How to use video in recruitment and other areas of business development
I’m ready to spend a ton of money to set up this business, and then watch it diminish to nothingness.”
These words have been said by absolutely no one ever! At least none that we know of.
Business development is vital for the advancement and survival of every brand. Its essence is highlighted by the fact that most companies have a dedicated team of business development representatives led by the business development manager.
On another note, videos are ever-growing in popularity and versatility. Video marketing for business is on an unstoppable roll. However, video content marketing and other forms of online video marketing barely scratch the surface.
This post discusses how you can effectively use video for business development.
What is business development?
Business development refers to enhancing and boosting a business using innovative tips and activities. The essence of business development is to advance a brand and make it better in various aspects such as
- Revenue
- Productivity
- Decision-making
- Partnership-building
- Business expansion
Necessarily, business development aspirations traverse marketing, communications, human resources, sales, product development, manufacturing, and every other area of business.
The various ways to use video for business development
Videos have proven to be a nifty tool for making a business better. Below are the various ways they can be used for such an outcome.
Recruitment
Every brand’s business development manager should be aware of the potential of videos when it comes to recruitment. From creating awareness to assessing candidates and onboarding successful ones, videos can power your recruitment strategy every step of the way.
Let’s examine compelling reasons why business development representatives and HR teams should incorporate videos into the recruitment strategy.
Firstly, search engines prioritise videos. Since videos trigger more than a 150% increase in organic traffic, they are an excellent way to up your SEO aspirations even as you hunt for talent. Also, according to CareerBuilder, job postings with videos get 12% more views and 34% more application rates than postings without videos.
This makes it imperative to add videos to the career page on your brand’s website and job postings.
You’ll reach a significantly higher number of persons than you would without videos.
Videos make it possible for you to screen and communicate with candidates seamlessly. Any organisation that’s solely dependent on in-person interviews runs the risk of wasting funds and time. Video interviews give you the freedom of conversing with your candidates without either party fretting about time and location.
While it makes the process easier for you, it also enhances the candidate experience. As a matter of fact, one-way video interviews kick it up a notch. They allow candidates to record multiple versions of themselves answering your questions. Then, they can submit the best.
Shine is perfect for your video interview needs.
Importantly, videos help to welcome those who ace the interviews and guide them through the nuances of working with your organisation.
As far as recruitment is concerned, you can use video for business development. You’ll end up saving resources, boosting your application rate and impressing your candidates among many others.
Sales outreach
Every brand is eager to sell its products and services to its target audience. However, the outreach scene is highly competitive and your competition is equally vying for your audience’s attention. How, then, can you set yourself apart from the rest and ultimately win your audience’s heart?
Business development entails getting ahead of the competition.
To soar above the rest, you have to up the ante in the sales outreach process. Therefore, you should incorporate video prospecting into your outreach process instead of relying solely on nearly-lifeless plain-text emails and cold calls.
Video prospecting is a method of sales outreach that relies on video to grab a prospect’s attention when connecting with them via email, social media or sales engagement platforms. It can be used for any of the following:
- A cold outreach
- Following up or reconnecting with a prospect
- Directing a prospect’s attention to a product feature, news item or marketing content
Benefits of video prospecting
According to HubSpot, 40% of sales representatives find prospecting to be the toughest part of the sales process. However, with video, prospecting becomes a breeze. Here are some of the pros of video prospecting:
- It passes information smoothly and quickly.
- Video prospecting, a Salesloft study reveals, boosts open rates and replies by 16% and 26% respectively.
- It imbues the outreach with life, colour and emotions, thereby fostering a human connection.
- A survey by InsideSales shows that sales teams that leverage video prospecting record a click-through rate four times higher than those that don’t.
- Video prospecting makes the outreach memorable as it puts a face to the brand.
Generally, video prospecting kickstarts a relationship which is the first step in selling. These advantages make it mandatory for business development managers and sales teams to use video for their sales outreach.
Best practices for video prospecting
As much as we encourage business development representatives and sales teams to use video for business development in the sales department, we must emphasise that it’s a delicate affair. Some tips are necessary to hit home and avoid a counterproductive outcome.
The following pointers will ensure that you nail your video prospecting:
- Figure out where the video prospecting fits in your sales process
- Select the type of video you’d use; it could be a webcam or screen-share.
- Stay natural. Being authentic nurtures a good connection with your prospects.
- Keep the video as succinct as possible.
- Do your homework on your prospect and personalise the video by mentioning their name and pointing out something positive about them.
- Prioritise empathy; highlight a pain point they have in their role and how you can help them.
- End with a call to action. Never leave them guessing as to what next they should do.
Good use of video for sales outreach has the inevitable effect of putting business development representatives and sales reps ahead.
Internal communications
Communication is the backbone of every relationship. Equally, it’s essential for the successful operation of every organisation. Brands typically rely on emails, meetings, phone calls, chat apps and collaboration tools for their internal communication needs. While these various methods have helped companies get by over the years, they have their various shortcomings.
A recipient could easily misinterpret a message sent via email. Meetings can be time-consuming. Sadly, there’s also the issue of finding a time slot that works for all necessary participants. Furthermore, collaboration tools could have downtimes for whatever reason.
With all these possibilities, it’s good news that video can help in internal communications. They can improve workplace communication in various ways.
Benefits of using videos for internal communications
Here are the pros of leveraging video as a method of internal communication.
- Videos save time and boost productivity because both old and new employees can watch and re-watch them as needed.
- As a method of internal communication, video is cost-effective. You can whip up a quality video without having to break the bank.
- Video is generally regarded as more engaging and easily digestible than other forms of communication. In fact, 48% of all employees consider video the most engaging form of communication.
- Videos foster effective communication as they convey information better. After all, research has proven that 65% of people in the world are visual learners.
Business development managers and communications teams would be missing out on a world of good if they fail to recognise that they can use video for immense business development in communications.
Different ways of using videos for internal communications
Due to its versatility, using video for internal communications is a sure bet for business development. Let’s examine the various ways to implement videos for internal communications.
- Announcement and updates: Videos are excellent for company-wide announcements. They can be used to tell the workforce what has changed and what remains the same.
- Training: Training videos help equip employees with the necessary skills for various tasks
- Explaining: Brands can harness videos to explain concepts and processes to their workforce.
- Onboarding: Onboarding videos are used to welcome new employees and bring them up to speed with the internal workings of the company. So, while they fit into the recruitment aspect, they also fit perfectly into the communications aspect.
- FAQs: Certain questions could always come up as employees go about their business in the organisation. Videos could be a perfect way to provide answers to those questions.
Obviously, video communications could be a game-changer for your brand.
Marketing and branding
Just as video can be used for internal communications, it can be used for external communications, marketing and branding purposes. Video content marketing is one of the most popular uses of video. Many brands, business development representatives and marketing teams have recognised the importance of using video for business marketing.
The numerous advantages of online video marketing for business include the following:
- Greater brand awareness, recognition and differentiation
- Better advertising effectiveness
- Demonstration of thought leadership
- Customer loyalty
- Enhanced brand image and reputation
To effectively use video for business marketing and branding purposes, here are some steps you should take:
- Determine your goals
- Study your industry, audience and competition
- Flaunt your branding elements in the videos
- Share and promote the videos on social media, your website, hosting platforms and newsletters
Our post gives you the details on how you can effectively build your brand with video.
Evidently, harnessing videos for business development can trigger impressive changes that can boost revenue, save time and even improve productivity. Whether you choose to use it for recruitment, marketing, sales outreach or communications, the fact is that it has the potential to advance your business remarkably.
If you haven’t, we strongly recommend that you hop on the video bandwagon today. Creating marketing video content can be tricky if you’re new to the world of video content marketing. Here's our guide on how you can film yourself like a professional.