If a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving picture will multiply that value by a factor of ten. There is no better tool for demonstrating complex procedures than video. Viewers can watch a clip all the way through to get an overall understanding, then pause and go back to focus on steps they didn’t quite understand. This capability makes using video tutorials to sell makeup online particularly effective.
Know Your Customer
Before you start making them though, you should take some time to get to know your audience. When you’re talking to teens who are just starting out in the world of cosmetics, you’ll need to explain things in a bit more detail, while keeping your videos colorful, fun and briskly paced. Conversely, when you’re marketing to a more mature woman you’ll achieve more success with a more conservative approach. Similarly, the models you feature should be reflective of your key demographic. It’s hard to convince younger women your product is for them if you’re showing them people who look like their moms. Similarly, if you want an older woman to take your product seriously, featuring a teenager will have little resonance.
Before and After Shots
Once of the most effective tools to include when producing video tutorials to sell makeup online is the before and after shot. Opening each training clip with these two perspectives is a good way to get viewers engaged. Remember, we’re living in an age of instant gratification. When you show the viewer the ultimate result first, they’ll be intrigued to learn how to get there. With that said, anything over three minutes is going to start feeling long, so make sure you break the procedure down into steps capable of being demonstrated in three minutes or less.
Manufacturer Produced Videos
Most of the larger cosmetics companies like Luvo Store have demonstration videos. These are generally high quality and well produced, so they’re a good way to introduce video to your site. However, they are also usually very slickly produced, so they may not have the same resonance as one of the methods discussed below. Still, they can be an effective starting point while you ramp up a collection of more organic clips.
Partner With Key Influencers
If your budget is tight and you can’t afford to produce your own videos, scour YouTube for good ones covering the products you carry by key influencers who fit your demographic. Offer to partner with their producers to promote their videos on your site. This will drive more traffic to their productions, which will translate to greater interest for them on YouTube. This strategy has the added advantage of drawing their followers to your site, which gives you instant credibility with their audiences.
Solicit Quality User Videos
Every marketing course emphasizes the value of word-of-mouth advertising. User-produced videos are perfectly suited to accomplishing this. If you curate carefully, you can get clips that look homemade enough to have credibility, but are also produced well enough to communicate effectively. You can hold weekly contests on your site for the best “Tips & Tricks” videos and give the winners a gift certificate or some other valuable incentive.
Whatever method you choose to use video tutorials to sell makeup online, the most important thing is for your customer to see herself reflected in your choices. Remember, the main goal of makeup is to help the user feel better about her appearance. Anything you do to make your videos support this will add to their effectiveness.