Many small businesses believe that video marketing is too costly, takes too much time, or is intended only for big-budget companies. All of these beliefs are false. The best-performing video marketing campaigns for small and regional businesses all had something in common – they were specific, genuine, and grounded in a local identity rather than a production budget. This is a practical video marketing guide for local businesses. It covers the video styles that perform well in the local market, the real-life examples that illustrate what to do and what not to do, how to produce videos outside of a studio setting, and how to deliver the video to the correct target audience.
Why Video Marketing Is Good For Local Businesses?
There is a lot of evidence to support that video marketing is effective. 87 percent of marketers say that video produces a positive Return on Investment (ROI) compared to other forms of digital advertising. Viewers are 72 percent more likely to find information about a product or service through video compared to reading text. Videos placed on websites increase the number of online conversions by as much as 80 percent. Video marketing applies equally to small businesses as it does to larger organizations.
Small businesses have the advantage of being able to develop a level of specificity within their video content that bigger organizations cannot. A plumber in Austin Texas, a bakery in Edinburgh, Scotland, or a fitness center in Lagos, Nigeria can develop a video that specifically addresses the concerns of the local residents. Specificity helps build awareness and credibility among potential clients faster than any professional organization-produced advertisement.
Some Examples Of Successful Video Marketing In The Local Market
Metro Trains Melbourne: Dumb Ways To Die
In order to lower the number of accidents along the rail system owned by Metro Trains Melbourne, they created an animated music video with a humorous tone. The video was released without any paid advertising efforts. The video went viral, becoming the most viewed public safety announcement in history with over 342 million views on YouTube. Additionally, the song became #1 on iTunes in 28 different countries. Perhaps more importantly, there was a 21% decrease in train-related accidents in Melbourne during the year following the release. They also received over $19.2 million worth of earned media.
The lesson learned from this campaign is that local safety messages get ignored. But subversive, funny, entertaining content will get shared. The reason this campaign was successful is that they treated their audience as human beings rather than compliance targets.
Gymshark: The Neighborhood Pop-up
Source: Forbes
Gymshark opened a vintage-themed laundromat/tailor store in the UK to cater to local athletes. They used vertical video on TikTok and Instagram Reels to promote their new pop-up store. Their content was raw, community-based, and documentary-style. By doing s,o they developed deep ties with their local neighbors while creating buzz nationally through the two social media platforms.
Dollar Shave Club: The Launch Model
For $4500, Dollar Shave Club’s creator shot a 90-second video in a warehouse. Due to the novelty of his approach and how quickly he sold out his inventory, he crashed his own website. His deadpan comedy style and direct explanation of the benefits of Dollar Shave Club set the bar for many future local services.
Regardless of the quality of the production, regardless of the complexity of the script, some elements worked.
Video Styles That Perform Well Locally
Educational Videos
Provide one solution for one issue that your customers frequently inquire about. A landscape designer explaining when to trim bushes; a physical therapist demonstrating a stretching routine; a florist showing how to extend the life of a floral arrangement. Educational videos establish you as experts and bring individuals searching for solutions into your orbit. One helpful answer per video with relevant local details.
Customer Testimonials
Testimonials from customers demonstrate social proof from people that your viewers may know or identify with. The format is simple: ask the customer to explain the problem they experienced, followed by how they felt afterward. Add location-specific language. Customer testimonials referencing a particular suburb have greater weight than those filmed elsewhere.
Behind-The-Scenes Content
Behind-the-scenes content provides immediate humanization of a company above any other type of content. Documenting preparation prior to providing service, introducing staff members, highlighting relationships with suppliers in your area, and documenting a typical Tuesday – all contribute to establishing connections with your audience. This style of content is constantly undervalued by small business owners but consistently rewarded by social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook due to its ability to generate genuine engagement.
Founders & Company Owner Stories
A short film from the owner explaining why they began, what they care about and what they want to accomplish in terms of helping your community is probably one of the greatest assets a small business can create in terms of building trust through content marketing. Pin it to your social profiles. Use it as your home page on your website. It generates long-term trust signals versus other pieces of timed content.
Product Demo & FAQ Videos
Demonstrate one aspect or function of one product/service per video focusing on the benefits to the customer. FAQ videos should be formatted as individual quick hit segments that answer one question at a time, less than sixty seconds in length with subtitles. Link them from your booking page, Google Business Profile, etc., wherever customers express interest in those topics via written correspondence.
Strategy & Distribution For Local Video Marketing
Creating a great video is only part of the process. How you present it determines if the correct audience sees it.
- Google Business Profile: When you add video to your Google Business Profile, it increases visibility in local search engine results and map listings. Clips that show your business or your team or clients work well here.
- Instagram Reels & TikTok: Both social media platforms use vertical short-form video as their top-performing format for local businesses. Consider shooting vertically from the beginning instead of shooting horizontally and then cropping.
- YouTube: Searchable educational and “how-to” videos continue to grow overtime on YouTube. Developing a library of useful videos positions your local business as a trusted resource within your industry.
- SEO: Optimize video title tags and description tags using nearby city/neighborhood names and keywords that pertain to local searches. A video entitled “Choosing A Plumber in East Nashville” targets a very specific search term with a very targeted audience.
- Email & Website: Embedding a video on your service pages or sending it in an email series significantly increases time spent viewing and click-throughs. Pages on your website with embedded videos convert at up to 80% better than pages without.
Tips For DIY Production For Local Business Owners
Most small businesses do not require professional crews to produce good videos. With smartphones today producing high-definition video that can effectively showcase itself on nearly every social media platform is possible. Here are factors that matter most:
- Natural Light: Film close to natural light sources (windows) or film outdoors. Natural light is free and flatters subjects. Avoid overhead fluorescent lighting.
- Sound Quality: For $29 or less, you can purchase an entry-level lavalier microphone, eliminating that hollow, empty,y echoey sound that identifies low-cost, low-end productions. For most viewers, audio quality matters more than visual quality.
- Create Interest Within First Three Seconds: Begin with the most compelling or valuable element. Do not begin with introductions. Get straight to the heart of what you are trying to convey and include any contextualizing information after.
- Low-Cost Editing Software: There are several free or low-cost options available for editing video, including CapCut, iMovie, and DaVinci Resolve. Each requires a few hours to learn, not weeks.
- Film Multiple Formats: Record horizontal footage for YouTube and record vertical footage for Instagram Reels/TikTok simultaneously. Repurposing one shoot across multiple platforms multiplies your distribution opportunities without increasing production costs.
Repurpose & Scalability At Scale Using Video
You don’t have to limit your single video to one outlet — you can repurpose multiple versions of your single video across various outlets. A ten-minute instructional YouTube video can be shortened into four shorter versions for use on Instagram Reels and/or TikTok. Your customer testimonials can become written case studies on your website. Your behind-the-scenes videos can be transcribed into articles for your blog. This is how local businesses scale their video marketing efforts without having to proportionately increase their production budgets.
Tracking Performance Metrics
Only track performance metrics that correlate with desired business outcomes — not vanity metrics. Viewing statistics does not necessarily indicate whether your video is driving results.
- View Time & Completion Rates: If your viewers drop off early (within 10 seconds), consistently, you’ve got problems with your hook. If viewers watch until 80%, you’re getting traction with your messaging.
- Calls & Bookings From Google Business Profiles: If you have Google My Business enabled, you’ll receive reports from Google directly regarding how many people clicked “call” or “directions” after visiting your profile, which includes video content.
- Conversions on Your Website: Track activity that occurs immediately after viewers watch a video on your website. Did they fill out a contact form? Schedule an appointment? Leave?
- Engagement Rate: Social media sites reward engagement (i.e., saving/sharing). Those are indicators that your content is truly helpful, which drives organic reach through the algorithm.
Mistakes Small Businesses Make In Video
Wait for perfection in terms of production. Businesses creating results-driven video marketing efforts are consistently releasing content. Those waiting for cameras, lighting rigs, etc., will never move forward.
Talk About Themselves Only: As soon as viewers view your content, they ask, “what does this do for me?” Frame everything relative to their problems, not yours.
Upload Without Captions: Most social video is viewed without sound, therefore, if you do not caption your videos, you are limiting your exposure by roughly 50%.
Do Not Review Analytics: Creating content without tracking watch times and completion rates is essentially guessing game, even minimal insights from your social media platforms (e.g., Instagram Insights or YouTube Studio) reveal which videos you should create next
Capping Off
Local business video marketing can be completed on a limited budget and with no production staff or marketing team. To create your video marketing campaign, you simply need a camera, a clear and focused message, and the ability to consistently produce new content.
Metro Trains Melbourne created a local brand awareness campaign using video by creating an initial safety briefing. Dollar Shave Club was created in a garage. Gymshark used video to document a temporary pop-up store. All three businesses did not wait until they had ideal circumstances before producing a video.
Create one video this weekand send it to Vidpros. See how Vidpros’ professional editing will help enhance the quality of your video. As a fractional video editing service, Vidpros offers a 1-2 day turnaround time. You shoot the footage, email it to Vidpros, and receive a polished, captioned video ready to use on all platforms.The $100 trialallows for either 10 short videos or 1 longer video. For local businesses looking to establish a consistent social media presence but do not have the resources to hire in-house staff, the $100 trial at Vidpros is the best way to begin a consistent social mediavideo marketing campaign.
