Produce It Yourself:
Before You Begin

Small Business Marketing Video Production for:

What equipment and skills will I need?

What Should Your Contractor Video Include?

Before you begin writing a script or planning your shots to produce a primary video that introduces your service to clients, review the following marketing research findings. (Collected 2/8/18 to 4/26/18).

Maximum Video Length Average: 78 seconds

Video Element	Recommended?	Want	Indifferent	Do Not Want
Owner Narration	Yes	60%	28%	12%
Animated Logo Intro	No	10%	58%	32%
Background Music	No	23%	45%	32%
Employees Working	Yes	69%	16%	15%
Truck & Equipment	Yes	46%	34%	19%
Office Headquarters	Yes	27%	49%	24%
Salesman with Customers	No	27%	40%	33%
A Funny Skit	No	6%	31%	63%
Pricing/Deals	Depends	78%	12%	10%

Industry Overview:

It seems that every consumer at least knows someone who had a bad experience working with a contractor. Customers want proof your business is reputable. They want unbiased, authentic footage, past-job-before-and-afters and verifiable references. 87% of customers said they would use the internet to find a local service. 35% of people said they would not watch a video before choosing a home service. On the flip side, 63% of consumers say they would watch a video if curious and have a need.

Things that Improve Customer Interest:

References, reviews, BBB (locally verifiable, known) 18%
Employees in action are professional (in appearance/attire or conduct) 13%
Concise, clear, substantive information provided, focus on service, facts, what to expect 12%
Experienced, knowledgeable, years in business, certified, award-winning 9%
Price is affordable 9%
Authentic footage - Real footage of real employees doing real jobs or solving real problems 8%
Professional communication/narration, (confident 2, calm 1, mature 1, expert-like 1) 8%
Honest, straightforward, trustworthy, candor, full disclosure 6%
Pricing is provided, upfront with 5%
Friendly, cheerful staff 5%
Before and after of real customers, case studies 4%
Local, close in proximity 4%
Good customer service 3%
Clean truck, equipment 3%
Guarantee of quality service 3%
Video is well-produced 3%
Operation appears organized or efficient 2%
Service appears to fit my needs 2%
Proof the business is great/delivers quality 2%
Appears detail-oriented 1%
Customer satisfaction stats 1%
Insured 1%
Calming colors 1%

Things that Scare Customers Away:

Not authentic (Staged, use of actors, overproduced, too flashy, hyped, overly enthusiastic, trying too hard) 11%
Exaggeration, lack of forthright honesty, unbelievable claims 11%
Not concise, not substantive, too vague, unnecessary comments, unclear, video too long 11%
Unprofessional appearance of employees (dirty attire, tattoos, sketchy, uneducated) 11%
Price is too high 9%
Corny, cheesy, gimmicky, use of costumes, annoying 7%
Lack of ballpark price or price range, ambiguous pricing 6%
Vehicle or equipment not kept up 6%
Unprofessional narration (bad grammar, slang, joking) 5%
Poor video production (poor lighting, sound, camera work, text typos) 5%
Aggressive, demanding, pushy sales pitch 3%
Only showing the positives, biased, unverifiable 3%
Signs of poor customer service 2%
Not known in community, lack of credibility 2%
Does not appear to have enough experience 1%
Appears disorganized 1%
Niche does not fit needs 1%
Not bonded 1%
No location provided 1%
Proximity too far 1%
Use of non-eco chemicals 1%
Loud noises or loud music 1%
Limited hours 1%
Bashing competition 1%
Political message 1%
Video has YouTube popup ads 1%
Overall bad impression 1%

General Advice

32% of consumers said they would not watch a small business video online. The 4 most popular reasons they gave were that videos are…

Biased, exaggerated, overproduced, flashy, only showing the business in the best light, not a true representation
Cheesy, dated, gimmicky and annoying
Too long, too slow, failing to get to the point, not concise, clear, rambling
Fail to provide the needed information, waste of time, adds no value, only necessary for visual products/services

On the flip side, 68% of consumers surveyed say they would watch a video before choosing a small business. Some of the top things consumers are hoping to see in a video are…

Real footage, true representation, authentic, honest, not overproduced
Message is concise, clear, short and to the point
Full footage and information provided, nothing is left out
Message is calm and sincere, not pushy or aggressive
Does not try to entertain

Many consumers said they would rather watch a video review from an unbiased third party than to watch a video from the business itself. Small business owners tend to want to show only the best aspects of the business in the best light. It may feel counter-intuitive, but including the business's shortcomings demonstrates honesty and earns customers.

Review over 80 home and office service (contractor) marketing video examples here: Home & Office Service Video Examples.