The Contractors Guide to Video Marketing in 2025 | Ep 53 | Trades Secrets: Contractor Marketing Podcast

Amanda Joyce:

Hi. We are so excited to be back.

Devon Hayes:

Back in action after a long break. We’ve been really busy here at Elevation Marketing, but we are back with a fury. We have the best guest today, Carl Kwan of Kwan Multimedia. He owns a video marketing agency that has helped produce some of the most impeccable videos we’ve seen in the industry and we’ve seen a lot.

Amanda Joyce:

Absolutely. And we were introduced to him by a client. We did not bring him to our client. We wish we could take credit for that. But we have been blown away by him ever since. He’s been great to collaborate with and we have seen his videos have such a positive impact on our clients and we’re just so excited to bring them to you guys today.

Devon Hayes:

Yes, so take a listen. We’re going to talk through the difference between a video marketing agency and a videographer. We’re going to talk about Carl’s Top 4 videos you absolutely should invest in as well as his 2025 predictions.

Welcome to Trade Secrets where we demystify digital marketing to help contractors get the most bang for their marketing bucks.

Amanda Joyce:

This is for you if you’re a contractor looking for actionable marketing insights.

Devon Hayes:

Learn from home services industry experts to elevate your business through simplified marketing strategies.

Amanda Joyce:

Let’s dive in to today’s trade secret.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Carl.

Carl Kwan:

Thanks for having me.

Amanda Joyce:

We’re just so excited to have you here. Carl is someone that we have worked with over the years and we’ve leaned on him for a lot of advice and really been happy to refer him to some of our favorite clients. We actually met Carl through one of our favorite clients. So Carl, before we hop in and really just dig in on video and what we should be planning for in 2025. Will you just give us a little intro and talk to us a little bit about your history?

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. Sure. So my name is Carl Kwan. I’m the owner of Kwan Multimedia, a video marketing agency. So I specialize in helping different businesses to use video as a sales and marketing tool. I started making videos in 2009 by making YouTube videos. And since that time, that YouTube channel has grown to about 122,000-ish subscribers with over 16 million views. But I also used to do TV and radio and I have a marketing and business background. And I used to do voiceovers and all those kind of stuff. So I decided, “Well, how can I help companies to use videos more effectively?”

So I put all those skills together to create this business. And I also have a presentations background as well. So I put all these different skills together to help business owners figure out how they should be using videos to get the right message across to the right audience and to make sure they’re actually spending money in the right way to get a good return on their investment. So that’s me in a nutshell.

Devon Hayes:

Fantastic. What I love about your work, Carl, is that I’ve seen you take really complicated… Well, to me, complicated topics. But simplify them with your animations and different ways you really simplify things for the user. So I love that you can take this presentation background mixed with marketing and video editing. And then, produce something that makes something as complicated as EV chargers understandable to the lay person. So I am obsessed with every video I’ve seen of yours. So I’m so excited to have you on here and share you with the world.

Carl Kwan:

Thank you so much for having me.

Devon Hayes:

Absolutely.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah. Before we hopped on here, we talked about a number of things that we could share with our audience. We could talk to Carl for hours, but we wanted to make sure that we got some really good meat out of him. And we know a lot of folks that are listening are starting to plan for next year or even just they want to know where they should be putting their money when it comes to marketing.

And we are all hearing video, video, video from every angle. But like any aspect of marketing, you need to spend your money wisely. Just because everyone says, “Do video,” you don’t just go hire the first videographer you meet on the street and dump your whole video budget for 2025 in with them. So I guess let’s start out and talk through some of those myths that we talked about being able to bust for a contractor that’s considering video.

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. Sure. I think the main thing that I always start off with is, what exactly is a video marketer versus a videographer? Because like you said, you don’t want to just go and hire the first videographer off the street that you meet. A lot of times with contractors, they’re oftentimes in networking groups or they know somebody that has had videos made.

And so, they think, “Okay. Yes, I just need to find a videographer that fits within my budget and hire them and everything will be perfect. Everything will work out great, the videos will be fantastic. And I’ll get a lot of business and that’s going to be the best way forward.” And unfortunately, what happens is that videographers tend to focus more on the creative aspects of video production. And they, often, may not be as aware of the business side of it. How does a video actually perform? How do you get it to be better? How do you align it with your sales and marketing goals? And that type of thing is often a little bit… What can I say? It’s not really in their wheelhouse.

And so, with a video marketing agency like what I do, we focus more on, what is the business goal you’re trying to achieve and how can we achieve that by using videos as that vehicle to get there? And so, we look at things like, “Well, okay. Tell me what you’re trying to do. Tell me where you’re at now. What is a challenge or problem you’re having in your business? Is it that you can’t get leads, you can’t convert them? Maybe you have them but you’re not retaining them. What is it that’s going on?” And then, we figure out a strategy and then create videos around that.

As opposed to creating the videos first and then hoping something happens. And so, we also align with yourselves, with digital marketing agencies and marketing companies, to also work together to go, “Okay. You’re working with this client. What can we do to make sure that what we’re doing with the videos aligns with what you are doing with the marketing side of things?” And so, that’s where the difference lies.

And I think it’s very important that contractors know this because at least when they’re talking to people, they’ll have the right information. Or at least, the right knowledge to ask the right questions about what that videographer might know, what their skillset is. And then, maybe they need to approach it from a different perspective of finding a video marketing agency. So that’s probably the biggest thing.

The other thing to consider, also, is that a lot of contractors will look at videos and think, “Oh, they’re just things that I put onto TikTok or Instagram or on social media. And they don’t really do much except brand my business. And so, that doesn’t really bring me any money.” And so, they look at it as a very short-term solution or just a very short-term… I guess not even a solution. Just something to have and to use because everyone else is doing it.

And I think the main thing they need to realize is that videos are actually a long-term solution to their sales and marketing. Because when you create these videos and you work with a digital marketing agency, you are able to now utilize that as a 24/7 salesperson and a marketing person for your business. So that’s one thing.

The other thing is, again, with platforms like YouTube and even your blogs or your website, you have a lot more long-term value from these videos. So if you were to create a video or a series of videos, and you’re able to have those with the proper messaging and working together with you, they’ll get a long-term value from that as opposed to a one-off video that one and done, never see it again. Because what then happens is if you invest in that video and you get even one or two clients from it, you’ve more than made back your money. And that’ll keep repaying you and getting that return on investment over time. So that’s the second thing, or maybe the third thing.

Another misconception is that it’s really expensive to make videos. And I think that what we can see now is with our GoPros, with our iPhones, and other different tools, that you can make videos pretty cheaply and affordably even on your own and you don’t need to spend a massive budget. Where you might end up getting more value from more budget, is by working with an agency or someone that is very specialized and helping you making sure those videos are done properly.

And then, as far as ROI is concerned, you mentioned one of the clients that you have. With one video that we made for that particular client, an intro video that they’ve been sending out in their cold reachouts, they were able to increase their conversions by over 800% from just that one video. So that video works because it had the right message and it was targeted to the right audience. But that person was also able to use it effectively and just make sure they actually took advantage of the tool.

So I think those are the main things, is making sure that people understand what the differences are, who they’re trying to work with, the long-term value of it. And also, just the fact that there is going to be a long-term ROI from it as well. And so, those are main things that I want people to understand.

Devon Hayes:

And I think you really touched on something that’s critical, is that long-term ROI and the fact that you were able to measure the ROI from that one video investment that this client made. And show them exactly the value that that’s bringing in and how it helped convert people because… We love video as a digital agency because we know that it helps with CRO, with conversion rate optimization.

If our job… People are looking to us to get that organic traffic through to the website. And once we do, there’s a whole other art form called CRO that gets them to convert and video plays a critical role in that. And also, this highlights on working with a video marketer. Versus a videographer who maybe doesn’t measure the ROI, doesn’t have plans for the video, doesn’t assess current usage of the website, current marketing channels’ expectations of these marketing activities, and I think that’s a big distinction.

Because like you said, anyone can pick up their phone and have a recording and call themselves a videographer. I mean, that’s a little bit dismissive. I don’t mean to be, but there is a very big difference between the two. And I think it’s important to understand that as a contractor. So that you may hire someone and you can get ten hours of footage for the same price as maybe one video from a video marketing agency. But to understand the value in what a video marketing agency does, over just simply grabbing the footage, is critical when making that decision on where to invest your video budget.

Carl Kwan:

You’re absolutely right. And that’s where, again, that alignment together with the digital market agency is so key. There’s also the aspect of when I talk to different companies, and even contractors, I’ll say to them, “Hey, look what we can do for that budget instead of creating just one single video…” Because as everyone knows, nobody ever buys from you from that first point of contact.

They won’t just come to your website, see a video and go, “Absolutely. I will buy from you. Please, here is $300,000 to come and renovate my bathroom,” or whatever. That’d be pretty amazing if that happened. But we all know as consumers ourselves, that oftentimes, it requires a lot more touch points than that. And so, that’s where when we… When I talk to clients, I’ll say, “Hey, look, we’re not going to create one video. We’ll create a bunch of videos that’ll help you with your client’s buying journey. Wherever they’re starting from, we’ll make sure that we capture them at that point. And be able to lead them through their buying journey to make sure that they’ll actually want to work with you and trust that you’re the one that’s the best choice for them.” So I think that’s where the videos come in really handy. And again, that aligns with what you’re trying to do.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah. And I know we referred you recently to a different contractor who I really loved what you came back to them with in terms of the entire buyer journey. You were really being very thoughtful with what you were suggesting to them. We talked to contractors all over the country that sometimes have invested a bunch of money and they have that problem where someone just came out and didn’t put that thought into it. And they just have all these videos that are sitting on a drive somewhere that maybe never even see the light of day or they just hit their YouTube channel and they stop.

And having that foresight is just so important too, to even help these contractors really think about their investment before they even get started. Because if you’re talking to them about it like that from the very beginning, they become a better partner to you. And they might even come back and say, “Oh, yeah.” As a matter of fact, there’s this other question that we’re always hitting in the buyer journey that I want to make sure we answer. And because you’re really helping them look at it that way, I just think it’s so much more collaborative and that you end up with a much more impactful product at the end of the day because of it.

Carl Kwan:

Absolutely. That is definitely the process. It’s definitely a lot more collaborative. And that’s exactly the word that I always use with people, is that I’m just trying to figure out what is best for you and to make sure it works for you and your business. And you may not even realize what is going to work. Because most of the times, they think that the videos, like I said in the misconceptions, they look at it as a form of advertising or branding. And they don’t look at it as an actual sales and marketing tool.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. And same with hiring. I think a lot of those About Us or culture videos, they don’t realize how that can impact when they’re trying to find talent and attract those talented people that are going to stay for a while. People, when they’re shopping around, they want to get the feel for a company. And to you, it might be an About Us video but you don’t realize how that actually carries over into that hiring process too.

So it’s sales and marketing, but it also lends itself to hiring and really attracting top talent that gets a feel for your company and how you do things. And so, Amanda and I are big fans of a good, meaty about sort of video, I don’t know if that’s what you call it, if that’s the technical term. But the About Us, Who We Are that kind of feel. And it serves two purposes really. And two purposes, one video. It’s fantastic.

Carl Kwan:

I’ve made several of those actually and they do work really well. They’re the About Us video. Some of them are recruiting, but a lot of them are just About Us. “And if you’d like to join our team, please let us know,” kind of thing. And so, again, that is so key.That one client, I remember that they often get people who are applying for jobs saying, “I saw your videos and I wanted to come work with you.”

Devon Hayes:

That’s amazing. And I love that you get the feedback directly too, because you maintain relationships with everyone that you’re doing videos for. So you really know the impact and get to see that. That’s so nice. Instead of just like, “Okay. Contract’s closed. You have your videos. See you.” You really get to have that relationship and see how it’s impacted their business. How rewarding.

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. I mean, absolutely. For me, I always believed that everybody who’s a business owner has a goal of being successful. They’re not starting a business because they’re thinking, “Oh, better than working at a job.” They’re like, “Well…” Sure, there’s that. But also, they want to be successful. And so, for me, that was always my motivation. Because as a kid, my parents had a small business and they were always struggling. I thought, “Well, I couldn’t help them.” As a child, I always felt very powerless in helping them. And so, with this job that I have now, this business that I have, it’s the same thing where I can empower these business owners to find that success that they’re all looking for. And so, for me, it’s very rewarding. And my wife doesn’t believe when I tell her that’s the reason why I did… She goes, “Are you sure that’s why you do…” I go, “Yeah. Totally, because I really want to see them make money.”

Devon Hayes:

Yes, yes. That’s-

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah. That’s… Yeah.

Devon Hayes:

We’re very aligned that way. Amanda and I feel the exact same way. The weight of their business is on our shoulders. So I mean, it’s critical to have partners that you trust and believe in when you’re talking about video, for example. Because as we look at 2025, and I think we’ll transition here, but our team, we just had a week-long retreat. Everybody flew in. We were in Breckenridge. It was fantastic.

And each department head researched and analyzed our own unique dataset just from our data pool on top of reading everything that’s out there and what we’re anticipating for 2025. Everything points to video, short form video, schema. All of those things are critical for 2025. But before we jump into that segment of the podcast, I did want to touch on one more thing that you said too, which is the pitfall. And the common misconception is when people take video for social media, I think there’s a lot of marketing activities that they’re doing it because there’s noise around that marketing channel.

But they don’t have a goal set for that channel. And so, they take video, they upload it. And like you said, they don’t get a lead and then they think it’s a useless activity. Amanda and I, what we see, we’re like, we actually know what this means for the click stream and your brand entity and what that means to Google and all of that sort of thing. So it’s what you don’t know, but always having a goal set for the marketing activity. Like with an understanding that, “Is this a branding activity? Is this a lead gen activity?”, I think will help people make smart investments and good choices. And not hold someone’s feet to the fire for an unrealistic expectation of going viral from some small 8-second social media clip.

Carl Kwan:

I’ve had people in the construction industry actually try that and I can see that they don’t get results from their social media, especially from, for example… Just as an example of Instagram. I’ve seen them try with different types of short form videos or whatever. And maybe sometimes, the video is popular but it doesn’t actually translate into a conversion for them.

They might get a lot of likes, but the other thing too is that they get a lot of likes from people who already know them. So it could be other people in the industry, other trades people they work with, or whatever. And so, sure, they’re getting likes and a bit of engagement. They’re not actually getting the correct type of conversion they want for their business.

And so, even recently, I’ve seen a lot who are just trying to make videos and do these things on Instagram. And I can see that they’re not getting any engagement whatsoever. So I’ve actually been discouraging them to even post there. Because I’m like, “Why are you wasting time doing that? Put your money into something else that’ll actually bring you some conversions. Even spending on some ads would be better than making these videos, because they’re not really doing anything for you.” I’m not making the videos for them, which might be the other reason why.

Devon Hayes:

Definitely.

Carl Kwan:

Like, “I’m not seeing results. So why do you bother even doing that?” It’s actually a waste of time and money. So do something else and maybe work with a better digital marketing agency.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. But yeah, definitely, I like that you’re looking at it like measure and refine. And if it’s not working, then know when to cut it off if it’s not really serving its purpose. Amanda and I have our perspective on how social media impacts SEO. But truly, it does come down to engagement. And you’re spending all this time on making these videos and then they’re getting a couple of likes and then no engagement, you’re totally right. There’s better ways to be spending that money that are going to have more impact on your efforts and help you meet your goals. All right. Now that we’ve convinced you need video in 2025, we would love to talk about the four essential video types for contractors. I think this is key. And if they do nothing but plan for these four videos in 2025, Carl, what should they plan for?

Carl Kwan:

Okay. So yes, absolutely, there are always four types of videos that I always, always recommend to every single contractor that I ever work with. And the reason why is because these will do exactly what I was talking about. They will help people along their buying journey and they’ll help you to get the conversions you’re looking for.

So the first video that I always recommend is to have a business introduction video. So this is the video that talks about who you are, what you do, what value you bring, how you can help your clients. And essentially, that’s it. You want to think about it from the perspective of their point of view. You don’t want to be talking about, “I’ve been doing this for so long, I am so great at this. I’m so this. Me, me, me.” That is a huge mistake that I always see with business introduction videos.

You want to focus on the problem or the challenge or whatever it is that your audience or your target market is facing. And make sure you answer that in the video and show people how you solve that problem for them. So having that as your main introduction to your business is very important. So number one, business introduction video, but make sure you do it right.

Devon Hayes:

Yes.

Carl Kwan:

The second video type are FAQ videos. And so, these are videos which answer the most frequently asked questions that your clients typically will have of you. And it could be anywhere from 3, 4, or 5, up to 10, 20. It doesn’t matter how many. You just want to make sure that you’re answering those questions for people. And the reason why those are so important is not only because you’re educating your potential clients. But also, because you’re building trust.

Every time someone watches one of those videos of you talking about something, you’re building trust and you’re building rapport with that person. So passively, you’re essentially building this relationship with someone before they ever talk to you. So by the time they actually do speak to you, they’re already going to feel like they know you.

And this has happened to me so many times where I will just send video messages to people. I’ll show them different content of me or whatever. And when I finally do meet them in person, it’s happened multiple times where they’ll say, “Carl, this is so weird, but I feel like I know you already.” And what better, I guess, justification for creating videos than that where they’ll say, “Hey, look. We already know you. We feel comfortable with you, so we want to work with you. That’s why.” And so, the FAQ videos is one of those videos that can do that.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. I’m sorry, I did not mean to interrupt you. But to tag onto that, in digital marketing, FAQs are huge for SEO. But also, the authority of the person who’s in front of the camera and building their authority within the space is huge for SEO as well. So while it’s great for that conversion rate optimization and building that relationship, it’s also one of those silent earners for you by the way… With technical SEO, you can mark up the videos a certain way for search engines and AI to understand what’s in the video. So the FAQ videos, they serve more than one purpose. They’re just such a critical component. Could not agree more with you on this one.

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. And the other thing you can do with the FAQ videos is turn it into also what I call the SAQ, which is the Should Ask Questions. So these are questions that people should be asking but they don’t know to ask. So if I’m looking for home renovation or construction, whatever, I may not even know that I should ask about how long the permitting process takes in my city.

I may not even know about that because that could impact how long it’s going to take to actually get the job done. So things that people should be asking are another great one. Because then, again, you’re building trust. You’re telling them something that no one else has told them. And so, that’s another one that you can definitely include, the Should Ask Questions. Those are the FAQs. You got the business introduction, the FAQ.

The third type of video, now, you’re going to introduce your services. So what exactly do you do? So for example, maybe you do home renovations and you do specifically kitchen renovations. So you’re going to have a video that talks about, “Okay. Here, we do kitchen renovations. This is how we do it. This is what we do. Here’s how we work. Here’s the process,” and have a video about that.

If you’re a general contractor, you might do all sorts of different work. So again, maybe you’re going to have a video that is specific to a certain service. If you do commercial renovations, whatever. Again, have a video for that. So that when people are looking for that service, again from an SEO perspective, they’ll have maybe a landing page already for that service or a page on their website for that service. Then, have a nice little tidy video that goes together with that.

They can then also include some of the FAQ videos specifically for that service as well. So they’re able to just keep people on their website for a little bit longer. Or if they’re really slick and they work with you, for example, maybe they can capture a lead somehow. Maybe they’ll have a free guide or something else that gets an email from them. And then, they’re able to nurture their clients or potential clients by sending them these service introduction videos, the FAQ videos.

So they’re able to tie in with other parts of marketing to use that type of video. So the service introduction video, again, it just shows people who you are, what you’re doing, and just builds that trust once again. So that’s another one.

The last one that I always recommend is the one that we all like which is… Well, not that we all like, but it’s really important. And that’s hearing how other people have experienced working with you. So the testimonial videos. We all love Google reviews, we all love Amazon reviews, whenever we buy anything. We trust other people’s opinions with referrals. And so, having a testimonial video is super key.

But the key also to a testimony video that’s really good is to make sure you get them from your ideal target audience, your ideal target market. So you don’t want to have a testimonial from someone who one time had a toilet replaced by you. But you don’t really work on bathrooms, you mostly focus on entire home renovations and you just happened to do one for that one time. You don’t want that person to be a testimonial. You want the person that has done the exact type of work that you want to get more of. So maybe it is a certain price point, maybe a certain neighborhood, maybe a certain type of work, but get testimonials from them. That’s the key to that.

And again, you want to make sure that you have enough of those so that people will trust you. So I always recommend at least three. Because if you have one, it could be your friend or your mother. If you have two, then it’s like, “Well, maybe it’s still someone that you know.” But once you have three or more, then it starts showing a bit of a pattern that you actually know what you’re doing. So for whatever service you are trying to promote and trying to sell more of, make sure you have at least three testimonials from your ideal target clients for those videos.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah. I think that’s a really great rule of thumb. And I have to say too, that especially for contractors, these people are vetting out someone to let them in their home. I think that the video testimonials go so much further. I’ll look at Google reviews all day if it’s for certain types of businesses. But if I’m going to trust somebody to come in my home and start knocking walls down or help really change the space that my kids live in, I really want to see someone I can relate to that clearly lives in my market that’s gone through this process with them. So I think videos is particularly crucial for contractors. And we’ve seen your work for a number of contractors. And it’s beautiful and makes me want to get an EV charger and I don’t even have an EV.

Carl Kwan:

I always want to get an EV charger as well. I have an EV but we don’t have an EV charger, but I’m trying to get a particular-

Amanda Joyce:

We know that.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah.

Carl Kwan:

So in any case, yes, I totally get it. Every time I watch it, I’m like, “Oh, yeah. That’s such a good thing. We should definitely get that.” But they are effective. And the main thing about those videos… And again, I want to really stress the importance of getting the message right. Because that is the most crucial part of any video, is to make sure you get the message right.

And oftentimes though, you’ll hear… Again, I don’t want to bash videographers. They’re great people. I’m sure that some of them are way better than I am at my job. But the main thing is they often say, “I’m going to focus on the story. I want to tell a really great story. I want to focus on how creative this is and express my creativity by telling the story.”

And for me, it’s not about telling the story. It’s about being effective. So what is the message that this person needs to hear in order to take the next step with you? So for example, if it’s a service introduction video about I guess your full home construction, full build whatever, custom builds, you want to make sure the next thing that they see is, “Okay. What are the FAQs? What are the different things they need to know after that?” So it’s the next step after that’s really important.

So that’s what I talk about effective is, is it’s not just making sure they like the video, but they’re willing to take the next step with you. Because what’s the point if they watch the video and then go, “Oh, great. All right. Well, I’ll go and check out somebody else’s business now and a competitor.” You want them to start thinking, “Okay. What’s the next step? I want to learn more. I want to do more.” You’re having that call to action for them to do something. So again, that’s where the video marketing aspect of it comes into play as opposed to just producing a video.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. Definitely. And we’re huge on that too, trying to get across like, “What’s the benefit of working with me. What’s the outcome I can expect if I work with that contractor?” Those benefit outcome statements is what we try to lean towards. Because all too often, you’re right, you see that all the time where people start to get in video and it’s like, “We’re the best roofing company in town. We’re number one. We will give you a free inspection.” I mean, everybody gives a free inspection. But you just hear the same kind of thing, you don’t talk about the pain points and things like that. So sticking to what somebody gets or what they can expect to get when they work with you on a project versus your competitor. And leaving them with that feeling or that emotion, rather than a checklist of a service which every service provider is going to say or say they offer.

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. And then as added bonus sort of video that you want to have then, because you’re a contractor, you want to show off your work, you want to have case studies or you want to show projects. That are not just the end result, but you want to talk a little bit about the process that went into a particular home.

So maybe you have a certain type of build that maybe you’re very proud of, maybe you’ve built on a certain type of ground. So I know there’s one contractor out here, they built on this rock. This house on top of these gigantic rocks. And so, that would’ve been a great case study for that neighborhood, because that neighborhood is full of these types of properties. To have a video about, “Okay. When we built this, we used our experience in doing this and we did this, and solved these problems, and whatever.”

And so, that’d be a great way to showcase your expertise in that. And then, again, if someone in that neighborhood is looking to build something that it’s much more searchable, they’ll find the expert for that in your videos. And so, it really just helps you in so many different ways. Again, you get one client out of that, you’ve already more than paid for the video. So just having it is so important. That’s where, again, it’s just so valuable to make sure that you understand what you’re trying to do with these videos and have the right ones for a specific purpose.

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. It just acts as another tool in the shed for the sales team as well. Sometimes the owner is the primary salesperson of some of the builders that we work with. But a lot of times when you get into some of the bigger businesses, they have a lot of sales guys and they do want to give customers a reason to believe. And it’s really nice to have this full tool shed of different videos like case studies, testimonials, what to expect. We’ve seen some really cool videos that after a form is submitted, there’s a video saying, “Okay. Here’s what’s next now that you’ve hit Submit,” or, “What’s going to happen once you click Submit on a form.” Just those extra touches along the way, it really helps anybody’s sales team reinforce trust with the customer. Yeah.

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. Definitely. I think the other thing too that they have to realize is that I think the other sort of, I guess, question or what they don’t really know when these videos are made is, what do they do with them? They’ll have these videos made. They’re like, “What do I do with these videos now?”

I think that’s the next thing I’d probably want to tell people about, tell contractors about, is what they should be doing with the videos after they’re made. Because they’ll often be like, “Okay. Well ,great. Well, what do I do with these things? I have no idea.” So of course, when they work with a digital marketing agency like you guys, it’ll definitely help that when you have videos, you’re able to put them in different places. On the website, things like that.

But what they should be doing, actually, is to make sure those videos are on YouTube. So if they don’t have a YouTube channel, to make sure they get a YouTube channel set up. And then, to put those videos onto there and what they’ll want to do then is to create maybe playlists for different services. So if they have a service that is kitchens, they have one for bathrooms, or they have a renovations for whatever type of work they’re doing. They can create playlists for those and then put all those similar videos into that playlist. And then, they’re able to not only share that playlist with potential clients. But also, the YouTube algorithm will be able to recommend those videos to a particular viewer or an audience.

And as that algorithm starts to recognize those videos, they’ll get more and more views and more and more impressions for those, which means YouTube will show the video more and more. And that actually will impact their local search results as well. So you’ll start to see their videos come up when people are just googling, “Home renovations near me,” for example. Or, “Kitchen renovation near me,” or something like that. So those videos start being surfaced in the Google search results as well.

So that’s where having the videos placed on YouTube becomes so important. And I think a lot of contractors don’t realize that YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine. And that it’s owned by Google, so it’s really to their benefit to make sure that they’re showing videos to your potential audience.

Devon Hayes:

Absolutely.

Amanda Joyce:

For sure.

Devon Hayes:

Yes.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah.

Devon Hayes:

We love a good hearty YouTube channel that we can get in there and optimize and give us all the videos. There’s so much to be done with that. Oh my gosh, Carl. We could talk to you forever. Let’s see here. I would love to pick your brain on your 2025 predictions and the future of video marketing for contractors.

Carl Kwan:

Here’s the thing. It’s that old analogy of when is the best time to plant a tree, right? 20 years ago. And when’s the next best time? It’s today. And it’s the same thing with videos. If you had started making these videos a few years ago and you had that foundation of videos, your business right now would probably be protected against anything that could happen in the economy, in the world, whatever. As far as your searchability is concerned, because you’ll have that foundation available to you.

And in 2025, search will still be huge. You’ll have a lot of AI-driven search results as well. Where the AI will know what you’re trying to look for, and they’ll actually try, and find content for you, and recommend that content for you. And so, it’s really important that you have those videos. So yes. Maybe you didn’t have them before. But for 2025, start planning now to get those videos done. Because it’s impossible to film a bunch of videos, like those four types of videos that I mentioned, and have them ready next week.

You do have to take some time to get the scripts written, to plan the videos out, to film the videos, to get them edited, to get them published, and everything else. So it does take some time to get that done. So you want to make sure that if you’re thinking about videos and you’ve listened to this and thought, “Okay. Well, what do I do?” Start today to get that ready for 2025. And once you have that in place, it’ll be like the foundation for your business moving forward.

So not just in 2025. But in future years as well, that will start to grow and will start to bring you the return that you want. Again, it’s that farming principle where it’s like, “Okay. I’m going to plant my seeds. And eventually, I’ll be able to harvest them later on.” That’s the principle there. The other thing too is that there is a lot of competition from all the short form content.

So for example, whether it’s in Instagram or TikTok or whatever. But if you have YouTube videos, you’ll have a much more greater chance of having evergreen content, which is searchable as well. Because anything that is on the short form platforms, it isn’t really easy to find something there. Sure. They’re trying to be better with searchability and with trying to surface content that is more SEO-like as well. But it’s still not the same as having that content on YouTube. So it’s really important that yes, sure, looking at different trends with short form videos, all that kind of thing. But really still look at YouTube as your foundational piece for that long-term searchability and evergreen content.

And again, the last thing I think is why videos are so important is this. It’s that face-to-face human interaction. What I noticed from post pandemic is that people really need to know the face behind the company. And so, the video you’re talking about, the EV charger video that we’ve made several years ago. If I were to redo that video now, I would not do an animated version of that video. I’d in fact make sure that it was a live version. And we actually did finish one for that contractor, which I’ll share with you later.

But those kind of videos now are great. Animated is great, but people need to see your face and see and hear your voice. So it’s really important that you create content that is you. And so, again, people are afraid of being on camera, which is a huge fear for a lot of people. But as a contractor, you are already talking to your clients. You’re already trying to sell your services to them. So people already know exactly what you look like, what you sound like. They already know how short you are, how tall you are. All different things about you, they already know.

So having video content of you only will strengthen that. You want to make sure that you do have you in the videos. And sometimes, I’ll get some contractors say to me, “Hey, look. I just want to get my team in the videos and I want to get so-and-so in the videos and whatever.” And if you are a business that your brand is primarily you as the owner, I would always recommend having you, as the owner, in all the videos.

And the reason why is because let’s say you have a great person that’s on your team, but what if they leave? What if you create a video with them and they leave, right? You never know. Lives change all the time and I’ve had this happen so many times. I always say it. Make sure it’s you or someone that you absolutely know that’s not going to be leaving in these videos. Because I’ve had so many clients where I’ve told them this and they’re like, “No. So-and-so is fine. They’ll be great.” And no kidding, maybe it’s because of the videos, I don’t know.

Amanda Joyce:

They get famous and then-

Devon Hayes:

Yeah. And then, yeah, that investment, you have to redo it. And I love what you’re saying here that the owners, they have to be in the videos, be in front of the camera, no matter if you’re shy or not. Because we all crave authenticity. I love to check out after thinking all day and watch trashy TV and scroll Instagram. But what we’ve all noticed is none of us really care about celebrities or famous people. We like creators. We like authenticity. And in this attention economy, authenticity wins every time. It’s not celebrity anymore. It really is just that authenticity every time. And that’s how people will rise to fame is just being authentic and being themselves. And I think that’s critical to gain a little piece of the market share when you’re trying to get someone’s attention on video.

Carl Kwan:

I will give you one word of warning when it comes to authenticity. Because I get this all the time, people are like, “Oh, I’ll just be super authentic. I’ll just show up and just turn on the video and record a video. I don’t care what I look like, what I’m doing.” And I’m like, “Hang on a second. Think about it. What if I’ve never met you in my life and the first thing I see is of you all disheveled and looking like you’re hungover?” “But you’re making an authentic video, I’m just going out to go…” Whatever. Is that really the first impression you want? So think about that and make sure that every single video, you’re imagining that no one has ever seen it before. No one knows you. They’ve never seen you before and that first impression. So make sure you have a level of professionalism that’s appropriate for you and your business. That’s the only thing about authenticity, I would say.

Devon Hayes:

Yes-

Amanda Joyce:

Great tip, yes.

Devon Hayes:

Yes. Not your personal influencer channel where… I’ve seen them where they’re like, “I’m still in bed. What are you doing?” And I laugh at those. But as a business owner, great highlight, Carl, per usual.

Amanda Joyce:

Yes.

Devon Hayes:

How do you want to appear to your potential buyer? Professional, approachable, put together, organized. You don’t want to give chaotic vibes. Especially if you’re a contractor, especially if you’re a builder, bad look 100%.

Amanda Joyce:

Yeah. Because the whole goal here, again, is to gain that trust. And you don’t want to spend all the time and the money and the effort to build the trust and then lose it in the first shot of the video.

Devon Hayes:

Yep. So we had a couple Q&A’s here, Carl, if we could keep you for just two more minutes. I know we’re a little bit over here. One of them was how long do I need to post videos on social media before I realize they’re not working?

Carl Kwan:

Yeah. So one thing that I will say that if you’re starting to post videos onto YouTube, you don’t want to post just one video and then just going to leave it there. What I recommend is if you have a new channel and you’re just starting to post videos, I would recommend that you create, probably, six to eight videos and put them all up at the same time. So maybe you create that series of videos for maybe kitchen renovations, maybe it’s for landscaping. Whatever it is that you want to focus on for your business that you think, “Okay. This is the lowest hanging fruit for my business. We only focus on this type of service. so I want to make sure I have videos for that.”

So you want to create a series of videos around that and post them all at the same time. Then, what you’ll do is you’ll just watch the analytics for the month and see, “Okay. Well, how did those videos do over the month?” Then, over the next month as well. And especially if you have a smaller… Obviously, if you’re new, you’re not going to really have a lot of viewers come into your channel. So you want to make sure you have enough videos that the algorithm can actually recommend more videos from your channel.

And so, you’ll see probably over the first couple of months how those videos are doing. You’ll look at things like the view count. But you also look at something called impressions, which is how often the videos are being shown to viewers, potential viewers.

What I found is that doing this, and I did this a few times this year, is that the second month, if you’ve done the videos right, you’ll see a huge spike in the number of impressions. YouTube will find those videos and recommend them to people. And then, you’ll see more views over time. So you’ll want to just track that.

But the other thing, too, to think about is that if you don’t have a large audience, don’t worry about it. Because those videos are not for everybody on YouTube or in the world, they’re really for your specific audience. So if you’re creating a series of videos. Again, let’s just say you’re doing a bathroom renovation and that’s all the videos are for, well, you don’t necessarily just need to measure how they’re working on social media. You want to measure how they’re working in real life for you and your business.

So if you do get people who are interested in a bathroom renovation, it’s really just sending that video link to that person. And seeing if you’re getting the conversion from that and what’s happening there. So you don’t need to worry about so much the larger, bigger social media picture at that point when you’re first starting out. It’s really making sure you have those videos for your current need, which is to convert or to generate leads for your business now. So that’s what I would say in terms of, are they working or not?

And then, of course, over time, over several months, you’ll be able to see, “Okay. How well are those videos are actually doing in terms of the YouTube search algorithm and the metrics there?” And of course, you’re going to want to keep adding videos too and keep improving on them as you view those results. So that’s what I would say to people when they’re starting out is, don’t worry too much about how the videos are performing on social media right now or especially on YouTube right now. Just focus on getting videos out that’ll help you with your current business challenge or goal.

Devon Hayes:

And I think that actually answers the question too of like, “If you’re wondering where to start, do I start on Instagram, TikTok? Do I start doing Facebook Reels or whatever or Stories?” I think you just answered it. If you’re just starting out and you’re just starting to dip your toe in the short form video pond, for example. Although we are saying start with the regular format. But say you’re just dipping your toe in it, YouTube is really the place to start. And then, using those links and sharing those links.

So in this space, Amanda and I often talk about how there’s a lot of noise around social media, but it’s just that. It’s just noise unless you have a very specific strategy around the other social channels. So I love what you’re saying here. You really cut the noise out and simplified it by saying, “Okay. You’re just starting out. Start on YouTube and focus on that one channel. Use that and then refine and measure after you’re starting to use the links in your sales process even. So that you can start to generate those meaningful views, not just views as a vanity metric.”

Carl Kwan:

Exactly. 100% and that’s the point. And also, the other thing that people often ask, and you’ve mentioned short form videos and the attention spans, is that YouTube actually favors longer videos. It’s not just the YouTube algorithm, but if you’re wanting to learn something that is really important to you. And so, for example, if I’m going to spend, even $30,000 on a bathroom renovation, that’s a lot of money. And so, I want to make sure that I’m learning and being educated and making sure that I understand everything about that whole process.

So I may not be able to get that from a 2-minute video. I may need a 10, 15, 20-minute video about you and your process, maybe a case study, maybe something. So don’t worry about having the shortest videos possible. As people, we think, “Oh, short attention spans. We don’t want to watch these long videos.”

But in fact, if I want to learn something and it’s important to me, I will watch a longer video because it’s important to me. And so, same thing when you’re thinking about your clients, think about it from their perspective, what they need to learn. And what you’ll find is that maybe the longer videos are working for you. But if they’re not working for you, then make them a little bit shorter and just try and see. Experiment what is working for you. You’ll eventually find that sweet spot. I did that with a few clients where we were making shorter videos. And then, we found that making videos over like 8, 9, 12 minutes long were actually more effective.

Devon Hayes:

Wow.

Amanda Joyce:

Wow. And I love too that YouTube just has such good analytics compared to some of the other platforms too. If you were posting video to Instagram and trying to learn more about what was hitting, personally, I find the analytics just to be a lot more insightful on the backend of YouTube. And obviously, as an agency, search is at the core of all we do and it’s the core of YouTube as well. So we love the direction you’re telling people to go in 2025, because it completely aligns with the recommendations that we would make to our contractors.

Carl Kwan:

Perfect. I love that. So hopefully, they will listen and actually do everything that we tell them to do-

Amanda Joyce:

Yes.

Devon Hayes:

Yes. Yeah. This has been fantastic, Carl. We will definitely have to have you on again. Thank you so much for joining us. And we will have all the links to your social channel, so check out the notes in the podcast so you can find out how to get ahold of Carl. Carl, how do you prefer people contact you?

Carl Kwan:

Email works best for me.

Devon Hayes:

Okay. Perfect. Check out the podcast notes for Carl’s email and thank you so much for listening.

Amanda Joyce:

That was today’s trade secret. Thanks for listening.

Devon Hayes:

Did you find this helpful? We’re just getting started.

Amanda Joyce:

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Devon Hayes:

Until next time.