YOU TUBE AS SALE TOOL

A major Chicago Merchandise Mart showroom recently sent out an e-mail blast for those who didn’t make it to the winter show.  Instead of just listing all their lines, and showing an illustration of one or two new products, Sarm & Nastovski sent out links to 10 short videos on YouTube.

I assume that they used a flip camera to film these short presentations by their vendor principals. Although the  little clips are not very sophisticated (no Sundance Film Festival in their future, I’m afraid), there is great potential in their innovative idea of using video to have someone show the features of the latest products. 

The Sarm & Nastovski videos were filmed in their showroom during a busy time of day, which is not ideal. It is hard to understand what is being said about the new Patience Brewster cards under these challenging circumstances, however with a quieter background and better lighting, they’d be wonderful sales tools.  The Patience Brewster video on YouTube (created by the company) demonstrates that videos are not only a great way for retailers to learn more about the line, but are something that a retailer could easily link to from the store’s Facebook page.

In addition to the untapped potential for vendors and sales agencies to use short videos to reach retailers, and to offer retailers as sales tool, we have yet to see most stores make good use of this technology on their own to supplement their social networking.  Constant Contact now has the ability to add video to its e-mail blasts, and it is of course easy to link to YouTube or Vimeo from Facebook.

To get some ideas of how to feature an individual product, or your entire store, take a look around YouTube. You’ll find videos such as the one for Saxquest Saxaphone Shop, which has had over 17,000 views, and the clearly home-made Turtle Crossing Store video — which despite its amateur status has had close to 20,000 views!

It is not always easy to get you video viewed. For every smash hit like the Turtle Crossing Store video, there are others that have been seen by less than 10 people.  Although I am at a loss to explain why the turtle store has been so popular, I know that it helps to 1) create a clever, visually appealing video; 2) include information that the viewer will find interesting; 3) keep it short; and 4) use e-mail and social media to send the link out to as many people as possible.

Please feel free to post a link below to any short video that your store, sales agency or company has made.  Our industry still has much to learn about how to use this creative medium effectively.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder