target market’s attention to ensure they keep on watching the rest. A good way to start a video, is by stating a problem your audience usually faces. For example, should you be promoting a webinar on real estate investing, you could say “Are you frustrated because you just can’t seem to be approved for a loan to grow your property portfolio?”

About you

Your video should also explain who you are and what positions you as an expert on the topic. For example, you could say “I’ve grown a million dollar property portfolio in under 3 years and have helped hundreds of people do the same. In fact, I’ve been featured in many media outlets about my property investing strategies.”

Adding value

A good marketing video also includes some snippets of content. For example, you could talk about a new real estate investing law that could greatly benefit your audience. Or if you were to promote a webinar on accounting, you could talk about new bookkeeping apps that save people’s time.

Announcing the webinar

The next step, is announcing that you will be running a webinar. A simple statement such as “this is why I’ve put together a special webinar titled ‘how to grow a million dollar property portfolio in under 3 years’ to share with you, step by step, how I’ve managed to grow my portfolio with a very small deposit.”

Webinar details

After announcing the webinar, don’t forget to also mention the date and time, as most people will not register unless they know exactly when it is taking place. Should your audience be scattered around the world, make sure you specify the time zone. For example, you could say “the webinar will be taking place, this Thursday, March 20th at 8pm AEST, which is 10am GMT”.

Justifying the webinar

It’s important to justify why you’re running a webinar as most people will always ask themselves the question “why would you be running a webinar in the first place?” Some people justify it by saying “to celebrate the release of my new book”, or “to celebrate my 10-year anniversary in business” or “because I’m looking for more success stories” or “because I’m looking for people to partner with” etc…

The benefits of the webinar

Your marketing video should also list at least three benefits of attending your webinar. Simply state three or more reasons why they should not miss this opportunity. The benefits could be for example that they’ll discover the latest property hot spots, they’ll learn how to have a big portfolio even on a low income, they’ll find out how to benefit from the new real estate laws, etc…

Proof

A marketing video should always include proof. Therefore, when writing your script, include any proof you have on your achievements or your customer’s achievements. Proof could be a testimonial from a happy customer, before and after pictures, screenshots, pictures, etc…

Call to action

Although what people should do next after watching your marketing video is obviously to register for the webinar, don’t forget to clearly state your call to action. Explain exactly step-by-step what they need to do in order to secure their place. For example, you could say: “to register for this webinar, simply click on the tab below this video and enter your name and email.” You can even go further by explaining what will happen as soon as they register, by adding “as soon as you register, an email confirmation will be emailed to you with all the details”.

Scarcity

In order to push people to take action, good marketing videos include elements of scarcity. For example, it could be that your webinar platform can only take 100 attendees, so they’ll have to be quick if they don’t want to miss out. Alternatively, you could say that it’s a one-off webinar and you won’t be running it again anytime soon.

Once you have written your script, you will need to record and produce your video. There are many ways you can proceed, depending on how many video production tools you have available. Should you just have a smartphone, simply place your phone somewhere steady so you don’t need to hold it with one hand and deliver your script from memory. Then, to add pictures and make some edits, you can use easy editing software such as Camtasia or Screenflow.

Ideally, should you intend to produce multiple videos in the future, invest in equipment. The equipment we recommend investing in is a camera, a tripod, a lapel microphone, some lights and a teleprompter. A bad quality video can make you come across unprofessional and increase the drop off rate of your viewers.

Once you have created your video, it’s time to distribute it online. Simply put together an email, inviting people to watch your video by placing a screenshot of your video, and making the screenshot redirect to the full video when people click on it. Also, upload your video on your social network accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin and add a description and registration link. You can also upload your video to Youtube if you have a Youtube channel. When you do, Youtube will notify by email all your channel subscribers about your new video. You can also embed your video on your website or blog to turn your website visitors or blog readers into webinar registrants.