We wanted to create videos that focused on common actions in QuickBooks as well as providing members with tips and tricks to cover questions we see often in the Community. These videos are targeted to specific pain points or questions that are asked by community members, and the interactive “choose your own adventure” nature allows users to view only the information they need to get back to business quickly, or to view more than one video if they have the time.
We knew from the beginning that we wanted to create videos that felt different from the standard “how to” tutorials created by our Content team, and so we began by exploring different tools. Ultimately we decided on using Tolstoy as the interactive nature and interface felt like something new and fresh to bring our vision to life. Because we started this as a test, we did everything with only 2 people – one person to produce the segments (choosing topics, scripting, research, editing, etc) and one person as talent (recording the video, voice overs for screen sharing sessions, etc.) Each video was carefully selected based on hot topics in the community, and we made sure to focus on sharing a little bit of education combined with the direct steps to help the viewer get back to their business without a huge time commitment. Most segments are 60 seconds or less specifically for this reason.
Additionally, we wanted to humanize the support experience – giving our members a friendly face and voice to associate with on a more personal basis so they felt as if they had someone in their corner. The scripts were written to be supportive and encouraging, as well as using friendly and approachable language. And finally, we studied successful video platforms and took the pieces that we thought would appeal to the largest audience – thumbnail styles from YouTube, quicker cuts and editing from TikTok and YouTube shorts, etc
Our first video was a viral success, with over 5 million impressions in the first month alone, and just over 15 hours of total play time since March 2022. It has a lifetime engagement rate of 19%, with users interacting with at least 1 or more segments in the Tolstoy an astonishing 396% of the time once they have pressed play initially.
We have since produced and published 16 additional videos, which have a combined engagement rate of 21%, with a 276% interaction rate and 14+ hrs of total play time just in the last 90 days.
