In these tough Covid economic times where there are layoffs, companies are looking to cut or reduce costs anywhere they can. One of numerous ways to cut costs is in the “support” department. Many joke that Marketing departments are cut first when it comes to layoffs. Not true anymore as EVERYONE now is vulnerable. A colleague of mine who is a product manager for a Silicon Valley firm recently lost ½ his technical support staff due to layoffs. The company, and the product support group, is now overwhelmed with customer “issues.” With half the staff gone, there ways to “bridge the gap” for his small support team. He asked me for any recommendations. I told him straight up to look at a video sharing platform to alleviate the tech support crunch, specifically YouTube.
Leveraging YouTube
Create a YouTube channel specifically geared towards your company, product or service you need to support. Smartphones these days come with hi-res video built in. Leverage that smartphone feature for free without buying digital video equipment. Dig through the support “issue” database and sort out the top 10 topics or questions that customers submit to you via email, contact form or through social media. Sit down in front of a computer with the smartphone and record how to resolve each issue (or submitted question) step by step and narrate.
This can work for hardware, software, or services that needs support. Sit down and go over frequently asked questions (FAQ’s). They can be simple setup questions or advanced features questions. Get CREATIVE in your videos. Record all possible workarounds surrounding your product bugs or customer general questions.
Post the link to your YouTube channel from the technical support site section on the company’s web page. One advantage of using the YouTube platform is that you do not have to incur the cost of hosting the videos yourself. Make sure to optimize your YouTube Channel.
The YouTube Advantage
- Zero MB/month traffic usage costs
- Zero hosting costs associated with these videos taking up space on your servers
- 24/7 YouTube up time for customers around the world
You get the idea. This is a major value-add if your support team is understaffed. Hopefully, in time, the technical support call volume (email) will decline.
Online Marketing Juice 