How-to content, those instructional videos or slideshow presentations that demonstrate real world uses for your products or services while displaying your industry know-how, is everywhere online.
While instructional content can be highly effective, it can also be very boring. This is partly because the person performing the demonstration often knows the product inside out. He or she does not take the perspective of a new customer.
When created in a way that is fresh and engaging, how-to videos, articles, and slideshow presentations can be highly effective for marketing and establishing your brand as a go-to source for reliable information.
1. Be Specific
Instead of saying how wonderful your company is and how many uses your products and services have, keep it specific to one common consumer problem. Instead of offering tips on how to make your laundry cleaner, for instance, offer tips on how to get out stubborn stains. Specific content gives your how-to content more relevance.
2. Attention to Detail
While your main goal is to inform, it also matters how your content is presented. You want to clearly divide your presentation into sections with title pages or chapter headers.
It may not seem all that important to get the cosmetic details right, but it’s the attention to detail that convinces someone click your how-to video over the hundreds of others that come up in a search. Attention to detail should also include checking facts and making sure everything you present is accurate since mistakes can live forever in cyberspace.
3. Use Real People
If you’re going to use your how-to video to demonstrate your product, have real people participate in the demonstration or talk about your product. Just having fellow employees extoll the virtues of your product doesn’t have as much credibility as showing honest reactions from real people.
4. Use Keywords
Regardless of how your how-to content is presented, using keywords will help your target audience find you via an online search. Keywords can be used in your captions, title pages, or any brief descriptions you include.
On YouTube, for example, you have the opportunity to write a few sentences describing your content, so why not use some carefully selected keywords to draw people to your how-to content?
5. Keep It Short
Even if your how-to content is edited and presented well, lengthy presentations aren’t going to attract as many hits as shorter clips. Ideally, each part of your how-to content should be able to stand alone and provide some value to the consumer.
6. Spark Curiosity
If you are going to put out multiple how-to videos and presentations, create consumer interest by ending your content with a teaser about what you have in mind for your next how-to video. People like to have something to look forward to. This also helps build brand recognition and sparks a conversation within your intended audience.
Finally, be consistent. If you plan to produce a series of how-to videos, for instance, have a regular schedule. Use your other platforms such as social media and email to let customers know that a new video is coming or has been posted. If you have a lot of saved up how-to content, consider using it on your website or posting it on Facebook. The more accessible you make your how-to content, the more effective it will be.
