10 Ways to Record Videos for Your Business

With Wistia, creating a high-quality video is faster than writing a long email or running an in-person presentation, and it’s an easy way to make a memorable, human connection.

Onboarding a new employee? Explaining a concept to a customer? Pitching a product to a lead? Now you can go beyond your average webcam video, integrate screen recordings, and create beautiful videos in minutes. We’re confident that people in every corner of your business can use Wistia to engage viewers and save time.

For this guide, we present to you 10 different types of presentations you can make, and if you like what you see, try them out in your next video recording!

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Marketing

The Weekly Data Update

Your marketing team thrives on data. After all, your strategy depends on it. So when it comes time to share the latest findings and insights on what’s going well (and perhaps what isn’t), Wistia lets you detail your results in a visually comprehensive way that makes it easy to share with one individual, or your entire team.

In this example, Jenny takes our team through her weekly social media roundup, using slides to give a visual breakdown of complex information that probably wouldn’t translate as well over a long email… not to mention that we wouldn’t have the privilege of seeing Jenny spice up her presentation with some dance moves if it weren’t for our video recorder.

The Webinar Invite

You’re hosting a webinar? Great! Webinars are great for generating more leads, nurturing audience members, and delivering useful content, but how will you convince people to attend? Instead of sending out a humdrum invitation email, you can use video recordings to engage your invitees from the get-go.

In this video, Jordan gives a quick overview of what his upcoming webinar will cover, while revealing a bit of his personality, so that he can establish rapport (and trust) with potential attendees. You might notice that Jordan also added a Call to Action to the end of his invite video. Why not steer people toward registering while they’re still actively engaged with the content?

Sales

When it comes to common sales touchpoints along the buyer’s journey, there are several that could easily be improved with a presentation video.

The Video Voicemail

The first contact with a new prospect is often make-or-break. Instead of catching your prospect at an inconvenient time with a cold call, video voicemails can take that spontaneous pressure off while still reaching the prospect in a visible spot: the inbox.

Creating a presentation video is a quick and efficient way to address big-picture questions like: What is this company, and what problems could they actually solve for me?

Here’s an example of a cold call replacement that works just as well as a follow-up. It shows the prospect you’ve done your research and you understand their pain points. Plus, it offers potential opportunities for you to help without getting too detailed. The finishing touch is ending the video with a contact form that makes it easy for a potential customer to get in touch. Instead of picking up the phone next time, try a “touch base” voicemail like this one:

The Results-Driven Pitch

After establishing a good, consistent rapport with your potential prospect, it’s time to get down to business. This touchpoint should lead the prospect closer to conversion with a compelling argument on behalf of your product.

A video presentation can make stats and figures come to life and feel more authentic and personal than an over-the-phone pitch. A video at this stage should use concrete evidence to answer the question: Why should I pay for this product or service?

Like Katie does in the video above, you can start the video by picking up where you left off in your last conversation, or use common ground to break the ice if it’s been a little while.

Then, start to explain the most important features of your product that are relevant to the prospect’s industry and use case. Katie offers tips about video SEO and lead generation and uses proprietary data to back up her claim that video thumbnails can help with open rates. At the end of the video, you can discuss how your product fits in with the other tools and processes the prospect is already using, showing how easy it would be to get your product up and running.

The Friendly Nudge

When a prospect lets you know that they intend to buy your product, but you haven’t heard from them in a little while, reach out with a friendly video to touch base. Recording a video is the perfect way to help motivate your prospect to take that final step across the finish line and close the deal.

A quick video like the one below (it’s only 15 seconds long!) gets the job done fast. Maintain the momentum you built in the sales funnel and assure the new customer that they have your team’s full support in solving their problems. Reminding them you can help remove any barriers or hesitations is the perfect way to gently nudge them toward closing the deal.

Customer Support

The Quick Ticket Answer

Why send a novel-length email or make a long phone call when you could use a video recording to show and tell a customer how to solve their problem? In this example, Harper, one of our Customer Champions, uses his screencast to help a customer with a specific question.

For clarity’s sake, Harper decided to ditch the slides and walk through each step on his screen. A seasoned producer in the support video world, he followed a simple outline that he tends to stick to for every support interaction:

1. Make a quick intro to the customer.
2. Restate their question.
3. Show the problem and solution in action.
4. Explain the context.
5. Leave space to follow up by giving your contact info.

Human Resources

The Internal Announcement

From email to Slack to group texts (ok, maybe not the best idea), there are numerous ways to get in touch with your entire team — and also numerous ways for your message to get lost in the flurry of different channels. But as the most visual of all those communication methods, video stands out above the rest and gives you the biggest opportunity to be creative.

Speaking of creative, how about Kelsey’s video inviting the Wistia team to a taco party? All the details are clearly laid out in the slides, and she’s even peppered them with a few GIFs and fun photos to pique people’s interest even further. Need people to RSVP? You can add a CTA to the end of your video and watch those responses fly in.

The Onboarding Welcome

Starting a new job is always intimidating. You’ve yet to learn all the complicated inner workings of the coffee maker, you’re not sure how your new coworkers will react to your favorite Beetlejuice t-shirt, and who knows if the office dog will actually take a liking to you.

But what if a few days before you sat at your new desk for the first time, you received a friendly video from your new HR manager welcoming you to the company?

Check out this example from our very own People Ops superstar, Inga, who knows how to make new employees feel extra welcomed before they start their new gig. By incorporating text with funny GIFs, video recordings like this one set the perfect tone for easing new employees into a new scene.

The New Hire Hello

On the flip side, if you’re a new employee wondering when you’ll have the chance to introduce yourself to everyone at your company, you can easily make a memorable splash with a video recording!

Whether your work environment is remote, non-remote, or anything in between, sending out a video presentation is a great way to help folks put a face to the name. At Wistia, we ask all new hires to create a video telling us about themselves and what they’re passionate about. Then they plop it into our team Slack for everyone to react with emojis and warm hello’s.

Are you the proud parent of a few chickens? Do you love jamming out to dance-pop music or produce your own tunes? Your introductory video is the place to give everyone a better idea of who you are and what you love (even outside of work)!

Check out this example from our Product Designer, Janella!

Leadership

The Important Update

Lastly, anyone can step in front of webcam, and that includes members of your company’s leadership! Do you have an important message to share internally? Having your company’s co-founder deliver it in a video can make your employees feel more connected to the company.

Here at Wistia, sending videos in emails out to the entire company are commonplace. Whether it’s an important HR message or updates from our co-founders, attaching a video recording along with a brief text overview is typically the way to go.

What about making a video to share an important message that affects your customers and audience? Getting leadership to deliver that message in a video offers brand transparency and honesty in a more engaging way. Plus, it’s super easy to send your video out across social media.