There’s no doubt that online video marketing is on the rise. Numerous studies and statistics prove that video works. In fact, Forrester Research found that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page ranking than traditional text pages. That’s a pretty impressive stat!

Online video marketing is attractive to many businesses today for numerous reasons. Making videos and posting them online is fairly inexpensive. Plus, online videos stay online forever. If you spend the money to record once, your video could still be getting views a year from now.

In addition, social media sites and video go hand in hand and most sites encourage video posting and sharing. The viral video opportunities are endless when you use the right strategies to create and post your videos online.

If you’re new to video, or have been thinking about flipping on your camera for the first time, here are some tips and strategies to get you going.
Six Quick Tips to Optimize Your Videos

Once you record your video, follow these tips to make sure it reaches your core audience and gets the views it deserves.

#1: Make your title count

Just like a headline to a blog post, video titles can pull powerful traffic. There are two main reasons why the title is so important. One, a great title can instantly grab a viewer’s attention. Two, when you use the appropriate keywords in your title, you are more likely to show up on search engines when people are searching for your topic. And remember Google owns YouTube, so there’s a story connection between video and searching.

#2: Provide excellent content

Take some time to think about your ideal viewer. What do you know that they’ll find valuable? What can you teach them? “How-to” videos are extremely successful because not only do they offer great value to your viewer, but also you’re able to showcase your knowledge and skill, thus positioning yourself as an expert. This is key as you continue to grow your brand.

Also, no matter how good your content is, it won’t matter if your video is too long and you lose your viewer’s attention. Try to keep them short.

In late 2009, ComScore reported that the average video was 3.8 minutes in length.

#3: Include your URL in your video

When you edit your video, take advantage of the different editing features. One easy feature is to add a text box to your video. This is where you can display your website address and it’s a great way to get exposure.

Here’s a screen shot of Mari Smith’s YouTube channel. Notice how she used a text box in her video to display key information, including her website URL at the end of her video. Smart move!

For the remainder of the article click here.

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By telling a story – Google is the vehicle instead of the concentration – the audience can stay engaged and exposed to multiple Google business units.

Below, I share a couple that I liked – let me know your thoughts!

Parisian Love
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU]
Out of Office
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EEPU65nF1U]

The post Google Joins the Storytelling Bandwagon: Still Room for You! appeared first on StoryFirst Media Website.

“I like the show,” says Janine Popick at the Vertical Response blog, “because he gets down into the inner workings of a small business and peels away the onion to find any issues that might be hampering the business from growing.”

She finds six business lessons in the story arc of each episode. Here are some:

– Ramsay starts with an honest assessment of the situation. You cannot fix something until you know what’s wrong, and he always begins by observing a typical lunch or dinner service. Most are, predictably, disastrous. “He also takes to the streets,” notes Popick. “[I]n many shows he walks the streets of the town to observe other restaurants and he’ll stop people and ask what they think about the restaurant he’s trying to help.”

– He then identifies, and tries to rectify, fundamental problems. A strong business is built on a strong foundation. Disturbingly, almost all of the restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares share one failure in common: filthy kitchens that must be cleaned before anything else can happen. Beyond that, Ramsay addresses the unique mix of issues challenging each restaurant—everything from poor leadership to overambitious menus to subpar chefs.

Whatever you think of Gordon Ramsay, you just might benefit from his simple formula for jumpstarting a struggling business.

Source: Vertical Response. Click here for the full post.

Thanks also to Marketing Profs.

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In October 2009, Eyeblaster reported that creative was the key to more engaging rich media ads. Based on the research firm’s “Online Video Advertising: Doubles Engagement, Boosts ROI” bulletin, video grabs attention and has a lasting impact.

Rich media ads with video had a higher dwell rate than those without, and almost double the dwell time.

This translates to fewer impressions needed for the same results. For example, Eyeblaster found that two exposures to a video ad campaign produced the same dwell rate as three exposures to nonvideo rich media ads.

Unsurprisingly, in-stream banners were most likely to be fully played. They far outpaced the start rate and fully played rate of all other video ad formats.

Other creative decisions also influenced effectiveness. Video ads initiated on rollover performed best, followed by auto-initiated ads. Ads that only began playing when a user clicked did worst.

The performance of video ads also varies according to the content it appears with. Video ads did best when placed next to e-mail, news, finance, sports and music, but fell behind in social network and gaming environments.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3IClPnVoZ8&feature=player_embedded
Here is the link to the Monty Python case study.

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I had a really interesting and occasionally heated discussion with a client today about the purpose of video, and I thought it was worth a broader discussion.

The issue was the use of online video—specifically with YouTube in this instance—and how it’s intended purpose drives the SEO, link-building, and other various marketing efforts supporting the video.

The client had set aside a budget for creating some videos, and had ideas all over the map for what the content of those videos would be. They were pretty adamant about creating a viral campaign, involving Digg and Stumble Upon and links—clearly this client was a bit ahead of the curve in having read up and grasped the basic concepts of online marketing.

They wanted to leverage YouTube, primarily to avoid bandwidth costs and reach an audience that might not find them otherwise.

Everything was tracking pretty well and I thought I was headed for the smoothest consulting gig of my brief career… until we got to the topic of the actual videos themselves.

This client wanted to create a series of training videos, and not just any training videos—but videos specifically related to a proprietary piece of software that serves as one of their core products. And that’s when the red flags started going up.

From here the conversation went something like this:

For the remainder of this article go to: ReelSEO.com

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The video was published July 19, 2009, and it now has nearly 30 million views. It had nearly 19 million views in the first three weeks after posting.

That’s what you call a viral video. It’s the stuff marketers dream of — 19 million people reached with no money spent on distribution or production. Businesses that achieve that kind of reach profit enormously. If you have any doubts, checkout what it did to Forever’s iTunes sales.

Of course, the chances of your company creating a video that reaches 19 million people in three weeks are essentially zero. It’s not going to happen, so don’t bother.

Most marketers understand that truly viral videos are almost impossible to create — and they use this as a reason to abandon video altogether.

That’s a mistake.

Video doesn’t need to be viral to have an impact on your business. In fact, any robust inbound marketing content strategy should include a video component, designed with assumption that none of the videos will “go viral.” Instead, businesses should put time into video for at least six other reasons:

(1) Video Gives Your Business A Voice — It’s one thing to read a paragraph about a company, but it’s a completely different thing to spend two minutes listening to a business owner and staff share the story, vision, and purpose of their business. Video adds a personal dimension to company websites, which are typically heavy on impersonal text.

(2) Videos Are Marketing Annuities — Like a blog post, videos are annuities; once you’ve published your video and it passes its initial burst of traffic, you’ll continue to get traffic and banding value indefinitely.

(3) Videos Build Company Culture — Videos are fun and they show that your company can have fun. They serve as morale builders within the company, and recruiting tools outside the company.

(4) Video Is Another Channel for Your Content — Effective inbound marketing content strategies need to be executed in multiple media types. Some forms of information are best communicated in blog posts; some in photos or graphics; some in webinars; others in video. If you’re not using or even experimenting with a combination of these channels, you’re missing potential customers.

(5) Videos Are Not As Involved To Produce As You May Think — If your business has stories, and all do, videos will be easy to produce. Don’t get sucked into the traditional details of video production. To plan your video, define your stories, schedule time to shoot it – with outside help if you wish – and make sure the shooting doesn’t drag on. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it simply needs to be authentic, relevant, and a bit entertaining.

(6) More Video, More Likely to Have a Big Success — Just like venture capital or movie production, online marketing video is portfolio business. No successful movie studio bets their year on a single film. They spread their resources across multiple films, and hope they’ll get one money-maker out of their portfolio. You should approach your marketing videos the same way. Don’t stop telling your stories and those of your employees, customers, collaborative partners, neighborhood, etc. Ask yourself – would my customers find this story interesting? – if so, tell it.

Does your company / business currently use video for marketing? How? Why? What else should be on this list?

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The videos on the list use various approaches to hold viewers’ attention – ranging from humor to education to building anticipation for real-world events and showcasing stunts. They also bring into clear perspective the international nature of viral video and how various companies are using these vehicles to build global brand awareness.

The top 10 picks for August, with links to view on YouTube:

1. Bensons
for Beds – Mattress Dominoes, agency: Wand
2. Johnnie
Walker – The Walk, agency: BHH London
3. Sony –
Twilight Football, agency: Dare/OMD/GoViral
4. Inspired
Bicycles – Danny MacAskill
5. Microsoft – Giant Waterslide, agency: MRM Worldwide
6. Red Bull – Times Square Pit Stop
7. MSI – Laptop Tricks
8. ABSOLUT – Differently, agency: TBWA/CHIAT/DAY New York
9. Nokia – Booklet 3G, agency: Wieden & Kennedy, JWT
10. HP – You on You Project, agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

About the rankings: Goviral issues a monthly top-10 list of viral video rankings on its site, including additional commentary about the videos.

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More and more businesses are using video as part of their overall marketing strategies. Once a high barrier to entry due to the sheer expense of video creation, production and marketing, businesses can now launch effective video tactics with just a few thousand dollars.

This also creates a problem. Because it is now so easy to create a video, and the proliferation of video sharing sites such as YouTube (among others) is ever increasing, there are more bad videos available than ever before.

What’s happened is that businesses are continuing to focus on the “technology” and not the core reason why videos are successful – great content and storytelling targeted to a specific customer segment.

If you are considering video as part of your integrated marketing strategy, here are the success factors.

Tell the Story, Not Your Story
Like any valuable, relevant and compelling content you create, a video is not about you, it’s about your customers. This is the biggest challenge for a business to overcome. So many times businesses want to talk about their products and services, or position one of their executives as an expert. That’s all fine and good, but if the video does not meet the informational needs of the individual watching it, it won’t be watched.

The solution is simple. Develop a keen understanding of the customer or prospect group you are targeting. What are their key challenges? What do they need to know to be more productive at work, or live better lives? Why is your message important in the first place?

Once that is established, you can then weave in your marketing objectives into the video content without selling to them. Remember, your goal is not to sell them, but to help develop a conversation with them. Without valuable content, there is no possibility of a conversation.

Forget the One-Timers and Think “Series”
Like any other successful communications program, consistency is the key. Many businesses create video in hopes of that viral one-hit wonder. Really successful business videos build upon each other. Sites like willitblend.com or askaninja.com didn’t just produce one video and sit back. They planned for ongoing and consistent videos with a content plan focused on their target customers.

Share It, Don’t Own It
Just like your brand doesn’t belong to you anymore (it belongs to your customers), treat your videos the same way. Don’t just expect your customers and prospects to only go to your website to view the video. Populate it wherever your customers may be, whether YouTube, Facebook or probably most fitting, the industry media sites and portals in your particular niche. Your goal is for your video to be watched, so that you can change or maintain a behavior. Knowing where your customers are prone to “engage” in your content is key.

Focus on Content over Production Value
The days of six-figure videos are over. Today’s consumers are very accepting of “YouTube quality” video, which are sometimes viewed as more credible and “real” to certain consumer groups. What are your current customers viewing habits? That question will save you a ton in production expenses.

Get Outside Help
When a business owner or sales and marketing department produces video without outside help, there is an uncontrollable urge to actively sell in it. Hire a on-line video content specialist or journalist to give you a third-party view that will help remove the rose-colored glasses.

Video lets customers view, see and hear things not possible with other formats. The technology is great, but it’s the targeted storytelling that will define your success and bring out the “human” side of your company.

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