If you’re getting ready to create a video content strategy for your manufacturing company, you’re going to love this article. We are going to explain how to do training videos and sales videos at the same time and give you a higher ROI to make for cost-effective video production.
Gone are the days of companies relying on pamphlets and PDFs to achieve their business objectives. The ability to transmit and receive information as quickly and efficiently as possible is increasingly important, and one form of content is at the vanguard of that effort: video. And video is more than just a trend—it’s an absolute necessity that’s here to stay.
Whether you’re educating customers, training employees or pitching to potential clients, video can deliver your message more effectively and memorably than any other form of content. But did you know you can save time and money by creating your sales and training videos simultaneously with a proper video production plan? This approach not only saves resources but also ensures a cohesive video content strategy for your business.
Here’s how you can achieve this dual-purpose video production while maximizing ROI.
Where to Begin: Use What You Already Have
Training videos
The first step to creating effective training videos is leveraging the resources you already have.
Most companies have existing training presentations, manuals, or documents that outline processes, policies, and best practices. For manufacturing companies in particular, these resources often include standard operating procedures (SOPs), safety guidelines, equipment operation manuals, and quality control processes. These materials serve as the foundation for your training videos, saving time and ensuring consistency in your messaging while meeting industry-specific needs like regulatory compliance and employee safety.
Begin by reviewing your training content to identify what’s still relevant, engaging, and effectively communicating key information. For manufacturing companies, this might include focusing on step-by-step equipment tutorials, safety protocols, or troubleshooting procedures that workers can reference on the job.
Look for opportunities to visually enhance the material with demonstrations, animations, or on-screen graphics that clarify complex manufacturing processes or machine operations. By repurposing your existing training resources into video content, you streamline the production process, enhance employee understanding, and ensure the training videos align with your current operational and compliance goals.
Sales videos
This type of video can follow a similar approach by repurposing existing PDFs, brochures, or presentations into compelling video content. Start by identifying the key points from your sales collateral, such as unique selling propositions, product benefits, and client success stories, that highlight what makes your offerings stand out.
These elements can be reimagined in a video format using dynamic visuals, professional voiceovers, and even customer testimonials to create a narrative that captures attention and engages potential clients. This approach eliminates the need to create content from scratch, saving time and resources while ensuring your message is clear and impactful.
For manufacturing companies, this strategy can be especially effective. Highlight your production capabilities, showcase your products in action, or feature behind-the-scenes footage of your facilities to give customers a deeper understanding of your expertise.
This type of video content can demonstrate the practical applications of your products, explain complex manufacturing processes, or showcase case studies that highlight your solutions’ success in real-world scenarios. By leveraging existing sales materials, manufacturing companies can create high-quality, persuasive videos that not only strengthen their brand but also drive customer trust and conversions.
The Importance of Having Training Videos
Let’s start with training videos. These are invaluable tools for educating your customers, future customers and internal teams. Forbes notes that companies that provide comprehensive training programs see 218% higher income per employee compared to those without formalized training, not to mention a 24% higher profit margin (Forbes). Aside from also keeping HR happy, here are some of the key benefits training videos offer:
- Reduced Customer Support Inquiries: It can empower your customers to troubleshoot issues independently, reducing the load on your customer support team.
- Faster Remediation: By providing clear instructions, these videos help customers resolve problems quickly, enhancing their overall satisfaction.
- Enhanced Customer Service: Offering accessible, self-service resources improves your customer’s experience and builds trust in your brand.
- Streamlined Onboarding for Internal Teams: It standardize the onboarding process for new employees, ensuring they have consistent, high-quality information to get up to speed quickly.
- Improved Skill Development: Internal teams can access training videos to learn new tools, processes, or best practices at their own pace, fostering continuous learning and development.
- Increased Productivity: With on-demand access to training resources, employees spend less time seeking guidance and more time focused on their work.
- Cost-Effective Training: Training videos eliminate the need for repetitive in-person sessions, saving time and resources while maintaining consistent messaging across teams
From an ROI perspective, it’s easy to see why businesses invest in training videos. They save time, reduce costs, and provide long-term value for both customers and companies.
The Essence of Effective Sales Videos for Your Business
While training videos are critical, stopping there could mean missing a significant opportunity. It offers tremendous value by addressing the other side of the customer journey—converting prospects into customers.
A whopping 96% of marketers agree that video helps their target demographics better understand their products and services. Furthermore, 96% also agreed that video enhances brand awareness, 82% said it drives traffic, 88% reported it increases leads, 84% stated it boosts sales and dwell time, and 62% noted it helps reduce support queries (Wyzowl).
Beyond simply demonstrating and explaining your products and services, sales videos are so powerful because they:
- Build Trust and Credibility: Seeing is believing. It demonstrates your product’s value effectively.
- Communicate Key Benefits: Visual content can explain product features and benefits more compellingly than text alone.
- Drive Conversions: Video content often leads to higher engagement rates, ultimately increasing sales.
- Simplify Complex Concepts: It can break down intricate processes or technical details into digestible and engaging visuals, making it easier for prospects to understand your offering.
- Showcase Real-World Applications: Demonstrating your product or service in action helps potential customers envision how it fits into their needs and goals.
- Amplify Emotional Appeal: Videos can create a stronger emotional connection with viewers by using visuals, music, and storytelling, making your message more memorable and persuasive.
If you’re already investing in a video production plan, it makes sense to incorporate this type of video content into your strategy. After all, there’s a significant overlap between the content of training and sales videos.
Overlapping Content: Training and Sales videos
One of the biggest advantages of combining these two videos in one video production is the shared content. While their purposes differ, both types of videos often touch on similar elements:
- Product Features: Training videos explain how to use specific features, while sales videos highlight why those features matter.
- Benefits and Use Cases: Both formats demonstrate the value your product or service provides, especially in particular contexts or to certain target demographics.
- Consistent Messaging: A unified approach ensures your brand voice remains consistent across all content.
That being said, there are differences to consider while cultivating an efficient video production plan.
A Batch Production Strategy
To create cost-effective videos simultaneously, a thoughtful approach and batch production strategy are essential. Here’s how it works:
Plan Your Video Content Strategy: Start by outlining the goals for both videos. Identify overlapping topics and determine how they can be adapted for different audiences.
Develop a Comprehensive Video production plan: Create an outline or storyboard that accounts for both use cases. For example, a segment about product features could be used in training with technical details and in sales with a focus on benefits.
Shoot All Content in One Session: During production, capture all necessary footage for both videos. This approach minimizes the time and costs associated with multiple shoots.
Maximize Efficiency with Expert Guidance: Work with a professional video production team experienced in creating multi-purpose content. Their expertise ensures a smooth process and high-quality results.
Now You Know
Creating training videos and sales videos is a smart, cost-effective way to elevate your video content strategy, particularly for manufacturing companies. By leveraging shared content, adopting a batch production methodology, and tailoring edits for specific use cases, you can create impactful, multi-purpose videos while optimizing your budget.
For instance, footage captured during production can be repurposed to train employees on equipment use and safety protocols while also showcasing your manufacturing capabilities to potential customers in a sales-oriented format.
Manufacturing companies can gain significant advantages from this approach by addressing both internal and external needs. Training videos can streamline onboarding processes, ensure compliance, and enhance workplace safety by providing clear instructions on machine operations and maintenance.
Meanwhile, sales videos can build trust with prospects, highlight your advanced production facilities, and position your products as solutions to real-world challenges. This dual-purpose approach allows you to get the most out of your video production plan, ensuring your videos contribute to both operational efficiency and increased revenue.
Ready to create a comprehensive video content strategy that supports your business goals?
Talk you us and learn how to develop impactful videos and a cohesive video production plan tailored to your manufacturing business.
See you in front of the camera!