Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Keven on July 06, 2009, 02:25:00 AM
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I've been trying to convince my boss and general entourage that youtube video demos of gear are the way to go to generate store traffic compared to good old newspaper ads.
mainly, the points i'm thinking are
1) the product is demoed in a familiar setting for local storegoers. so they can replicate the same test with different variables but have a good idea of what they're in for
2) it can generate interest for product not currently in stock. which means you can focus on stocking newer things while the good old usual stocking products can be ordered easily when interest is manifested (and once you get a few customers satisfied (hint: average boss pedals and peavey amps or beginner guitars.... ETC)
3) it gets your face known, and if you do a good job demoing the product and showcasing your knowledge of facts and important gear stuff, it can make an unknown face come in the store already knowing what's up, since they've seen -you- demo the gear they were searching for and you're a local face. confidence ensues. (I've done countless repairs for customers and still people assume that cause i'm young i don't know jack. the beard tends to helps nowadays though ;) )
4) it's possible for staff members to get their favorites out to average customers. let's face it, we're all gear hounds here, and some of us do work in music retail stores (like me) and we all have our personal favorite amps, whether they are regular stock and we love the price to quality ratio, or they're good products our suppliers can get us that don't have big name advertising. it's a good opportunity to get that elusive stompbox demo to the common folk.
5) website linking, if you link a youtube demo to your store website, and the website has imbedded youtube demos, and the myspace and the facebook has video demos.... there isn't much to lose.
From the way i see it, it's a great opportunity to get people decided on the different products without first going to the store and spending gas money. and then, a phone call or an email doesn't cost much. That's where the sales man does his job. and then, well, people come in and try it in the flesh. and if it still doesn't work, the relationship is far enough to assume the customer will trust me to find something else that fits his needs.
what do you guys think? do i have enough arguments? also, if you guys don'T mind a trip to the french side of america.
http://www.sonotheque.ca i'Ve been arguing day and night that the website lacks corporate polishing but my boss doesn't want to pay for a decent design. tell me i'm right in my crusade :D
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Yes that's a terrible website. Shouts 'made in frontpage' at me.
http://www.proguitarshop.com/ is how to do it well I think.
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that's 'cause it was made in frontpage.
and that's the kind of website i was thinking of too. clean, polished. nothing fancy and easy to navigate. also with lots of photos of in-stock product
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Start shooting videos first and compile them in one place on Youtube and get a bit of a buzz going
Put links to the shop and stuff like that and maybe it will start to draw attention to the store
Also do a blog about the gear in question and embed the youtube video in the blog
Get your blog networked so people find it and start following it
Get free business cards done on Vistaprint with links to the youtube, blog, myspace, official website and whatever and give them to your regular customers so they start looking at stuff
Once you create enough of a buzz - your boss may well look at incorporating them in a website
The trouble with making a website is it can eat up a lot of time (and money if you are paying a commercial company to do it for you) and maybe those are two things your boss doesn't have a lot to spare at the moment.
But go ahead and be innovative and see what you can do
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Well, the current website was put togheter by our sound guy on his scheduled time in the store. at least we got hosting and domain name and ftp access. a new employee got started on a facebook and myspace (just in time before facebook started requiring more friends for company profiles...!) so i'll get my hands into these and blog it up for gear reviews. i think i'll start with text reviews with soundclips, and when i got a spare sunday or two or during the evenings between two guitar lessons, i'll fire up the laptop with the webcam and plug in an USB condenser mic for a good quality.
what are your ideas on good demos? i'm already planning to do stomboxes, amps and guitars. i was thinking for amps, showcase it with always the same 2-3 guitars. for guitars, showcase them with always the same 2 or 3 amps. etc. keep a constant variable for shoppers curious to hear the tone in different applications. cymbal reviews too.
but we also have a very busy P.A. section, and i'd love to review speaker enclosures and power amplifiers and mixers, but it's hard to have a decent idea without being there and feel the actual volume and power of the gear :D
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Your right, it's a very good idea. People who are looking for reviews etc on gear usually look on youtube to see others using it or reviews, thats how I came accross people like Rob Chappers.
One big thing that I must say, is do some playing BEFORE all the damn talking. Like a teaser for 10-15 seconds, then talk about it, then show it off some more.
I'm tired of demo's that are 80% talk and 10% playing and 10% intro/outro clips.
I wish I knew more about ecommerce 'solutions' , I can whip up a good website but usually only for stuff like band websites.
One thing that might help is make it more... personal? Personality is a big thing on youtube, people may subscribe just because they like your personality.
Make a bulk of videos and keep a steady stream... I think, setting time aside once a month to make 4-8 videos at once and releasing them weekly/twice a week would be a good idea.
Also, maybe have the odd 'this cool thing happened in the shop' or 'stories from the shop' or 'tips and tricks from the bench' something like that to keep it relaxed, fun and interesting and informative.
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yeah. i was planning on showcasing the different tones, being a tone hound myself. I find the reviews on youtube to be too much talking between the tones so you kinda forget the differences.
I guess a good novelty for me is that all reviews are mostly english and i'd do them in french as i'm located in quebec. not many gear reviews are in french
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yeah. i was planning on showcasing the different tones, being a tone hound myself. I find the reviews on youtube to be too much talking between the tones so you kinda forget the differences.
I guess a good novelty for me is that all reviews are mostly english and i'd do them in french as i'm located in quebec. not many gear reviews are in french
*flashback* back when the Blackstar HT-Dual was coming out the only review I could find was in french... :P
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I guess a good novelty for me is that all reviews are mostly english and i'd do them in french as i'm located in quebec. not many gear reviews are in french
No. NO. NO.
Bad idea if you want people to watch your videos.
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good idea to stimulate local sales. I am located in eastern quebec where nearly 100% of the population is french speaking. i highly doubt i can score overseas sales or even someone from montreal or quebec, they have plenty of stores
the goal isn't really to get a world wide web buzz going. i want things to work locally for my customers and future prospects. :D
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Subtitles?