Using Branded Video to Promote Your Technology Systems with Screencast Demos

Posted by vitomy on July 27, 2011 0 Comments

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Screencast videos are a great way to convey information about your software technology systems through branded video. Screencasts can be used for sales, promotions, training and marketing videos. There are basically two purposes for screencast demos, either to “train” or to “show how it works.”

Show how it works – Screencast demos are a very simple and effective form of branded video to communicate the benefits of your product. Text on a website or a brochure can communicate some information effectively but it can leave a lot of imagery and functionality up to the readers imagination. Some processes and functions are too complex for people to imagine and this is where a screencast demo’s ability to show and tell exactly how your product works comes in handy. This is crucial for any kind of technology system because your viewers need to see exactly how your product will help them solve their problems, and a branded video is key. A “show how it works” video tutorial can be a huge time savor for you and your user by helping demonstrate the basics while allowing your sales and marketing teams to deal with the more specific needs and details.

Train your users – Gone are the days of instruction manuals the size of phone books. The average user doesn’t have time to spend hours of reading to learn how to do simple functions in your shiny new system. Give them a short (up to 3 min.) branded video screencast demonstration to help them understand what the product should do and how to do it. Not only should you have a basic demonstration of your product but also a quick reference tutorial for new users or for others a quick refresher-course. Branded video shouldn’t be your only resource, but a critical complement.

Brand your video – Brand your screencast demo by putting it into a custom branded video player. Think of the branded video player as the wrapper of your favorite candy bar. When I mention brands like Snickers, Twix and Kit Kat you can picture exactly what their logo and wrapper look like. Putting your branded videos into a branded player is like putting that wrapper around your video, exposing your branding to viewers. When they find your videos informative and helpful they will now associate that with your brand.

Call your viewer to action – A key function you should look for in a branded video player is the ability to call the viewer to take action. This completes the user experience and guides them to a place you really want them to be – a repeat customer! For a screencast video there are two main actions you could make available to your user. First, would be a call to a sale which would best be used with a “show how it works” demo. You can create a link to where the user can purchase the product or learn about what the next steps to purchasing would be. Another option for a call to action would be more custom service oriented for the “train” demo. You could link the user to a FAQ or customer service page.

To see how you can add a fancy wrapper to your screencast demos, sign up for a free account to Vitomy branded video platform at Vitomy.com.