How to use video conferencing for marketing

Video conferencing offers a wide range of benefits:

• Strengthens relationships - Unlike a phone call which only allows you to hear the voice, a video conference gives you the opportunity to see the body language and facial expression of the other person. This allows you to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships

• Lower travel expenses - Many companies send their employees to meet customers or prospects in person. While meeting face to face has its merits, it can end up being very costly in the long run. Using video conferencing allows you to save on expenses such as hotel costs and airfare
• Eliminates geographical barriers - Video conferencing allows you to meet with people from different parts of the globe at the same time. For example, you can have a discussion in real time with participants from Tokyo, Nairobi, Paris and London
• Improved productivity - Travelling for meetings means loss of productivity from being away from the office. In addition, too much travel can stress you and result in burnout. Video conferencing allows you to have your meetings without leaving the office, thus leaving you with more time and energy to spend on other productive activities. Most video conferencing tools come with features which allow participants to share and edit documents in real-time. This enhances operational efficiency and is likely to improve sales

• Keeps employees connected - Video conferencing allows you to retain the services of employees that need to work from home or relocate for some time. Such employees are able to keep track of new developments at the office and continue fulfilling their roles. This saves your company the costs of retraining or hiring a new employee

There are a numerous video conferencing tools in the market with a wide range of features. The plan you choose will determine the features you can enjoy, and the number of people you can have in a meeting. Some tools support several international languages, thus allowing you to reach people of different countries. In addition, most of the tools come with a free trial period within which you can test the different features.

Here are some of the ways video conferencing can be useful in marketing.

1. Live demo

Many companies have videos on their websites showing the features of their products. However, though such videos could be helpful, they are not interactive. If they have questions, they cannot get answers in real time. Instead, it would be advisable to offer your audience a personalised live demo via a video chat.

This way, they can interact with a real person and get their queries addressed on the spot. In addition, a video chat allows you to get as much information as possible about the prospect. This information can come in very handy for future follow-up.

2. Tutorials

At times, customers may lack the technical expertise required to use products. In such cases, you could use the conventional method of providing instructions via email or telephone. However, trying to solve a technical problem over the phone can be very difficult. As a result, you are likely to end up wasting a lot of time in back-and-forth discussions. Alternatively, you send support staff to help customers deal with issues, which could be very costly.

To avoid wasting your time and money, you could consider offering live on-demand video tutorials. Some tools such as ClickMeeting even allow you to record your meetings and translate foreign chat instantly when you submit messages. You can post such recordings in your FAQ page so as to help other customers who might have similar problems.

3. Content marketing

Content marketing can be a very effective strategy for generating leads for your business. If you record the live demos and on-demand tutorials with your customers, you will eventually have a huge collection of video content. Posting such content on your site or blog with the relevant keywords will attract a lot of traffic. Being more visible will enhance your chances of making even more sales.

4. Training

Besides connecting with customers, video conferencing can be very useful for training your sales team. The members of your team don't have to gather physically at the same place to receive training. Instead, they can get the necessary information and skills from wherever they are. This will save your company the time and costs involved in traditional training methods.