Lumberyard employees also played starring roles in Shell’s video. “We got good feedback,” Ruark says. “Even people who came to apply for employment said, ‘We saw your video. We liked it and your store.’ The spirit of the video does capture the spirit of the store that we wanted to convey.”

As with any marketing tool, cost is a factor. The videos for Jay-K were in the $400 range, and production quality varied depending on which partner did them, Kelly says. “They’re a reasonably inexpensive way to market ourselves.”

If you have your video done by an agency, the price will depend on the length, location, and scripting demands, Freytag explains. “We keep costs fairly low, since technology has gotten to a point where we film with one person, one camera, and one setting; editing in affordable software like iMovie or Final Cut Pro.”

Experience helps in dealing with video elements such as lighting, focus, framing, stability, and sound quality. Romanelli’s goal is to provide a product that feels informal but not low-end.

If you want to make one yourself, you can learn a lot from simply watching videos, Crunchie says.

Freytag offers a few tips:

• Keep videos short but have them convey a lot of information.
• Don’t make videos feel like a sales pitch.
• Do make videos feel like a personal talk from the owner or staff member directly to a contractor.

And if you want a professional video production team to do the work, Crunchie says, the cost can run up to $3,000 per minute of finished product. To keep costs down, two strategies she suggests are to partner with another company such as a distributor and to use co-op marketing funds.
Once your video is done, Crunchie recommends hosting it on Vimeo or YouTube and then embedding it on your website. That way, you provide access without having to host a huge file.

Romanelli likes to use YouTube for posting videos because of its flexibility, Freytag says. “It allows us to embed the video in various areas, including Facebook and the company’s website.” The agency posts work with higher production values to Vimeo.

Of course, once you post your video, you want customers to see it. For current customers, you can promote it in your newsletter, Crunchie says, whether with a URL electronically or a QR code in print. For potential customers, she says, try sending out an email to a rented list of builders in your area and providing a press release to local contractor associations. Include news of the video in social media, too.

Shell was pleased with the results of running in-house advertising in its special order and hardware departments to promote the video and website.

Making a video is “definitely something we would consider doing again,” says Ruark, who wrote the dialogue for the Shell video. “It was a fun experience.”

—Diane Kittower is a freelance writer/editor in Maryland.