The short answer
Make the film once and put it everywhere your customers already look. That means your home page and service pages, your Google Business Profile, YouTube, the social accounts you actually use, your quote emails and enquiry replies, and print, through a QR code. Give it a title that names the service and the town, use the right shape for each place, and plan a few months of posts from the film, its short cuts and its stills.
Plenty of businesses pay for a film, put it on the home page, post it once on Facebook, and stop. A few hundred views later, it’s forgotten. The film hasn’t failed. It just hasn’t been used.
Here are ten places it should be, and a simple plan to keep it working.
Online: where people look for you
1. Your home page
The obvious one, but do it properly: a short muted loop at the top, a clear “watch with sound” option, and the main message in text beside it. Your phone number shouldn’t be hidden inside the film.
2. Your service pages
If your film shows a particular kind of job, put it on that service’s page too. Someone reading about garden fencing is more interested in a fencing film than someone on your contact page.
3. Your Google Business Profile
Google’s Business Profile help page currently allows videos of up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB and 720p or higher. If your film is longer, use a 30-second cut. Upload it through the Photos section of your profile and check a day or two later that it’s live.
4. YouTube
YouTube has its own search, so treat the title and description seriously.
- Title: the service and the place. “Fencing and gates in Chorley” beats “Our new video”. YouTube allows up to 100 characters.
- Description: two or three plain sentences about what you do and where, then your phone number and website.
- Captions: upload a caption file, so viewers can switch them on.
Upload the landscape version as a normal video. A portrait cut of three minutes or less goes up as a Short.
5. Reels, Shorts and TikTok
Phone-first apps want portrait (9:16). Instagram accepts reels between 1.91:1 and 9:16, but portrait fills the screen. Use a version with captions burned in, and keep your words in the middle of the frame, clear of the app’s buttons.
6. Facebook and LinkedIn
Upload the film directly rather than sharing a link to it elsewhere, so viewers don’t have to leave the app to watch. Pin it to the top of your page or profile if the platform lets you. LinkedIn is worth it if you sell to other businesses: a quarry, a scrap metal merchant, a contractor.
In conversation: where people decide
7. Your email signature
Add a small still from the film with “Watch our 60-second film” beneath it, linked to the film’s page. A link works in any email program, and every email you send becomes a small advert.
8. Quote emails and enquiry replies
When someone asks for a quote, send the film with it: “While you’re thinking it over, here’s a minute on how we work.” On WhatsApp, a link to the film works the same way. It answers questions before they’re asked.
Offline: where people pass you
9. A QR code on the van, flyers and the shop window
A QR code links a printed thing to the film. Put it on:
- the back doors of the van, at eye level, large enough to scan from a few metres;
- flyers and leaflets, beside a line that tells people what they’ll see (“Scan to see our work in 60 seconds”);
- your shop window or reception desk.
Point the code at the film’s own page, not a file download, and test it with two different phones before printing a thousand.
10. Trade shows, waiting rooms and screens
A film on a loop on a stand, a reception screen or a counter tablet works hard while you talk to someone else. Play it muted with captions, and have the landscape file saved on the device, so you’re not relying on the venue’s Wi-Fi.
Titles and descriptions everywhere
Wherever the platform asks for a title or description, name the service and the town. “Holiday cottage in Keswick” or “Electrician in Lisburn” tells both people and search engines what they’re about to see. “Check out our video!” tells them nothing.
A twelve-week plan from one film
You don’t need new material every week. Cut the film into pieces:
| Week | Post |
|---|---|
| 1 | The full film, everywhere above |
| 2 | A still from the film, with one line about the job it shows |
| 3 | A 15-second cut: the opening |
| 4 | Behind the scenes: one of the photos the film was made from |
| 5 | A 15-second cut: the proof section |
| 6 | A customer review, quoted exactly with permission, beside a still |
| 7 | The full film again, with a different caption |
| 8 | A 15-second cut: the ending, with your contact details |
| 9 | A before-and-after still |
| 10 | The portrait version, re-posted as a Reel or Short |
| 11 | A still of your team or premises |
| 12 | The full film, plus “here’s where we’ve been working this season” |
Twelve posts from one film. A good film can stand being seen twice.
Keep the files where you can find them
Keep every version in one folder: landscape, portrait, 30-second cut, captioned and uncaptioned, the caption file, a few stills and the QR code. Name each one clearly. When the trade-show organiser asks for “your video” by tomorrow, you’ll find the right file in seconds.
If you’d rather not make it yourself, every VideoWorks film comes with a page for your film ready to share, code for your website, captions, versions for social media and a QR code for print; the pricing page has the full list.
