People love visuals – especially videos.

And because of that, videos can be a powerful medium for promoting your products and business – even if they’re not “beautiful.” Heck, you can make good-enough videos DIY, hired on Fiverr, or made with some kind of software tool.

And while you can’t add videos to Amazon and Etsy (with the exception of your “About Me” section on Etsy or if you’re signed up with Pattern), you can promote them on social media with relevant hashtags, on YouTube, or on your personal blog or website.

It’s worth testing this on your bestsellers to see if you can drum up some more sales.

To help you start brainstorming about the videos you might create, I came up with a list of ten types of promotional videos, including examples, for you to check out below (I also had an infographic created).

Let’s take a look…

Unboxing

Unboxing videos are hugely popular. They function as on-the-spot video testimonials. Product recipients record the process of unwrapping products from their shipping materials. They look the products over and then review them as they go.

The reason unboxing videos are so popular is the footage is raw typically. So if a product arrives damaged or is in any way unsatisfactory, the unboxing video reflects that. But when everything goes well and recipients give products a thumbs up, the resulting social proof is highly effective.

You *could* create an unboxing video of one of your own products, or you could ask a real recipient to create one for you.

Here’s an example of an unboxing video from a YouTube influencer I worked with last month: 

And here is a Fiverr person available to create unboxing videos (note: I haven’t personally worked with this person before):

I will make you an unboxing video

Cost: $20

Interview

Video interviews won’t make sense for everyone. But if you’re in a niche with “experts,” you can find people willing to participate in Q&A chats (to be recorded).

For example, if your bestselling products are in the dog niche, you could contact owners of local animal shelters or pet stores, or people who have dog-related Facebook fan pages. The experts don’t have to be anyone crazy famous. Just people with something of value to say that your audience would find interesting.

You could ask the experts tips about grooming or dog training or what the best types of dog food are. If you create products in the dog niche, anyone who buys your products must love dogs (or at least know someone who does) and is therefore likely to be interested in dogs in general.

At the end of the interview, you can mention your products and where they can be purchased. You can also give the experts a chance to plug something of their own — to make the experience a win-win.

Here’s an example of a video interview: 

Photo Montage (Slideshow)

A montage or slideshow featuring photos of your bestselling products is one of the easiest promotional videos to create. Tools like Animoto.com make it simple to drag and drop product photos from your computer, add text and music, and then create a montage. Animoto isn’t free to use, however. Pricing starts at $8 a month.

But you can also create a montage, or slideshow, yourself for free with YouTube. Here’s how:

• Log in to your YouTube account.
• Click Upload.
• Select Photo Slideshow.
• Upload photos of your products from your computer.
• Drag the photos to put them in the order you want.
• Click Next.
• Select a music track (if you want), set the duration for each image to appear on the screen, and choose your transition effects.
• Click Upload.
• Title your slideshow.
• Write out a description.
• Add relevant keywords.
• Click Publish.
• After your video processes, if you want to add any text to the slides, hit the Annotations button.
• Click Add annotation.
• Choose from speech bubble, note, title, spotlight, and label.
• If you choose speech bubble, for example, type in the text that you want to appear on the slide and make any necessary adjustments.
• Click Apply changes.
• Repeat this process for each of your video’s slides.

Here’s an example of a photo/video montage: 

If you don’t want to create the slideshow yourself, here is a Fiverr person who can do it for you (note: I haven’t worked with this person before):

I Will Make A Video Slideshow With Your Photos In 24 Hours

Cost: $5

And here is a tool you can use to create slideshows of your own:

Video Retargeter (don’t be fooled by the name; it can make all kinds of videos)

Tips, Teaching, Or News-related 

Even if your video’s primary goal is to promote your business or products, sometimes you don’t want the video to be super “salesy.” You still want to provide useful content – especially if you plan on creating a number of videos. A balance between heavily promotional and more informative is a great thing.

A tips, teaching, or news-related video is a good way to break up your promotional content. You can provide niche-specific advice or show your audience how to do something. You can also share something noteworthy that recently happened in your niche and offer your opinion.

Then, at the end of the video, you can, of course, still include a plug for your business.

Here’s an example of a how-to video for the dog niche: 

Live Webcast

Live streaming, such as with Facebook Live, has become popular among businesses and brands. And it’s a great video medium because it lets viewers interact with you (and vice versa) live and off-the-cuff. It’s also a fantastic way to get real, honest feedback about your business, products, and ideas.

Some suggestions on what to talk about include a new line of products or an upcoming event or business milestone. You could even ask viewers for their input on design ideas.

Or, depending on the niche you’re in, you could focus on a subject related to your niche and then include information about where to purchase your products at the end. For example, if you’re in the dog niche, you could talk about training tips or information about the best types of dog food.

You can do a live webcast via Facebook Live or you can use Video.IBM.com or Livestream.com.

Get-To-Know-You

This type of video lets you introduce yourself and talk about your business. You don’t have to go into tons of personal details. Just a little bit about your background — for example, how you got started, why you chose to be in the business you’re in, or what types of products or services you offer.

A get-to-know-you video is a great way to add a personal touch to your business and let your audience know that you’re a real person. This helps people feel more connected and relate to you.

Often, these types of videos are super simple, occurring in “talking head” format. (“Talking head” refers to how the speaker is positioned. In a talking head video, the speaker talks directly into the camera, showing only his or her head and shoulders.)

Not all get-to-know-the-sellers take this format, though.

Here’s an example of a get-to-know-you video that my production manager made about CustomHappy: 

Video Testimonial

Testimonials, in general, are a powerful form of social proof. But video testimonials are even more powerful. Being able to put faces to names and actually see the people singing your praises is much more compelling than simply reading a text-based testimonial — something like…

“Your business is awesome!” – Lisa K.

…Video testimonials allow customers to hear the positive reviews straight from the source. Accordingly, video testimonials are perceived as being more authentic and trustworthy.

You can put video testimonials on a website or sales page. Video testimonials can be harder to obtain, though. But reaching out to your email list or social media followers are both good avenues to take.

Here’s an example of a video testimonial a customer made about The Ultimate Kindle Course: 

Giveaway

If you want to run a giveaway or offer a discount on one or more of your products or services, you might consider sharing that information via video. You can start by introducing the special offer you are giving away. Then, you can explain how the giveaway process works.

Is there something people have to do to enter? Is there a special code people need? Is there a time limit on the deal, or only a finite number of offers available? Specify all the details and let people know the benefits of participating.

For example, you might say the giveaway is for a set of two 11 oz coffee mugs and you will give the mugs away to the first three people who share your product page on Facebook. You can let participants know the mugs are dishwasher- and microwave-safe and the designs are guaranteed not to bleed or fade with use.

Here’s an example of a giveaway video: 

Announcement

Announcement videos are a great way to get people excited about the happenings in your business, whether it’s a new product or design launch, a special discount or offer, or just something cool happening that’s going on, such as reaching a benchmark in sales or the anniversary of when your business first started.

Just sit down in front of your computer’s webcam or use your smartphone’s video recorder and start talking! An announcement video doesn’t need to be fancy or high-tech.

But, if you are talking about an upcoming launch or a special offer, be sure to provide all the relevant information, including any URLs, dates, or coupon codes people should know about.

Here’s an example of an announcement video: 

If you want to put a cute spin on your announcement video, here’s a Fiverr person who will create a video as if it were a newscast (note: I haven’t worked with this person before):

I Will Do A News Video Of Your Message, Ad, Or Announcement

Cost: $50

Product Video (Demonstration)

This is one of the most common types of promotional videos, and it’s especially effective for products that “do” something, like color-changing mugs. But product videos can still work well for almost any type of product.

People like seeing 360-degree renderings of ecommerce products so they feel more at ease about purchasing items they can’t personally inspect themselves.

Just set up your webcam to record yourself talking about a product and showing it off from all angles. And if the product does do something, like change colors, be sure to show how that works.

Even for products that don’t specifically “do” anything, if there’s a benefit you can showcase, like a regular mug being microwave-safe, you might consider performing a demonstration of that by microwaving the mug for 30 seconds and then showing how the design didn’t get damaged.

Here’s an example of a product video: 

NOTE: If you want to learn how to create a product demonstration video, similar to the one above, which features only the mug itself, Vanessa posted the following in the Low Hanging System Facebook group:

• Open a Gear Bubble campaign for a color-changing mug.
• Open Snag It software (free for 14 days)
• Select these options: Select video, Preview to on, Copy to Clipboard to off, CAPTURE CURSOR to off, and 5-second delay to off
• Press the Red Capture Button
• You will now see yellow/blue dashed lines at the top and on the bottom.
• Click once until you see a small square. There should now be a small square on 4 sides of your screen.
• Take your cursor and drag the smaller square on each side until your square is where you want it. By now, you should only see the color-changing mug and nothing else surrounding it.
• Hit the red Capture button to record the video.
• You will immediately see 3, 2, 1. Now, you can talk on the video or immediately place your cursor on the thermometer (hot/cold), which will change the mug from black to white, showing the design.
• Hit the blue button whenever you want the video to end.
• Hit File, Save As, and save the video to wherever it should go on your computer.

Or, if you want to hire someone to create a product demonstration video for you, here’s a Fiverr person up to the task (note: I haven’t worked with this person before):

I Will Create A Product Demonstration Video

Cost: $25

Below, you’ll find the infographic I mentioned earlier. 

What are your thoughts on promotional videos? Have you promoted any of your products using videos before? I love hearing what you have to say. Please leave a comment below and let me know! 

Here’s the scoop on 3 influencer marketing platforms I recently tried

Before choosing three influencer marketing platforms to case study I did a lot of research about a variety of other platforms, weighing the pros and cons of each, including how much each platform cost to use.

In the end, I chose three platforms I thought had potential, even for brands just starting out. The platforms I picked were…

1. UnityInfluence
2. FameBit
3. NeoReach

I wanted to use each platform to promote the same white 11 oz white coffee mug in the relationships niche.

Here’s what I spent on each platform…

I’ll get into how to use each platform and what my results were further below. But first, I want to go over each platform’s cost.

UnityInfluence 

UnityInfluence costs $299 to run one campaign for one month. If you plan to use the platform on an ongoing basis, however, starter pricing is available for $199 a month.

I worked with one influencer on the platform and I didn’t need to pay her any additional fees.

Total spent: $299

FameBit 

FameBit doesn’t require a monthly fee. Pricing depends on the social media platform on which you want to promote (e.g. YouTube, Instagram, etc.). The payment model is based on a flat-rate fee and affiliate commission; product-only compensation is not allowed.

According to the FAQ, “FameBit charges a 10% fee when hiring an influencer. For example, if you hire a YouTuber for $100, the actual charge upon the completed campaign will be $110.”

The minimum spend for YouTube content is $50, and for all other platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr), it’s $25.  

I ended up working with three Famebit influencers — one cost $85, another cost $100, and the third person cost $75.

Total spent: $260

NeoReach

Pricing starts at $399 a month for individual specialists, up to 2 users. And while NeoReach normally doesn’t allow people to use the platform for a one-month trial, one of NeoReach’s representatives was willing to work with me and allowed me to do so.

So to use the service for one month, it cost $399. That fee was just to use the platform, however. I still had to set a budget (I went with $100) for what I would be willing to pay each influencer I worked with (I worked with two).

Total spent: $599

How to use UnityInfluence, FameBit, and NeoReach

Unity Influence 

Signup process: Quick and easy.

Number of influencers: According to the website, Unity Influence has over 70,000 verified influencers in a variety of categories for brands to work with.

Does it work if you’re brand new, or do you need a big budget: When I got in touch with Unity Influence, here’s what they said: “We make it affordable to do influencer marketing. We start at $199 with no annual contracts or hidden fees.” 

How to use the platform: Unity Influence is very easy to use and intuitive to navigate. Here’s an overview of the steps involved with getting started:

• Start by entering the campaign details: the campaign’s name, its launch date, and a UTM code (if you have it) to track your campaign’s performance with Google Analytics.
• Specify whether you’re promoting a physical or digital product and fill in information like product name, value, a short description, user action, website, etc.
• Provide details about your audience, like what you see below.

• Input your social post details.

• Select the pricing option you want to go with.

As previously noted, I went with the one-time fee of $299 to run one campaign.

After making my payment, I was contacted by a UnityInfluence rep named Summer, who basically guided me the whole rest of the way.

A couple of weeks after signing up, Summer emailed me telling me that the influencer who was chosen to work on my campaign had uploaded the content and I was now able to preview it before the influencer posted it to Instagram.

From there, I had to choose which image I wanted to appear first on the image carousel. Then, I reviewed the caption she was planning to include with the post and told her the link and tags I wanted to add.

Once the influencer created the Instagram post, Summer contacted me again to give me the link so I could make sure everything looked good.

My results: 

Instagram influencer

As you can see, the post got 980 likes and quite a few comments.

Thoughts: Hands down, UnityInfluence was the easiest influencer marketing platform to use. After signing up, I barely had to do a thing besides check in every day for a few days while the campaign was getting set up.

FameBit 

Signup process: Quick and easy.

Number of influencers: Over 40,000 in a wide variety of niches.

Does it work if you’re brand new, or do you need a big budget: FameBit is an excellent option for anyone who is just starting out. It has the lowest minimum-spends of all the other platforms I talked to and tried.

How to use the platform: Here’s an overview of how to get started with the FameBit platform:

• After creating an account and logging in, click at the top where it says Campaigns.
• Click the Create Campaign button.
• Make your social media channel selection (I did Instagram).
• Click Next.
• Tell FameBit about the product or service you want to promote (e.g. product category, URL, photo). Here, you also stipulate whether or not you’ll be shipping a product sample to the influencers (you really should do this).
• Write a brief description of your product or service and click Next.
• Specify your campaign details (e.g. campaign title, brand description, campaign goals, campaign listing duration).
• Describe your target audience (e.g. gender, age range, country).
• Set your budget and click Next.
• Review your campaign and click Submit for approval. FameBit says this generally takes 1-2 days, but it took a bit longer in my case.

Once your campaign is approved, you should start getting emails from interested influencers with proposals, including proposal details and the influencer’s proposed price.

When you click the View Proposal button in the email, you can see stats like…

If you want, you can also request changes to proposals, ask questions, decline, or hire the influencers.

Once you select one or more influencers to work with, you’re able to communicate with them in the Workroom, where you can check on their progress and make sure the campaign is proceeding according to schedule.

All three of the influencers I worked with were great with communication and keeping me up-to-date, especially influencer #3.

My results: 

Instagram influencer 1 – Fee $85

This post got 2,012 likes and a number of comments.

Instagram influencer 2 – Fee $100

This post has received 22,726 likes and almost 500 comments!

Instagram influencer 3 – Fee $75

This influencer was a delight to work with and she really went above and beyond, posting not one but three photos to Instagram. Check them out below.

Post 1 – 943 likes

Post 2 – 1,225 likes

Post 3 – 1,060 likes

This influencer also posted a video featuring my coffee mug. It’s received only 8 views so far, which is a bummer. But the influencer did offer to devote half her fee to promoting the video so maybe the view count will go up after she gets going with that.

Thoughts: FameBit is definitely the most cost-effective platform of the three I tried. I loved seeing an array of influencers at a variety of price points. And it was great having the influencers come to me pitching themselves and their services instead of the other way around.

NeoReach 

Signup process: Fairly easy but not as intuitive as the other platforms.

Number of influencers: There are around 6 million micro and macro influencers in the NeoReach community.

Does it work if you’re brand new, or do you need a big budget: Pricing is more expensive than the other two platforms. But when we contacted supported, we were told, “NeoReach has worked perfect for brands just starting out, having worked with startups all the way through Fortune 500 companies.”

How to use the platform: The process of using NeoReach is a bit more involved than the other two platforms. Here’s how it worked:

• After creating an account and signing in, click Campaigns.
• Then, click Create Campaign.
• Fill in your campaign details, including campaign title, customer name (your name), influencer compensation, budget, and start and end dates.
• Then, create a campaign brief (this should include clear messaging and goals — see below).

• Adjust your privacy settings and IMV formula (if you want — I just left these as the defaults).
• Click Save.

After creating your campaign, you need to research influencers and get in touch, letting the influencers know what you’re looking for to see if they want to work with you.

To search for influencers, click on the Influencers button. Here, you’ll be able to narrow your search by things like…

• age
• gender
• location
• interests
• language
• marital status
• parental status
• occupation
• income
• social platform
• and more.

You can also refine your search by limiting it to only influencers who include specific keywords in their profiles.

When you find influencers you like, you can either…

• Click the blue plus sign button. Then,  you can add those influencers to a list (which you create by clicking the Lists button at the top, then Create List), your campaign, or to a network.
• Or, you can check the box at the top left-hand corner of the influencer’s box and click either the Add To or Export Influencers button at the bottom.

After adding influencers to your campaign, you can reach out via email (just click the Campaign button and you’ll be able to find all the added influencers).

Click the Email *BETA buttons for each influence to send them an email.

Here is an email template you can use: 

Here are the results I got…

The total amount I spent to use the three platforms and work with the six influencers was $1,158. I also gave away six coffee mugs valuing around $12.00 each.

And since the first influencer posted, I’ve received seven new sales for the mug that was being promoted. Needless to say, these results are colossally disappointing, especially in light of the number of likes and comments on each of the Instagram posts.

Putting together this case study was a lot of work for next to zero reward. In fact, considering how much I spent to use each platform and work with each influencer, this was a HUGE loss.

Also, I can’t even necessarily attribute all seven of the sales to the influencers…

Five of the sales appear to have come from my coupon promotion (although the same people from Instagram could have used the coupon if Amazon had faulty reporting)…

…and the other two sales appear to have come from ads…

It is possible that Amazon reported incorrectly, but even still I can say assuredly that this case study was a bust. And so, in sum…

• Amazon reporting isn’t crystal clear or accurate.
• I can’t be 100% sure about the results of this case study.
• None of the three influencer marketing platforms I tried were profitable for me.

Closing thoughts…

While the influencers’ promoted content generated barely any new sales, almost all the posts received well over 1,000 likes along with multiple comments. The social proof was there in abundance, which leads me to wonder if perhaps there are other ways to make more sales.

We could possibly test new things like a new niche (I realize the boyfriend mug is a niche-within-a-niche, though I thought it could still be mass appeal enough to make it work), a new design, or more expensive items (to get a faster return on investment).

We could’ve also tried to tailor products specifically to the influencers. I can see arguments for and against using mostly female influencers on this one.

Either way there’s still potential, but it’s not promising enough for me at this moment to keep testing, especially not when my low hanging model makes sales so much easier.

What do you think of influencer marketing and these three platforms? Have you ever tried influencer marketing before? What results did you get? Leave a comment below and let me know your input!