SpotZero
08-14-2009, 07:19 PM
Here's a blog post I wrote giving ten reasons to consider online video for your business. I'll just post the body and spare you the intro and ending:
Cost Effective – You can buy an HD camera to make videos yourself that can easily be uploaded to the web for around $200, granted you don’t need any editing. Even then, there are plenty of low cost options for inexpensive editing software but come with a learning curve. If you don’t have time to direct and edit your own masterpieces you can get a clean, professional business video for as low as $599 for a :60 video. This is a far less expensive alternative to a TV spot and can reach a targeted audience. Larger online video campaigns requiring creative, production and social media (viral) marketing are also a very cost effective way of reaching an audience. The most effective videos are funny, informative, unexpected and memorable.
Fewer Restrictions – Speaking of TV spots, they can be heavily regulated by the FCC, but not so much for online videos. Content can be up to your discretion ;) . The length of the video is up to you as well. You can have a video over 3-minutes or exactly 53-seconds if you so incline, like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGYrYDtVNU).
Reach – Nearly 152 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 111 online videos each this past April. 152 million! Watching about 111 videos a piece! The total amount of views there is roughly…a fajillion. The point is that there are a lot of eyeballs that you do not want not seeing your product/service.
Visual Learners – Remember the saying “actions speak louder than words?” Well, that definitely applies to online videos. Why just talk about your products and services when you can just as easily demonstrate them? I can’t speak for everyone, but when I come across an article and in the bottom corner it reads “1 2 3 4 next page” I’m very likely to not read it. However, if that same article was broken down into a 4-minute video then I’d gladly give it a gander. Not only can you demonstrate your product, but also your expertise. Again, you can write out in long text how to replace a car battery, but being able to see you do it offers viewers more assurance of your capabilities.
A Great Sales Tool – According to comScore, the number of online shoppers who watch online retail product videos before buying a product grew 40% from January 2008 to January of 2009. Shopping online can make people wary since you don’t get to examine and inspect the product first hand, so the next best option is to watch an in-depth product video on it, which eases shoppers’ minds.
Stimulating Multiple Senses – Online video allows you to take in information both visually and audibly. There have been cases where the visuals were so tantalizing I practically tasted the product. That’s tackling three out of five senses. Not to shabby for only one medium, not to mention there’s no extra cost for hitting the extra senses.
Sharable & Engaging – An online video can be uploaded to multiple video sharing sites, and with the embed code it can be placed in various locations such as blogs, social networks, forums and more. In a lot of these locations people can leave comments and discuss the video generating buzz. Depending on the content and presentation, this will hopefully compel people to pass the video along which means free advertising and publicity. Score!
Long Lasting – Once uploaded to the web an online video can live forever, continually promoting your business, which in essence means the video can pay for itself and then some. Other marketing mediums like TV, radio and magazines require you to buy spots. After your budget is gone so is your ad. But your online video ad conveniently sits in YouTube, Facebook, Digg and so forth for FREE.
Competitive Advantage – Even with all its great numbers, online video is still relatively new as a marketing tool. Only a handful of companies are integrating online video into their marketing mix. Therefore, you can be ahead of the curve, take advantage of its benefits and gain an edge over your competitors.
Video Search Optimization – Video can help your search ranking! Most video sharing sites allow you to tag your online videos and proper tagging them will help with your business’ search results. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that YouTube (the #1 video sharing site) is owned by Google (the #1 search engine). I’m just sayin’.
Cost Effective – You can buy an HD camera to make videos yourself that can easily be uploaded to the web for around $200, granted you don’t need any editing. Even then, there are plenty of low cost options for inexpensive editing software but come with a learning curve. If you don’t have time to direct and edit your own masterpieces you can get a clean, professional business video for as low as $599 for a :60 video. This is a far less expensive alternative to a TV spot and can reach a targeted audience. Larger online video campaigns requiring creative, production and social media (viral) marketing are also a very cost effective way of reaching an audience. The most effective videos are funny, informative, unexpected and memorable.
Fewer Restrictions – Speaking of TV spots, they can be heavily regulated by the FCC, but not so much for online videos. Content can be up to your discretion ;) . The length of the video is up to you as well. You can have a video over 3-minutes or exactly 53-seconds if you so incline, like this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGYrYDtVNU).
Reach – Nearly 152 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 111 online videos each this past April. 152 million! Watching about 111 videos a piece! The total amount of views there is roughly…a fajillion. The point is that there are a lot of eyeballs that you do not want not seeing your product/service.
Visual Learners – Remember the saying “actions speak louder than words?” Well, that definitely applies to online videos. Why just talk about your products and services when you can just as easily demonstrate them? I can’t speak for everyone, but when I come across an article and in the bottom corner it reads “1 2 3 4 next page” I’m very likely to not read it. However, if that same article was broken down into a 4-minute video then I’d gladly give it a gander. Not only can you demonstrate your product, but also your expertise. Again, you can write out in long text how to replace a car battery, but being able to see you do it offers viewers more assurance of your capabilities.
A Great Sales Tool – According to comScore, the number of online shoppers who watch online retail product videos before buying a product grew 40% from January 2008 to January of 2009. Shopping online can make people wary since you don’t get to examine and inspect the product first hand, so the next best option is to watch an in-depth product video on it, which eases shoppers’ minds.
Stimulating Multiple Senses – Online video allows you to take in information both visually and audibly. There have been cases where the visuals were so tantalizing I practically tasted the product. That’s tackling three out of five senses. Not to shabby for only one medium, not to mention there’s no extra cost for hitting the extra senses.
Sharable & Engaging – An online video can be uploaded to multiple video sharing sites, and with the embed code it can be placed in various locations such as blogs, social networks, forums and more. In a lot of these locations people can leave comments and discuss the video generating buzz. Depending on the content and presentation, this will hopefully compel people to pass the video along which means free advertising and publicity. Score!
Long Lasting – Once uploaded to the web an online video can live forever, continually promoting your business, which in essence means the video can pay for itself and then some. Other marketing mediums like TV, radio and magazines require you to buy spots. After your budget is gone so is your ad. But your online video ad conveniently sits in YouTube, Facebook, Digg and so forth for FREE.
Competitive Advantage – Even with all its great numbers, online video is still relatively new as a marketing tool. Only a handful of companies are integrating online video into their marketing mix. Therefore, you can be ahead of the curve, take advantage of its benefits and gain an edge over your competitors.
Video Search Optimization – Video can help your search ranking! Most video sharing sites allow you to tag your online videos and proper tagging them will help with your business’ search results. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that YouTube (the #1 video sharing site) is owned by Google (the #1 search engine). I’m just sayin’.