1. Use adequate lighting and microphones. “If you are filming someone presenting indoors, be sure to use adequate lighting and microphones,” said the video team from Icon Motosports. “If the customer can’t see what you are selling, you might as well not make a video. Same goes if they can’t clearly hear you. Find a quiet place to film and buy or rent a lavalier mic (the kind that clips onto your shirt).”
2. Carefully select a location to shoot. “Choose a location away from a window and avoid empty rooms and tile floors, which will create an echo. If shooting a vehicle for sale, only have that vehicle in the frame,” advised Dave Valentine of PSN.
3. Ask for help. “A little known tip is to go to your local television station and ask if anyone on the news production crew would like to shoot video for you in their off hours,” 50 Below’s Michael Manthey said. “You’ll get a professional looking video, and they’ll get a way to build their portfolio.”
4. Edit your videos. “There are multiple low-cost editing software packages out there,” explained Christopher Line of Blackmans Cycle Center in Pennsylvania. “If you watch a few hours worth of tutorials on YouTube on the software you bought, you can be off and running making fun and informative videos on your store and products. Keep in mind rendering these videos take a while, so keep them under 2 minutes. Vegas Pro is what I use.”
5. Try walkaround videos. RideNow Peoria’s Fully Custom Polaris Ranger RZR XP 4 900 Signature Series video had more than 5,800 views in its first month on YouTube. It checks in at less than 2 minutes, complete with a walkaround from the custom designer from the parts department. “We’re doing videos of all the custom units we’ve been building because it broadens the audience,” RideNow Powersports COO Bill Nash said. “Of the five we’ve sold, three of them went to people out of state.”
6. Know your product. “For product overview videos, be sure to know the product you’re going to talk about very well — all of its features, benefits, pricing, sizing, colors, etc. Your audience will lose confidence in you very quickly if you stumble during your presentation,” advised the Icon video team.
7. Be mindful of who is starring in the videos. Nash says don’t just hand anyone the camera or mic for a walkaround. “It’s got to be someone who is excitable and can explain the product well. The guy who does our custom RZR XP 4 900 videos is the same guy who builds the unit, so he’s jacked about it.”
8. Stick with the program. “One video every few weeks won’t cut it. The more steady content you put up, the more people are going to find it in search engines, maximizing SEO,” Line said.
9. Optimize your video for search engines. “Take care to plan out the title, description and tags, which will help your video rise up in search engine rankings,” Valentine explained.
10. Post videos everywhere. “Post to YouTube and get QR codes to sticker on hang tags,” Manthey advised. “Include videos in emails, on shopping bags, on business cards and on your website’s product detail pages. And push your videos to third party classifieds.”
