Beyond YouTube: Getting Started With Video for Marketing and Sales
Can you believe Google paid $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube? How could that be?
Well, it's quite simple, really. Video is the most powerful communication medium we have, unless we're actually in a room with someone, and YouTube put the tool of video communication over the Web into the hands of the common folk.
In doing so, the site's popularity soared and marketers everywhere clamored to get in on the action.
But YouTube isn't the only game in town. For marketers truly interested in putting video communication to good use, the key to getting the job done is finding the right tools.
Do you want to record a video message for on-demand access? Do you want to do live video from a large meeting, conference, or other event? Do you want more than just video, such as text chat, polling, Q&A or PowerPoint slides alongside your video? Do you need to secure access to an employee webcast or an online seminar you're charging for?
The array of tools at a communicator's fingertips can accomplish so much: interactive training sessions, video sales presentations, live meetings with prospects, "video voicemails" recorded and sent with just a few clicks, and, of course, live or recorded video played back from your Web site.
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Gary Anderson is the CEO of Netbriefings, a webcasting services provider that helps businesses communicate with video. He can be reached at 651-225-1532 or ganderson@netbriefings.com.
Comments
In studies authored by DoubleClick, Google and AOL, audiovisual content was found to drive an engagement rate 4 to 7 times higher than static image and text. Web video marketing is an easy way to engage with an audience, especially if the audiovisual content is integrated with direct calls to action.
Along with the products mentioned the FLIMP platform is another tool marketers can use to create, distribute and track web video marketing campaigns. The FLIMP platform is extremely effective for direct marketing and communications.
I went to the Proclaim site and tried the demo but it didn't work. I am interested in seeing it.
One other quick production technique to note: a lot of video editing software packages offer simple and easy-to-use titling tools that can really give your video project a slick finish. Make sure to use large, thick (preferably sans serif) fonts when adding titles or type to your video, as compression techniques that make video clips Web-friendly can often also have the added side effect of causing type to break up and become illegible.
Also, TubeMogul is another great online video distribution resource that can really help with SEO. At Mightybytes, we used Tubemogul (www.tubemogul.com) to distribute our 2008 video and animation demo reel to great success.
A couple other pointers... if you want to show screen captures of things on your monitor, a great tool I use is camtasia studio... it lets you edit video and add voiceover/audio tracks.
Audio is a big part of the equation, so don't forget about it. For great background music, search for 'royalty free' music on the 'net and you'll find 1000's of tracks you can use for under 50 bucks a pop. You can also find professional voiceover talent that is affordable on sites like dice.com.
Don't skimp on the bandwidth either... compression kills the quality of audio. If your target demo has broadband, take advantage of it!
Great article - video has made the single largest impact in our marketing strategies. We have been able to communicate more clearly with the marketplace while managing customer expectations.
Once you create the video, however, you create exponentially larger problems with managing and distributing these massive files. We have turned to our digital asset management (DAM) system to manage our newly created video library. We use the embed links functionality to distribute video without copying it into multiple locations. Every time the video is played online, it references the DAM system and plays from there. It is like the YouTube embed links except we don't put everything on YouTube and we can control the quality of the video previews (and don't need to have the YouTube watermark on everything)..
We use software-as-a-service so it doesn't need internal I.T. resources which has allowed us to scale significantly with a lower total cost of ownership.
We publish solutions-based content for financial clients on behalf of banks. Video is the content vehicle getting the best response, by four to one over print. We combine the video, in link form, with an email containing links to our website, etc. and using eROI, we know exactly who watch what and behaviors they displayed as a result. Great for relevant follow ups to hot prospects.
Much of this looks like promotions for products - but that's OK - I'm always on the look out for video-related tools.
That being said, and having produced (primarily broadcast) video for many years - there is a lot more than meets the eye to producing video that is optimized for the web or for marketing purposes - both from technical and creative viewpoints.
I have to agree with a poster above who suggested getting a video professional involved who has done it before. That will take care of the creative and technical aspects. But then, you also need a marketing video roadmap of sorts: where it is you want to go - how you plan to get there - how much gas is in the tank (budget.)
Understanding how video will interact with the rest of your marketing program and some basic do's and don'ts will go a long way in the successful implementation of video for marketing. Remember - YouTube is for entertainment - marketing video is for selling.
Video is the future of the internet, but as some of these comments have suggested the use of video has already gone far beyond YouTube. I tell our clients that that every website which carries their product should be thought of as a private television station which makes engaging, interative videos about their product or service available in an ON-Demand manner....whether it is one website or thousands of independenet dealers. We are already making that a reality with fast loading, Hi Definition video.
Remember McCluhan -- the medium is the message. The internet is now a "hot", fast medium. Users want information NOW, in an easy to find and easy to absorb medium, and none is better than video if it is done properly...content is still king, but having better, faster, higher quality video than YouTube and using it to directly engage your website visitors is already available...and its growth is undeniable. Websites that "just sit there are already "old news", and who doesn't imemdately click on the "Skip Intro" button when they encounter a flash intro to a website that was all the rage just a few years ago?
Excellent post!
Thanks for posting this very useful information.
Regards,
SBL – Video tagging http://www.saibposervices.com/Video-audio-tagging.aspx