One of the tried and tested ways to drive up client engagement for your business is deploying video to tell your business’ story. Video content is the driving force of engagement in today’s world, and companies are all competing to take advantage of this opportunity to drive conversion and, ultimately, sales.
One of the reasons why video is in such high demand is its versatility. Video can be used to tell any story a company needs to tell.
Video helps businesses showcase and launch new products, address customer questions, share testimonials, engage with their consumers and much more. Your imagination is the limit with video content.
As a result of this surge in demand for video content from businesses, many companies are rushing to solve this need for web story platforms. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Slack, Twitter, and many more have all introduced some variation of a web story feature onto their platforms.
While on the surface it seems that social media companies are the best positioned to absorb this web story market, the answer to your web story needs won’t always lie in the social media realm.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were designed to enable individuals to share stories to their unique communities of followers. While businesses have tried to leverage this tool to engage with their customers and grow their brands, engagement on these social platforms does not come as organically as it does for individuals.
Social media platforms are designed to leverage one’s personal brand and networks to create traction for their online avatar. This makes it difficult and cluttered for businesses to thrive in this space. Unless someone has a personal connection to a brand, users might see it as invasive advertising.
This is why a teenager with one viral video could amass over one hundred million followers while several businesses can’t make it to even one million followers. Out of the twenty most-followed accounts on Instagram, there are only three business brands, with the official Instagram account being one of those millionaires.
Furthermore, while social media companies give you exposure to your content, they are not as helpful in creating the content. The editing options available on social media platforms are often superficial and complementary, usually less than most businesses want.
This article will help you choose the best web story platform for your business in five easy steps, but first, let’s define what an engaging web story platform needs to be successful.
What should a good web story platform have?
Easy to use
This should go without saying, but here it is. You need a web story platform that eliminates all of the challenges associated with creating a video. The easier it is to use, the less time you will lose conceptualizing, editing, and publishing your videos.
One-stop-shop
You need a one-stop-shop for all your web story creation needs. Engineering, content albums, AI and content editors all need to work as one cohesive unit to produce the most engaging video results.
Short-form video expertise
Short-form video content can increase your website’s traffic by up to three times while also increasing your revenue by up to eight times.
Business-centered
Most social platforms are influencer-driven rather than business-driven. However, there are dedicated web story platforms for businesses that offer the features, tools and customer care that businesses require.
Mobile optimization
More people will access the internet this decade on their mobile phones than on desktops and laptops. A good web story platform needs to be optimized for mobile, ideally ‘mobile-first’.
Now that you know what to look for when looking for a good web story platform, let us now take you through five simple steps to choose the best web story platform for your business.
5 simple steps to help you choose the right web story platform
1. Know what you need
You need to know what you are looking for before you start looking for a web story platform. What is the goal of your web story? Do you have a script? Who are you trying to reach with it? How long do you want it to be? How will you measure success? Do you have your own video, or will you need to access a content library? Will you need editing?
These are some questions that will help you navigate the web story platform market. It will allow you to eliminate companies with a different goal, vision and execution from what you need. Ensuring this step is done right will save you both time and money.
2. Set your budget
One of the best ways to calibrate your search for a web story platform is by budget. Having a budget saves you time from engaging on platforms you cannot afford. It also helps you evaluate different platforms’ offers to know which one is offering true story creation value.
Having a budget will also help you prioritize. Even if you have an unlimited budget for this, setting a cap could help you rethink your needs, separating necessities from add-ons that you can do without.
3. Refer to their body of work
With your needs and budget aligned, you have eliminated a few web story platforms from your list while the remaining ones are all in serious contention. Now is the time to look at their body of work. This includes anything that can tell you how they performed for their clients in the past.
For example, client lists and testimonials can tell you how good platforms are from their clients’ perspectives. Client lists can be useful for comparison testing with your needs. If you see any companies similar to yours in industry, size, and branding style, you know you are in good company.
4. Test customer support
This is an often neglected and yet essential step in choosing a business to work with. One of the values that today’s customer prioritizes is on-demand support. The quality of support will always come in handy when something goes awry. It is all up to action.
It is also relatively easy to test a company’s customer support, especially their responsiveness. Send them an email with an inquiry or even a message on their social media. How long it takes for a response should give you an ample idea of what to expect in terms of your future day-to-day support.
5. Sign up for a free trial
Last but certainly not least, you should sign up for free trials where they are available. A free test trial will typically give you between two weeks and one month to use the platform to decide based on real results to determine your decision on the platform.
Not all free trials are created equal, and not all of them offer all the services for the actual product, but they can help you get a sense of what you are investing in. This will help you save money and resources in the long run by finding one that works for you.
Has this article helped you figure out how to choose the right web story platform for your business? Are you ready to put your knowledge to the test? Go ahead and sign up for Firework’s free trial today and determine if we are the best fit for your business.
