In past articles we mentioned the use of videos in your marketing efforts, but we’ve never written a complete article about it, so ta-da — here it is, a complete article on why, how and what to expect when you incorporate videos into your security’s marketing efforts.

These days, broadband speeds are light years faster than they were years ago with speeds at more than 100 Megabits per second, smartphones are with us 24/7 and, it’s official, we have the attention span of a goldfish. In other words, we have developed Web ADD. Potential end-user customers want to know what you’re offering and they demand to know it now. Fail to communicate this and your competitors who understand this will snatch them from right under your nose.

So what can you do about it? How do you ride the wave that has made YouTube one of the largest social media platforms, along with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat? We call the answer “Selltaining” — using short videos to make a potential customer understand within seconds what your company has to offer, why your company is different and why your security services are better than the 800-pound gorillas who only care about the sale and not about creating a long-term relationships backed with impeccable local service.

The first thing we tell each of our clients is if you intend to do these yourselves, keep it simple; don’t create more headaches than you need to. Believe it or not, videos that are recorded with your cellphone often out-produce large production videos on social media.

We actually conducted a test ourselves with a client and the video recorded by our client with his cellphone out performed the fancy one we did with our team three to one.

So we suggest sitting with your team and talking about what is your differentiator. If you’re going to say customer support, then back it and bury it. Take out your cellphone, go in front of your company building and talk about the extra mile your company goes after the install. If your company gives back to the community, take a second to interview your staff members interacting with the locals. This will show prospects within your service area that you are embedded within the community and that you’re not just another national company poser.

If you do plan to hire a company to create a video or a series of videos for your company, make sure you ask them what type of plan they have for creating short 15-, 30- and 45-second videos to use on social media. And most importantly ask them how they intend to track their success.

We have found videos help to increase awareness when you’re actively using PPC, SEO or social media advertising, and it costs pennies compared with a PPC campaign. We have noticed that when we create Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Snapchat videos, searches for our client’s brand increase. Make sure you’re setting up webmaster tools (now called search console) which is free and will show you how many times your company’s brand is being searched in Google each month. This will be your benchmark to grow from as you incorporate videos.

Marketing videos don’t have to be in-depth on the topic either. Some of our most successful videos have been simply our client with a table in front of him explaining to a camera what a security system actually is and what each sensor or piece of hardware does. Remember, you talk about security every day. Imagine if your grandmother was in charge of purchasing a security system by herself — would she want to read a lengthy jargon webpage? Or do you think a basic 101 video would capture her attention? Don’t take for granted that your customers have the same knowledge you do.

Videos make you and your company real. They show that you indeed are local, and they allow for an emotional connection. Remember, people want to do business with friends and those they trust, especially when it comes to securing their place of sanctuary with those they love most.

Gain your service area’s trust by incorporating videos on your Facebook page, LinkedIn, Instagram or yes, even Snapchat.

Be on the lookout for your very own Marketing Madmen, Alex and David, to extend this article with a video itself about how to generate video reviews during the install. Until then, too-da-loo!