We recently released what I call a ‘Hero Video’ for my company InboxDone.com. Here it is:

We made two versions, a short and longer one (the above is the short version).

To make this video we hired a video crew to visit our client Kyle who owns an e-bike e-commerce business, Bolton E-Bikes.

Jessica, our Inbox Manager, was scheduled to come visit Kyle so she could get some hands-on experience with the bikes. Typically our staff do not meet their clients in person, but in this case Kyle wanted Jessica to really know the products she was helping provide customer support for. We took advantage of this face-to-face opportunity to make the video.

The Hero Video Effect

A video like this can be used for advertising. I’ve already tested ours for some YouTube ads and will continue to use it and slices of it in our marketing campaigns on social media, but that’s not the only reason we had it made.

Just like good website design is a reflection of how professional your business is, a video with a little extra production value helps you make a positive first impression. It enhances your brand and credibility, plus presents your offer/product/service in powerful way — especially when it focuses on a case study testimonial (or several).

You might think a video like this is expensive. It certainly is if you compare it to grabbing your mobile phone and recording a quick video, or using a Zoom ‘talking heads’ style video, which are both free to create and certainly useful marketing assets.

However, you may be surprised that a fully produced video can cost as little as $2,000 to hire the film crew and get the video edited. That might be too much to spend at the very start of your new business, but as things grow, investing a couple of thousand dollars on a hero video is a smart move.

When InboxDone was new, I wouldn’t have spent the money to get this kind of video done because I wasn’t sure we had a viable business yet. When you have product/service market fit, you know your customers like what you offer and keep paying for it, you have your website done already, then you can consider making marketing investments like filming a hero video.

I also made hero videos for my blog coaching business. I personally visited Mitch in Hawaii and Janea in Portland, two of my previous clients who both went through my Blog Mastermind program and came out the other side with successful and profitable companies.

I asked my team to find the film and editing crew locally in each city, so all I had to do was show up and conduct an interview. They also filmed footage around the area and showed off aspects of the lives of my past clients. The end result was these two videos, each filmed with local crews:

These videos are on the homepage of my blog and I also have used them in various launch campaigns over the years when promoting Blog Mastermind 2.0.

Is A Hero Video Worth The Cost?

While I can’t directly say a hero video was the reason a person signed up as a client for InboxDone or a person purchased my course Blog Mastermind 2.0, I feel very confident that the results justify the cost.

In simple number terms, all I need to do is sell two people into my course or get one new client to InboxDone to cover the cost of making the hero video. I have anecdotal evidence in the form of comments made to me on calls and through email that these videos made an impact on a person discovering me or becoming convinced that what I sell is right for them.

Marketing is rarely successful with just a one-touch point experience. This means that a prospective customer will need to go through various experiences with you and your business before they join. It’s a collection of moments where a person learns more about what you do and decides whether they are ready to buy what you offer.

My blog posts, emails, social media content, videos and paid ads all work together to reach people and reinforce a message that what I sell is valuable to solve a problem or meet a need that a potential customer has. The hero video plays an important part because it demonstrates a level of professionalism that often is lacking with most competing offers to what I sell.

It’s also important to note that by having a hero video you demonstrate that your company can afford to produce such content and has happy customers already, who were willing to appear in the video. These are all positive-markers, making subtle and not-so-subtle impressions on potential new customers.

I recommend if you have some time today — head out online and investigate all the companies and people who sell similar products or services to what you sell. Look at their websites and see if they have any kind of hero video media. When you see these videos, how does it impact your perception of these companies and products/services? Then compare your perception to other websites that don’t have these kinds of videos. What do you find more compelling and which do you trust more?

I’m confident if you decide to make the investment in producing a hero video for your business you will not regret it. It will pay dividends long after you made it.

Yaro