MYTH: Videos Are The Best Way To Demonstrate Software or Online Process
Videos are everywhere these days. Internet marketers are praising them as the greatest things since sliced bread. They use them to sell products, to demonstrate software, to show how to use a website, etc. No doubt, this can be very effective…I don’t dispute that.
What puzzles me is when people slap up videos to demonstrate something and then they think their job is done. By doing this, you eliminate people who don’t want to or CANNOT view your videos. People may not have the patience to watch a video, they might have visual or hearing impairment, they might not have the Internet connection or computer equipment needed. ALSO video makes it difficult for your customers to go back and reference certain instructions contained in a video.
And note, I’m NOT talking about the selling process. If you want your sales page to be video online, then that’s all well and good. It’s clear up front who you want to be accessible to. I’m talking about teaching your customers how to use your website, your software, etc. If you don’t offer written/illustrated (i.e. with screenshots) instructions, you make it harder for a segment of your customers to use your product and that just plain old doesn’t make sense.
Also consider this, written/illustrated instructions are much easier to edit and update than videos. Software gets upgraded and websites improved. In some cases, you’ll be able to edit videos…but sometimes you’ll be starting from scratch.
Just a few things to think about.
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
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Michelle G.
Excellent points Alice. I know for my business I will be providing pdf instructions because I do realize that many times it is easier to print out instructions and refer to them while walking through a process rather than having to stop and restart videos.
There is a good percentage of the population that is not hugely technical and I think people forget that sometimes.
Heck, sometimes I prefer to have printed instructions and I would consider myself pretty technically advanced.
Michelle
Angela Wills
Great post Alice – I’m coming up with a video product but I will be making sure to also have accompanying audio of the same material as well as pdf documents that cover important parts.
I’m using video a lot lately and really loving it. I really like it for connecting with my blog readers and it’s actually allowing people to get to know me. I went to a live internet marketing seminar this weekend and two people said they had watched my videos.