The Use of Video Case Studies

Yesterday, I posted a video of Jay Conrad Levinson where he talks about nanocasting, which is advertising to a very tightly defined audience using cable for segmentation. The step beyond nanocasting is broadcasting via the Internet. This is real nanocasting because the audience chooses to watch messages that are of interest. Typically, that means the audience is considering a purchase discussed in the video or facing a problem addressed in the video. Furthermore, because the interest is higher, you get the opportunity to discuss the issue at greater length.

YouTube is a great venue for case studies. It allows you to show customers sharing their experience (talk about strong!). It allows you to offer detailed explanations. It allows you to show problems and solutions. In short, it gives you an opportunity to set yourself apart.

There are a number of video hosting services, but YouTube is the best or videos under 10 minutes. Why? Because it has become the Internet's second largest search engine behind Google. It's also easy to embed the videos on your website, raising your image in search engines, which are looking for video.

Alan Givens at Parrish Services created the following video after repairing problems on a geothermal installation.



"I am so fed up with these low ball idiots doing horrible work and screwing the customer just because they don’t know better," explained Alan, "I had the following video created to show how bad it gets."

Personally, I thought the video avoided excessive criticism. For example, a Parrish Services technician is shown wheeling away an old air-to-air condensing unit left by the installing contractor without a word being said. I doubt many consumers would pick up on this, though contractors might.

As a rule, it's generally good to avoid criticizing the competition. It makes you sound petty and might be seen a criticism of the homeowner's original judgment. Besides, any contractor can follow any other contractor and find something wrong.

I liked the way the video utilized the customer to describe the problems from his perspective. The Parrish technician focused on the company's solutions.

The homeowner invested another $10,000 to get the geothermal system operating correctly. Based on the comment he left on the YouTube page, I don't think he's thinking about the money:

I would like to add one more thing: Parrish Services did all this in one day. All the work was completed, they were cleaned up and gone by 5:30pm. When my wife got home from work the house was warm and comfortable for the first time in weeks. The system was so quiet I had her put her hand over a vent to feel the heat coming from the system to prove it was running. It brought tears to her eyes. We were so happy, and still are.

Alan invested $3,000 to have the video made. He can use it at homeshows. He can embed it on his website. He can host it on a number of video sites. He can put it on a DVD with a sales proposal. He can email links to customers and prospects.

If you lack the money to produce a professional video, you can still use a $99 flip vid to capture customer comments about your work and to show and explain the work. With desktop video software, you or a high school film student can create an effective video that gets the job done.