Creating YouTube Tutorial Videos Can Help You Gain Customers

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If your company hasn’t yet looked at YouTube as a way to reach and educate online, you’re missing out on a platform with over 1 billion users. Every month, there about 6 billion hours of video watched on YouTube. Having a video presence only makes sense. It’s a great way to unlock some opportunities to reach people you can’t find anywhere else.

Capital Heating and Cooling in New Berlin, WI (serving Milwaukee area) utilizes YouTube in a couple of ways that has been very successful for them. They were recently awarded the Prime Buyer’s Top 10 for number one HVAC Contractor in Milwaukee, Waukesha, & Racine Counties. Part of that success is due to their online outreach efforts.

Laura Fox, Marketing Director at Capital Heating and Cooling, talked about the reasons they decided to offer online videos for their customers and others. “People respond to videos better than having to read everything. It helps make our site more user-friendly.”

She pointed to the advantage of a customer being able to go online and view a video about UV light replacement. Most people don’t realize how involved some repairs are and by viewing the video may realize they truly do need an expert to come help them with the repair or that they are replacing a filter in the incorrect way.

In addition to offering instructional videos, the company uses YouTube in another interesting way to create information and safety steps for their customers. They put bios up of their technicians or those who might come out on a house call.

When an employee is assigned to a job, the customer can go online and view the video. This not only helps the customer become familiar with the person who will do the work on their home, but it creates an additional level of safety for those living alone who might not want to open the door to just anyone. Fox shared that the company also sends a photo of the vehicle that will be driven to the call.

Making Your Own Videos
Creating your own videos to share with your customers isn’t as complicated as you might think. Fox shared that while their employee videos are done professionally in a studio, the instructional videos are shot on smart phones.

“Don’t be afraid to use a cell phone to shoot a video. The content of the videos is most important. Shooting them from a phone makes them real. However, they do need to be accurate for the safety of the consumer and also to create trust between the company and the customer.”

Fox makes a good point. It is important that your customers know they can trust the information you give to them to be reliable and on point.

Once the video is shot, you can edit it with a free program or invest in Roxio or one of the other video editing programs out there. Simply upload to YouTube and imbed into your website.

Additional Reasons to Create a Video
In addition to providing information to your customers, Fox pointed out that helpful videos provide content for their website and can help with search engine rankings. While the company doesn’t get many outright leads from the videos alone, the additional traffic likely helps them rank high when someone is searching for a contractor in their area.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Add videos that are regional. Do you have harsh winters? Talk about what to do when temperatures drop below freezing. Hot summers? What can home owners do when their AC suddenly stops working?
• Share videos with your customers and current subscribers via a blog.
• Add a little fun to your site. Fox mentioned that all business videos can get a bit dull. She mentioned that Capital HC is planning to roll out a spoof video with one of their HVAC techs that will add some humor and show the lighthearted side of their brand. Don’t be afraid to have a little fun.

While most HVAC businesses are local in nature, don’t rule out the power of online video to expand your service area. It is a way to increase search engine rankings and reach customers from all over the world. The next time someone posts on Facebook that they need a repair technician, your video could be the one a friend points them to, which in turn could result in a call to your company for service.

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Posted In: ACCA Now, Technology