I've spent the last eight years filming, editing, designing, directing & producing videos for businesses of all shapes and sizes. From teeny tiny non-profits to mammoth corporations like Microsoft, I've seen how video marketing strategies are employed for maximum impact.
If you've ever wondered how videos can benefit your spa or esthetics business, keep reading. I break down the best types of videos to elevate your brand, draw in more clients, and give you a leg-up in the industry.
About Videos
About Videos are the easiest way to show prospective clients what you're all...well, about. These typically live on the landing page of your website, so that when clients first investigate your site, they simply hit PLAY and learn everything they need to know, encouraging them to smash that BOOK button more quickly and confidently.
Better booking/conversion rates aside, clients actually WANT to watch videos online. Hubspot found that 72% of people say they'd prefer to learn about a brand by watching a video rather than by reading text. And if your target clients are millennials, that rate is even higher.
The benefits for SEO (search engine optimization) that videos bring to websites are too many to mention, but I'll name just a few:
88% of visitors stay longer on a site with prominent video displayed, increasing website "dwell time."
Pages with video are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google search results.
Websites with video have a 41% higher click through rate (CTR) than plain text websites. (High CTRs are used as a measurement for the success of internet marketing and add to the performance of your SEO.)
Enough stats already! What does this mean for my business???
It means that a video on your website places you higher on Google search results, leading to more views, more bookings, and more business. (A whopping 64% more, in fact!)
Treatment Videos
Remember when I said 72% of people prefer to learn about something by watching a video rather than read about it?
Well all those informative demo videos end up increasing purchases by 144%. Numbers don't lie, people! (Can you tell I'm a nerd for stats?)
With YouTube being the #2 most used search engine, it's no wonder that videos captivate internet users on a massive scale and for a variety of purposes too. It's often said that the tactic of any marketer should be to ENTERTAIN, INSPIRE, OR EDUCATE, and Treatment Videos are for EDUCATION.
Take Crystal Esthetics as a case study: Crystal's best-selling treatment and a major part of her brand are DMK enzyme therapy facials (aka the Game of Thrones facial).
Crystal recognized that this type of treatment involves many steps, and clients were largely uneducated about the process and benefits that DMK could give them. She contacted me about creating a video to give prospective clients a clearer vision about the service. Her business has never been the same since.
As an avid Instagram user, Crystal features her Treatment Video regularly through posts and stories, and it has shown remarkable success for her business. Prospective clients scrolling through their feeds see WHAT a DMK facial is all about and, more importantly, WHO can give it to them.
I can't overstress the importance of being seen by your clients doing what you do. When potential customers witness you in action, performing facials & providing treatments, many of which have profound effects on their physical appearance and transformation, your brand gains trustworthiness and professionalism. And that sets you apart from the Groupon spa down the street.
Testimonial Videos
Testimonial videos are the video-version of a Yelp review (and is there any business that doesn't despise Yelp by now?)
They let your current clients boast about all you've done for them, which is generally more trustworthy and less braggy than talking your own business up yourself.
What's more, they give prospective clients the opportunity to be lazy and just hit PLAY rather than fatigue their delicate eyeballs by reading an awesome-but-lengthy review.
Testimonials are best housed on a website 'Reviews' page or featured on social media. Facebook sites allow you to have media albums dedicated to Reviews, and Highlights on Instagram are a great place to feature video testimonials as well. As for actual review sites––Google My Business and Yelp also have the ability now to upload videos.
The best thing about testimonial videos is that they are easy to produce yourself. Have a camera phone? Send a few emails out to loyal clients asking them if they'd be willing to say a few nice words about you on camera before their next appointment.
Event Videos
If your business hosts an event, Event Videos are a fantastic tool that serve two main purposes:
They reach people who couldn't or wouldn't attend, showing them how awesome and amazing it was.
They market your business for future events and promote your brand in general.
Events take a LOT of time & energy to plan. I know because I threw a business Launch Party back in November that was a BLAST but nonetheless so much work to pull off (and you can check out pictures here!)
Creating a video for your event prolongs the success so that you, your employees, and your clients can harken back on the good times and stay motivated for the future.
In Summary
You are the one that knows your business best, and not all businesses are ready to incorporate video into their marketing strategy. When it comes to marketing, a lot comes down to prioritizing; for example, I wouldn't recommend a young esthetician or medspa invest in video if they don't already have a great website or Instagram account.
However, speaking as a video pro or not, I can firmly say that video marketing is the way of the future and a wildly successful avenue for leveling up your business. I'm a consumer like the rest of America, and all the prolific stats aside, when I research a new brand to do business with, I am drawn to videos over photos or text every
single
time.
So if you've been thinking about incorporating video to your brand strategy, 2020 is a great year to start. Many smartphone cameras are capable of producing high-quality videos that will make a difference with your viewers. All that's needed is creativity and a little bit of strategy to really set you apart.
I hope these video types give you a burst of inspiration for how to market your spa business better this year. As always, Electric Beauty Productions is here to help, and I would love to hear your ideas and discuss ways to bring impactful videos to your brand.
Email: hello@electricbeautypro.com
Megan Rayo has been deep into video production since 2012 when she was an intern for E! Entertainment and once shared an elevator ride with Kim Kardashian. She moved to Portland OR to find more meaningful work and started Electric Beauty Productions after her esthetician mama asked her to make some treatment videos for her medspa. She gets fired up about all things photo/video, her wife's homemade flautas, The Bachelor franchise, and helping other women entrepreneurs level up in life and business.