6 Ways to Make Your How-To Video Really Work

According to Think with Google, how-to videos are the type of video content that promises the highest engagement. This is a pretty solid reason to get started with creating a how-to video for your business and supporting your customers on the way to solving their problems.

How to make great videos of how-to type both customers and prospective leads will be grateful for? Below are practice-proven how-to video-making tips and best practices. 

 

 

How-to Videos in a Nutshell

As the name suggests, a how-to video promises a clear solution to a certain problem, assisting the watcher in the process of doing something less or more challenging. Despite the seeming simplicity behind this video’s concept, it can be a powerful marketing tool for driving user engagement and brand loyalty, when created and used right. Below are the main types of how-to videos – take a look at them to better catch the marketing opportunities each of them can promise. 

How-to Video Types

 

 

• Instructional videos. Instructional videos are usually up to ten minutes long. They visually show how to really cope with a certain task step by step. 
• Scannable social media videos. These are short videos, usually without the voiceover, and guide users through solving some tasks, such as making a hairstyle or cooking a simple dish. 
• Abstract aspirational videos. These videos are frequently the mix of a talking head, an explainer, and a how-to video. Most often, they dwell on the ways to get started with something to highlight their first steps towards solving their problem. 
• Screencast videos. These videos are often used for demonstrating the ways digital products work. They share the screen recording supported by an explanatory narration. 
• Presentations. A presentation is a sub kind of a screencast how-to video. It looks like animated Google Slides, frequently supported by narration. 

 

The Benefits of How-to Videos 

Creating a how-to video is a pretty promising marketing idea since, when done right, it delivers the following benefits for the business. 

• Promise the most value. The very concept of a how-to video promises that there is a direct answer and guidance inside. The users love how-to videos because of their straightforwardness and visual nature, which allows them not only to explain but also to show how to do a certain thing in practice. 
• Can be tailored to any stage of the sales funnel. Most videos used in marketing are strictly tailored to the sales funnel stage. For instance, a promo video makes the most sense on the stage of awareness, when the users know nothing or know a little about the brand. How-to videos, in turn, can be used and shown on each of the sales funnel stages. 
  • Awareness. The users may know nothing about your brand but have a problem you can help them with. Discovering your brand and solving the issue with the help of a how-to video can be winning for building awareness in this case.
  • Consideration. When the users consider a product or service, showing them the ways it can solve their problem in a how-to video also makes sense. In this case, a how-to video can work as an additional incentive to make a purchase. 
  • Post-purchase. At this stage of the sales funnel, a how-to video can suggest better ways to deal with the users’ issues with the help of your product or service. For example, you can create a how-to video of a screencasting type to show how to use your app for a specific task. 
• Strengthen customer relations. The feeling of being grateful for the support and step-by-step guidance you shared in your how-to video can work wonders for your relations with the customers and prospective leads. The gratitude for the help you have already delivered, they become more likely to choose your product or service. 
• Perfectly reusable. Reusability and almost complete independence from the marketing platform is another benefit and reason to create a how-to video. You can easily distribute it across multiple marketing channels and show them to your users, again and again, turning them into loyal customers. 

 

Creating a How-to Video That Works – Step-by-Step Instruction

Wonder how to make a how-to video that will actually help your users and your business, as a result? Below are some how-to video shooting tips and tricks to guide you along this way step by step. 

 

 

1. Decide on a problem

There is no how-to question without a problem. So, to create a how-to video, you firstly should define the problem (and make sure it actually exists). The easier way to do it is to review your users’ questions and feedback. You can also use social listening platforms like Answer the Public to gather the issues around your topic. Then, make sure they are relevant to your audience.

As one more effective tip, take a look at the ways how your competitors make how-to videos and what questions they help with. Find out whether their videos are specific enough – it will help you during the following step. 

 

2. Decide on a video type

After you have suggested and validated the idea for your future how-to video, decide on a video type. Get back to the ones reviewed above – most likely, the choice will be pretty intuitive. Also, consider animation as an approach that suits any video type you choose. 

 

3. Suggest a better way

How to make a good video of a how-to type? The only right answer is to make them better than the ones already published. Your video should be better not only from the visual standpoint but should also stand out with the innovative how-to approach you suggest it. Your way to solve the problem should be easier, less time, cost and effort-consuming, and closely connected with your product or service. 

 

4. Draft a script

Fortunately, there is nothing too creative or complicated when it comes to creating a script for a how-to video. When writing your script, you just have to be consistent and straightforward, guiding your viewers’ step by step. 

Still, there is a little trick you should keep in mind. Depending on the idea and the video type, a how-to video can go with or without a voiceover. For example, presentations, screencasts, and abstract how-to videos require a voiceover to go along with shooting or animation. Short how-tos for social media are usually silent. Instructional videos can follow any of the approaches so keep these specifics in mind when creating a script. 

 

5. Create a video

While some startups prefer filming at home, this tactic is still more suitable for personal brands and aspiring bloggers. In this case, they actually can build closer relations with the audience by appearing on the video in a “near-home” environment.  

But how to make professional-looking videos? The only answer is to partner with a video production studio and let them use their best practices in animation to come up with visually attractive, well-scripted, and professionally created how-to videos. 

 

6. Publish, promote and reuse

After you are done with your how-to video, publish it on the main marketing platform you use for your business promotion. For instance:

• Your blog or an article related to the topic (don’t forget to add a “Share” option);
• Your YouTube channel;
• Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

For social media channels, pay attention to the video length since it is limited differently by the platforms. Then, proceed with promoting your video. For example, you can attach it to your newsletter, and mention that there is a how-to video inside right in the headline. According to statistics, emails with videos have a 7-13% higher open rate. 

 

Conclusion – Embrace the Power of an Animated How-to Video 

There are two ways to create a how-to video – you can either shoot it live or make it animated. While there are some cases when shooting is the only way to show how to deal with a certain task, an animated how-to video is a winning tactic overall. It opens up an opportunity to employ stunning graphics and visuals. You can choose between 2D and 3D depending on the how-to video specifics and create it in a more affordable way compared to live shooting. 

To create a professionally animated how-to video, you are welcome to get in touch with a professional animated video studio. Their creative vision, practical experience, and tech skills are the perfect combination you need to produce a goal-oriented and results-driving how-to video.

Wow-How Studio will be happy to help you with this task – get in touch with us right now for more how-to video creation practices and insights!