You don't need a hundred videos. You need the right five. When a plumber, a dentist or a landscaper asks me what to film first, the answer is nearly always the same short list. Each one does a specific job, and together they cover the whole path a customer takes from never having heard of you to picking up the phone.
1. The "who we are" video
This is the one that lives on your homepage and your social profiles. Thirty to sixty seconds of who you are, what you do and why anyone should care. People buy from people, and a service business that shows a real face and a real premises beats a faceless logo every time. If a potential customer watches one thing about you, it's usually this, so it's worth getting right first.
2. The "this is the work" video
Nothing sells a service like showing it done well. A before and after, a job coming together, a finished result the customer is delighted with. This is the video that quietly answers the question every buyer is asking: are these people actually any good? For a lot of trades and hands-on businesses, this is the single highest-performing type of content there is. It's the kind of video we made for McQuillan that pulled over 35,000 views from one post.
3. The customer question video
Think of the five questions you get asked before every job. How long does it take? How much mess? Do I need to be home? Answer one of them, plainly, on camera. These videos do two things at once. They build trust, because you're being helpful before anyone's paid you a cent, and they save you repeating yourself. They also tend to do well in search, because they answer exactly what people are typing in.
4. The short social video
This is the bread and butter: the quick, regular content that keeps you showing up in the feed between the bigger pieces. A tip, a quick look at a job, a bit of personality. On its own, one of these won't change your business. But a steady stream of them is what keeps you front of mind, so that when someone finally needs what you do, you're the name they already recognise. Consistency beats polish here.
5. The testimonial
A happy customer saying it in their own words is worth more than anything you can say about yourself. It doesn't need to be scripted or slick. A genuine thirty seconds from someone who was glad they hired you does more to close a wavering lead than any amount of marketing. Get one on camera whenever a job goes well, because the best time to ask is when the customer is still delighted.
Where to start
If you only do one, start with number two. Showing your work is the fastest way to prove you're worth booking, and it's usually the easiest to film. From there, a single well-planned shoot day can capture the "who we are" video and a batch of short social clips in one go, so you're not paying for the camera to show up five separate times.
Want a hand working out which of these would move the needle for your business? Have a quick chat, or see how it all fits together on the services page.