Should I Create an Introduction Video for my Home Inspection Company?

 Yes, you should.  Here's why.

Video is the number-one driver of online sales for a wide variety of products and services.  Studies have shown that having a video that explains and introduces a product or service can boost online sales conversions by forty-percent (40%).  The word "conversion" defines the number of people who visit a website where a video is posted, who watch the video, and make a purchasing decision based on what they saw and heard.  It's not voodoo or trickery, either.

By nature, human beings usually take the path of least resistance when making a purchasing decision.  For example, instead of reading the technical specifications of a particular mobile phone and comparing it to other mobiles phones, a phone buyer will usually ask their peers on social media about their experience with the same phone.  If enough people reply with positive comments, then the buyer will usually accept other people's opinions to justify the purchase.

This is also true of hiring home inspectors.  People will get on Facebook to ask local friends about their experience with local home inspectors and choose the one who gets mentioned the most with positive reviews.  Very rarely do inspection buyers perform side-by-side comparisons of inspectors.  Another way that consumers shop for home inspectors is to based their decision to hire an inspector based on testimonial reviews (1 to 5 stars) on recommendation websites like Yelp or Redfin.

So, what immediate advantage does a business presentation video about your home inspection business provide in excess of the raves, reviews, and testimonials you've already received?  Let's count the ways.

1. A video allows you to inject emotional impact into your message.  You can be humorous, serious, empathetic, or excited depending on the selling points that you are trying to convey.
   
   
2. A video is more memorable than reading pages of text because it stimulates visual and auditory responses.  Together, these two things evoke an emotional response to your message, and your brain remembers emotions longer than it remembers readable text.
   
   
3. A video allows you to emphasize key points in a shorter period of time.  Combined with imagery and voice-inflection, you can say less than you would have to compared to the printed word.
   
   
4. A video allows you to include live testimonials from real clients which creates instant credibility for your home inspection company.  The authenticity of live video testimonial from actual clients is considered to be one of the most powerful strategies that you can employ to convert audiences into buyers.
   
   
5. A video loaded to your YouTube channel with the proper SEO markup can boost your SERP (Search Engine Results Page) rank for your home inspection business website.
   
   
6. A well-produced business introduction video that is posted or embedded to the top of your website's homepage is more likely to contribute to sales conversions than any other asset posted there including coupons, photos, or text.  Studies have shown that service-based companies experience up to 3X from first-time visitors.  This can be attributed to the video making it easier for visitors to learn more, faster, and make an instant decision to hire you.

Types of Videos You Can Create

First, and foremost, you need to decide what you want a video to help you accomplish.  There are basically only three types of videos that you can create that are relevant to your inspection business.  The first type is the "introduction video".  This type of video introduces people to you and your company while highlighting the value of your services to audiences.

The second type of video is the "explainer video".  This type of video is typically used to explain how a process or service works.  For example, you would create this type of video if trying to explain why people should get a pre-listing inspection.

The third type of video is the VLOG (Video Blog).  This type of video is editorial in nature and functions more as a diary or sounding board for your personal thoughts and opinions of a topic.  These are typically shown to existing prospects or clients who already know you and value your opinions.  Very rarely would this type of video be shown to a new prospect in order to get their business.

Regardless if you decide to produce explainer videos or VLOGs, you should definitely have an introduction video about your company completed first.  Your introduction video actually functions as your "salesperson".  More importantly, an introduction video that shows you speaking or performing inspections is an icebreaker that helps consumers to familiarize themselves with you on a personal and human level.  In other words, it's the first step to turning strangers into a warm market even before you have seen or spoken to them.

How To Use a Business Introduction Video

If your video is intended to be used to convert visitors into customers on your website, then your video needs to be embedded nearest to the top of your website's homepage.  This area is called "above the fold" (the top of your homepage before people have to scroll down).  Posting an introduction video below the fold is less effective because some visitors to your website might never even scroll down once landing on your homepage.

Your introduction video should also be used on social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, and others.  Place your video in your profile so that it is always available to see.  Conversely, if you post your video (or link) in the general news feed of your social media channel, then it will eventually get buried in your feed over time.  Both Yelp and Google Business allow you to post a video to your profile for free which allows other people who find you through those services to immediately watch it.

A powerful, yet under-utilized, strategy is to imprint a video QR code on your printed media such as brochures and business cards.  This allows people to use their smartphone camera to scan the QR code and instantly open your video.  By doing this, you don't have to wait for people to find your video online - especially if your video is new and has yet to be indexed by Google or YouTube.  If you have already printed your business cards and brochures, then consider purchasing Avery Presta® 94103 square labels and printing to adhere to your printed media with your video QR code imprinted on them.

Another strategy that can produce a few inspection bookings here and there is to ask real estate agents (who have the ability to edit their own websites) to embed your video into their online vendor page.  Keep in mind that most home inspectors that appear on vendor pages won't have a video to display, so you have an immediate advantage over your competition by being the first to add a business presentation video to your vendor listing.

Finally, you should include a link to your video in every business-related email that you send.  This is especially true if you are sending introduction emails to referrers such as real estate agents or to prospective customers who inquire about your services.  Allow your video to "sell" your inspection services for you before you pick up the phone to make a direct contact with agents or consumers. 

The Wrong Way to Use Videos

Though having a business introduction video can boost your inspection bookings, it is pointless to make the effort to produce a video that nobody sees.  It is also pointless to produce a video that does not contribute to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Once you have created your video, the last thing that you want to do is leave it sitting on YouTube with the false expectation that YouTube is going to put it in front of inspection buyers for you.  They won't.

As already stated, your business introduction video needs to be embedded on the homepage of your business website.  Consider this a given.  However, you need to add a thorough description of your video that is filled with appropriate keywords, hashtags, and backlinks (to your website) where your video is uploaded on YouTube.  YouTube is owned by Google, and the same SEO best-practices that apply to your website (in order to be searchable) also applies to your video within the YouTube environment.

If you perform this correctly, then your video will likely show up in search results while succinctly boosting the search position for your business website.  Otherwise, if you simply upload your video to YouTube without employing any SEO strategies, then it won't get very many views.

Lastly, you will want to avoid those $50 canned videos that simply change your name and logo out.  These present very little value to consumers who want to learn more about you - not to mention that such videos look canned and uninteresting.  The emotional impact of your video will also be missing, so its effectiveness as a sales tool is completely diminished.

Getting Started - Producing Your First Business Presentation Video

Everything you need to know about producing your first video is already available on our website HERE.  Please take the time to visit this page to watch a short "how to" video and real about our step-by-step production process.

If you are interested in having InspectionVids create your first business introduction video, then please contact us right away at (678) 743-1450 by phone or inspectionvids@gmail.com by email.