Video tutorials first became commonplace in the pre-sales materials leading up to a big product launch, especially those following Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. Those tutorials often appeared on blogs after an optin.

In the past year an increasing number of video tutorials have appeared on the optin or sales page for a product. Many of these illustrate how to use the product being offered. But many of them provide solid tutorials on a process, then show how you can use the product to automate that process.

Two of my favorites are Armand Morin’s videos at PlacementLocator and ProductPadlock  In the first, he demonstrates the full process that shows you the pain involved with doing it the “long way.” Then he presents the solution which is, of course, his software.

In the ProductPadlock video he makes you aware of the surprising statistics on intellectual property theft – then again provides the solution in his product. In both cases he could have described the problem and solution in writing, but it would not have been nearly as effective as seeing the demonstration in video.

So how can you take advantage of this trend? As an information product marketer, look at where you can add a video tutorial to your optin pages or your sales page. What process would provide value, even to those who don’t purchase? It will go a long way toward leaving a positive impression when you provide value before they buy.

As a visitor, invest a little more time in watching the videos with an open mind. Instead of asking “what are they selling?”, ask “what can I learn from this?” When you see a new product offered or hear of one getting a lot of attention, visit the sales page to see what you can learn.

Video tutorials benefit both the sellers and viewers. Learn to make the most of them.

If you’d like to learn more about doing videos, I just downloaded an excellent new product. With step-by-step screen shots he walks you through EVERY step you need to take to crank out your own videos.

Whether you want to create short marketing videos, powerpoint videos (as you saw in Armand’s videos above) or live video lessons, you’ll find easy to follow directions here.