Have you considered creating a video for your store?  It’s a great way to promote your business through social media, and to give online visitors a sense of the people behind your business.  We’ve just created a new one for Orange Tree Imports, so I thought I’d share a few tips.

• Consider hiring a professional.  It’s fine to use a smart phone to share the excitement of a new product arrival or in-store event, but having someone interview you, edit the footage, and add music is essential for creating a polished product.  We used Dan LaCloche of DLC, who lives in our neighborhood and is a fellow member of our buy local association.  Ask other retailers in your area for recommendations, and look at some sample videos.  Costs can vary widely, so you may want to get more than one bid.

• Keep it short.   According to Facebook Business, mobile video works best when it lasts 15 seconds or less.  This is obviously not long enough to tell much of your story, but you shouldn’t go longer than two or three minutes.

• Upload the video directly to Facebook, and also to YouTube.  Facebook will not give a post with a link to your video on YouTube  as much exposure  as one uploaded directly to your page — and it will stay there longer as well.

• Use closed captioning.  Many people watch social media videos with the sound off, so you want them to be able to read what you are saying.  Facebook and YouTube both offer automatic closed captioning, which you can use as a starting point for editing.  You can also choose the frozen frame that will be seen as the “poster” for the video.

• Pay for a boost on Facebook.  A video introduction to your store is ideal for potential new customers, and also will serve as a reminder to customers who haven’t been in for a while.  We recently learned how to upload our store mailing list to create a “lookalike audience,” and we’re boosting our new video for $40 to this target market.  Only a few days into the boost the reach was over 4,300 people and we have 100 likes.

• Post the video to your website.  Create a video that tells the story of your shop and offers a virtual tour to help entice online visitors to buy from you.  Try to avoid dated references – you should be able to use the same video for at least a couple of years.

• Send the link out in an email blast.  Customers who are already on your email list are most likely to want to know more about your store.  We’ve had a nice response from inviting our existing customers to watch the video.

I hope that  you will also click on this link and take a virtual tour of Orange Tree Imports today!

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder