ideo has its place in SME businesses but it would be reckless to jump in without looking at the Return On Investment (R.O.I.). Here are four examples that look beyond price-point and valuate the R.O.I.
I was recently hired to drive all over the region and capture short clips of people talking about my client. We filmed five people for a few minutes each. It took three days and a lot of miles to film them in their respective offices. It took a couple more days to review and edit the tapes. This was a video resume and the client was looking for a job. The cost was several thousand dollars.
Crazy or Brilliant? Where is the R.O.I in that and what has this got to do with SME anyway?
The answer to the second question is: ‘This has everything to do with small business”. A resume is just marketing material and a video is just a means of delivering a high impact message, at a relatively low cost.
The answer to the first question is ‘Brilliant!’ The five people we taped held high-profile, senior positions in different firms. The mere fact that five executives would be willing to speak so highly of one person, on camera, is proof positive that this person impressed her peers. This was a powerful validation of credentials and accomplishment.
If you’re applying for a clerical position you may not want to spend that much money, but this client was after a six figure income. The R.O.I. is obvious; she has an edge that gets her the job and she covers the cost of the video with the first month’s income.
We recently produced a video tour of a property. It took one day to tape it, and a couple days of editing. The production cost was $1,700. Most agents wouldn’t dream of spending that kind of money, over and above all the other required marketing costs.
Here’s the win.
Most agents show photographs on the internet; some do 360 degree panoramas. This property boasted the pastoral peace and quite of country living, with executive retreat income potential and simple photography can’t communicate that as well as video can.
The listing agent competed against discount agents to get the listing. Rather than discount the commission she added broadcast quality video as a bonus. It was for internet marketing. Moreover, the seller was emotionally attached to the property and loved the idea of having their memories captured on a DVD they could keep.
The buyer found the video on the internet and said “if the real thing looks as good as the video, consider it sold”. It sold! The win was a $60,000 commission. As the listing agent, she didn’t have to split her commission with another agent.
Getting the picture?
An independent salesman with a huge geographical territory was taking almost a year to introduce new products. Conflicting schedules and driving time were taking a toll on sales.
Rather than do the same dog and pony show 200 times for 200 clients over the course of a year, we proposed doing it once in the studio and then put the video on his website. The link to the video could be emailed to his contact list to generate awareness, interest, and immediate sales. In this scenario less time would be spent in the car and motels, and more time processing orders. This kind of video can be done professionally in one day for as little as $500.00. Gas savings would more than cover that cost.
Another small client had to educate a business community about economic changes in the region. The original plan was to make a large presentation in a conference centre and invite the community to see it. It’s very difficult to get people out for this kind of event due to conflicting schedules and travel costs. The decision was made to produce four on-demand webcasts and market the message via mail and email. Our experience suggests that online attendance trumps one day event attendance by 15-20 times or more, and it costs considerably less for the producer and the attendees.
Video has its place in small business. It’s a matter of looking for the R.O.I.
