Video Marketing

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Online Marketing via Video: Part 1. Types of Business Video

With the rapid growth of broadband access, it's pretty apparent that the Internet and television are on converging paths. A nicely-designed webpage may be adequate in 2007, but in a few years online prospects will be expecting an introduction to your business via video. A younger generation is particularly open to clever videos used to brand products distributed via YouTube and other popular sites.

Fortunately, two factors are making it easier to offer online video. First, digital video makes video content relatively easy to produce and edit using cameras and software within the reach of small to medium businesses. Second, video sharing sites cut the cost of hosting and distribution -- at least for some businesses. The biggest hurdle is producing professional quality video on a low budget. We'll consider some of these issues in this series.

But as an introduction, let's consider the types of video marketing that a small to medium business might engage in. There are several basic categories.

1. Introductory Video

Since widespread use of online video is relatively recent, a video introducing your business can be a differentiator that will build trust and create a strong brand impression, the basis for future business. This isn't a splash page that discourages visitors, but an optional video component of your home page. Keep two keys in mind: (a) Length: Keep it short. Anything over 3 to 4 minutes won't be viewed. (b) Quality: The quality of your business will be judged by the quality of the video. You might want to consider paying a professional to produce this. See the effective example at Site Build It! (http://sales.sitesell.com/).

2. Sales Presentations

Many businesses are using video to help sell their products and services -- hotels, real estate properties, restaurants, cars. New categories of products that aren't well understood are good candidates for a video demonstration. New product launches might be another. Complex product features benefit from video tours such as done by Site Build It! Online services are increasingly creating product demos with Camtasia (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp) or similar tools. Such sales presentations are particularly helpful where just words and still pictures are inadequate. A university might include a video of part of a lecture to encourage enrollments. Other examples are motion picture trailers and portfolios for a design firm. You can imagine others.

3. Testimonials

Closely related to sales presentations are testimonials of satisfied customers. Testimonials can be taped at trade shows or occasions where you meet your customers face-to-face, then edited and shown on your website. Testimonials create trust in your product or services because another voice is telling why they trust you. Video adds the visual cues to trust-building that text alone can't communicate. Convivio uses this approach (http://www.convio.com/site/PageServer?pagename=cli_video_main).

4. Instructional Video

Instructional video has similarities to sales presentations, known as educational selling. Here you explain how to do something closely related to the products or services you sell. Examples include a Photoshop demonstration by Flash Aces Design (www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlWfZeyvk9Y) and an analysis of e-commerce product pages by conversion expert Brian Eisenberg (http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/08/24/screencast-optimizing-e-commerce-product-pages/). Such demonstrations can be hosted on your site or on video sharing sites to bring new customers. Many software companies offer video instruction for customers on how to use their products. I've used interviews posted on YouTube to attract new readers to Web Marketing Today (www.youtube.com/webmarketingtoday).

5. News, Events, and Message

Depending upon your organization's mission, you might want to include videos of recent events or news commentary. I shared with donors a ten-minute recap of a mission trip to Kenya using online video. A site that features local news and personalities could become a destination site for a community that is supported partly through advertising. Political candidates increasingly use video to get their message out.

6. Viral Branding

Many companies are using short videos as part of viral marketing campaigns. Bizarre, fun, and intriguing clips are sent to friends who view them and pass them on. Examples include The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments (http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html), Play It Safe, (www.hubstrategy.com/tv), and the Will It Blend series, from Blentec blenders (www.willitblend.com). These can create thousands of links for a linkbait campaign. To succeed, however, you have to be partly crazy and very creative. I've had some spectacular flops in my own attempts.

7. Video Content Sites

Finally, there are sites that primarily consist of video content -- user-generated content such as YouTube, as well as motion-picture streaming sites such as NetFlix.

Some of these categories may be difficult for small to medium businesses, but others are well within your reach. Begin to dream how you might use video in your own online marketing. In future installments, we'll discuss how to get from where you are now to having a site that utilizes the power of video.

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