6 WAYS YOUR BUSINESS CAN SUCCEED WITH ONLINE VIDEO
FOR ADVICE ON VIDEO PRODUCTION IDEAS YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION & INDUSTRY TIPS
!"#$%&'($)$*&+$,-$./012/10$023-45$ will be online video” )$6.75, Online video and related digital media assets make up over 80% of Google search terms. Statistics and infographics display the staggering amount of time people spend watching video content whether at home, work or on the go. If your business is not utilizing video on your website or contributing video content to other parts of the web then you are miss ing out on not only a gigantic audience but a chance to sell and promote your products and services in a modern, dynamic and engaging way.
8,9:9;1$2151.<17$ 3 billion views a day Quality video content not only makes your site look more aesthetically pleasing and professional but will also boost your business in a number of ways. The average Inter net user spends around 45 seconds on websites, on sites with video the time on site increases to nearly 6 minutes. This means that web video is over 5 times more effective than text.
6,22150=#$,>0.?.@1A$<.A1,$5,/01/0$ .7$B($0.?17$?,21$=.C1=#$0,$3>>132$ ,/$>3D1$,/1$,-$E,,D=1 Do you have products and services to sell? Advertising them with video content either embedded on your site or across the Internet will certainly make a positive impact on your sales. Products that are promoted by video increase the likelihood of sales by 85%. !"#$%&'()*%'($+&,)-.%/('0().-1%2)**%(*1"%3&-&4,%5$"'%6"#$%7)8&"%/"-,&-,9%:;&%&54/)&-/6% of your emails will increase by 90% when associated web video is used.
8,9:9;1$.7$0F1$715,/A$=32D170$ 71325F$1/D./1$,/$0F1$G1; Isn’t it time your company took advantage of the online video revolution? What follows is six of the best ways your business can succeed by incorporating web video on not only your domain but numerous other video sites. Read on and remember that a SpeptreVids video production can open the doors to all of these opportunities for your business, with packages to suit all needs and budgets.
1
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions Don’t let your FAQ section just become a massive text block on your site. Engaging with your cus tomers and visitors through video is always going to provide a better solution to any problem. You could have a presenter explaining solutions via product demonstration, animated screengrabs or in a discussion scenario. By doing away with a simple list you are presenting something dynamic and interesting to your visitors, not to mention much more helpful. Video guides are far easier to understand and follow than text instructions, particularly when it comes to product demonstrations.
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Each product page on the Dolphin Music website (shown above) contains videos display ing features and advice surrounding the selected instruments. Though not a traditional ‘FAQ’ page this is a fantastic use of video and would help any customer with an interest )-%,;)1%0$"8#/,9%:;)1%#1&%"5%2&3%7)8&"%5#*4*1%,;&%8#&*%0#$0"1&%"5%1&**)-.%,;&%0$"8#/,%2;)*1,% clearing up any questions surrounding it.
Making use of a YouTube player on your site is a great way to improve your views on YouTube and also generate interest in your channel. It will also mean a lot more views for all of your video uploads overall.
2
Social Media & Blogs
Social Media & Blogs Your social media identity is potentially one of the most important facets of your online presence. Making sure your branding, as well as your content is strong and consistent is key to taking advan tage of the hundreds of millions of users out there. YouTube and other video hosting sites are a great way to start as well as Facebook and Twitter but creating a company blog where you can showcase your videos alongside your news will open up another world of opportunity. Social networks thrive on commenting and sharing. Creating and showcasing great content in a good looking brand space will surely encourage fans of your industry to get involved and share your videos. Viral videos happen because of social media.
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As you can see from the homepage, the social networks are easily accessible and pre sented as an important part of the site. The Blog post below contains an article about a 3$(-8%-&2%4*'%/('&$(%(-8%/"'&1%&'3&88&8%2),;%(%2&3%7)8&"9%
Lomography also make excellent use of Twitter and Facebook to spread videos about their analogue cameras. Remember to utilize very social network available to you. You can now upload videos to LinkedIn which is a great way to spread you clips amongst your connections and associates.
3
Interviews
Interviews Give potential customers and clients an insight into the workings of your brand by creating video interviews of key members of your team or even clients. A video interview adds that personal touch, explain how you make a difference to the company, how you came up with that great idea that sets your brand apart, tell a story about your company history; where you have come from, where you are going. By giving your audience access to your executive team you can further establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Approaching your online video content as if you are building a television channel is a great way to think. Varying your regular promotional videos with interviews, perhaps in a talk show style will give your channel the variety that keeps your viewers staying for longer and more importantly, coming back for more.
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The short interviews from The Creators Project website (shown above) are a great ex ample of how to present ‘talking heads’ style videos on your site. The interviews explain how the designers, musicians, artists and innovators started and how they approach their work.
The interviews contain a documentary style ‘day in the life’ footage that are incredibly engaging and a perfect way to break up the necessary but often boring inclusion of simple ‘talking heads’ setups.
4
Tours
Tours <"$%(-%(55"$8(3*&%3#,%;).;*6%&55&/,)7&%7)8&"%0$"8#/,)"-=%4*')-.%(%,"#$%"5%6"#$%0$&')1&1%(-8% work practices can be a great way to generate interest and exposure of your business. For small to medium enterprises with great brand identities and products this is the perfect way to start a customer base. Incorporating the interview video methods, tell the story of your business, how it came to be, ;"2%6"#%'(+&%,;&%0$"8#/,=%2;(,%."&1%"-%)-%6"#$%"54/&%)-%(%8()*6%3(1)19%>,%/(-%3&%(1%)-%8&0,;% as a short documentary about your business or as simple as an MTV Cribs style quick tour of your premises. If you have a great story to tell about your product, want to add some transparency to your 3#1)-&11%0$"/&&8)-.1%"$%?#1,%2(-,%,"%1;"2%"55%6"#$%('(@)-.%"54/&%(-8%2"$+5"$/&=%(%A3&;)-8% the scenes’ video tour of your company is the fantastic way to reach out to your customer base and generate trust within your consumers.
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Shwood is a small ethical eyewear business who have used online video to great effect and are winners of the ‘America’s Favourite Small Business’ web video contest. The fac tory and premises tour video explaining how the company started, their working practices and ethics is fascinating to watch and gives a real insight to a small business on the grow.
Importantly, the people of the business as well as the product are at the forefront of the video, making you want to invest in the company further. As part of their prize, Shwood 2&$&%(3*&%,"%'(+&%(%2;"*&%1&$)&1%"5%4*'1%(3"#,%,;&)$%3#1)-&11%(-8%0$"8#/,19%B$&(,)-.%(% great series about your business practices is a great way to promote your company. More on that in Chapter 6...
5
Testimonials
Testimonials Similar to the theory surrounding your FAQ page, why should it just be in text form? Ask your clients to sit down in front of the camera and explain why your product or service was the best and perhaps even get some footage of them using it in action. Video testimonials are always more preferable to mere text but when used in conjunction can pro vide you with the best results. Once again video productions are not only more engaging but add elements of trust and professionalism to your site. This is perfect for new businesses trying to get a leg up in their industry. Remember that YouTube is the second most popular search engine, so correctly optimized a great testimonial video of your brand should be capturing your target audience and generating new busi ness for you.
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Ignore the fact that Apple are a billion dollar company. The style of their testimonial videos can be adopted by any business with a great product or service. Grouping ,".&,;&$%(%'&8*&6%"5%3#1)-&11&1%(-8%/*)&-,1%(**%2;"%3&-&4,%5$"'%#1&%"5%,;&%)C;"-&% gives a broad spectrum of content for the viewer to see.
The difference between the companies behind the videos means you are inclined to watch more, thereby remaining on the site for longer. Who are your most interesting clients? How can you use them in an online video setting?
6
Promotional
Promotional A promotional video production can potentially incorporate all of the video types above, giving an overview of your brand and business. This could be the masthead video for your website so making sure it contains all the right elements is key. This is the place to focus on hitting your brand and company targets. Make use of animation, dynamic text, testimonials, tours and interviews in a snappy and engaging style. This is an advert for your brand so getting clever and creative is key to getting your business out there. The choice is yours whether you want to go for a straight up explanation of your company that all visitors to your site will watch, or go for something potentially off the wall and viral to get people across the world talking about your product. Of course the best option is to do both, always making sure there is a link between the productions. Strong brand identity is the absolute key to succeeding in online video, par ticularly when it comes to promotional and advertising productions.
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The Blendtec ‘Will It Blend?’ viral series is a perfect example of utilizing your business and product to create something surreal and entertaining which given the right execu tion could go viral. The above video on the homepage is a straight up product demon straion and factory tour, but below on the highly subscibed ‘Will It Blend?’ channel we see the company’s viral output.
If you are going to attempt viral video, this distinction of style is very important. The unpredictability of virals means that you should always have a good quality straight up video production at your disposal. Read on for more advice on virals...
A Note On Viral Video ‘Viral’ is a term that is banded around a lot these days and getting your video clip to be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, gaining notoriety on the web in the process is a very appealing prospect. When it comes to creating videos for your business a viral video should only really be em ployed in addition to other regular video content. There is a total lack of reliability when it comes to viral videos and basing an entire video marketing strategy on them could jeopard ise your campaign. D)$(*%7)8&"1%($&%0$&8"')-(-,*6%,(+&-%A"-%,;&%E6F%2),;%*"2%10&/%&G#)0'&-,%1#/;%(1%/('&$(% phones and almost always involve some kind of unbelievable footage. Either that or they are ,;&%&H,$&'&*6%2&**%,;"#.;,%"#,%2"$+%"5%/"'&8)(-1%"$%4*''(+&$19 The best way to make a viral video for your business would be to parody or mimic viral styles or trends that have already been created. If your business has a product you could poten tially use it in a bizarre or surreal way for comedic effect.
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In conjunction with a huge campaign RayBan also released two viral styled videos to great effect. Both virals followed a trend that has been popular for years; creating videos that create debates over their validity. Debate means comments which in turn leads to sharing, then you go viral. Can a chameleon actually do that?
BONUS CONTENT
YouTube Channel Optimization
Optimizing Your YouTube Channel YouTube is going to play a major part in the success of your online video so you need to make sure your channel and clips have the appropriate branding and content to make your business stand out. Here are 7 points you must address:
1. Choosing a good background colour scheme or better yet a custom image is a great start to making your channel look professional. Matching up your channel to the aesthetic of your website or company branding is the best way to ensure viewer recognition and trust. 2. Your titles should have search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Use your business key 2"$81%/"'3)-&8%2),;%1-(006=%(,,&-,)"-%.$(33)-.%,;&'&19%I&62"$81%/"'&%4$1,%5"**"2&8%36% Branding. For example – “How To Tune A Stratocaster – Fender Guitars”. 3. Your video description should contain keyword dense copy as well as full links including the http://. Try to strike a balance between interesting descriptive copy whilst including as many of your business keywords. It helps to have a generic piece of YouTube copy about your business to place in every video underneath your custom video description. J9%K%0$"4*&%)'(.&%)1%&11&-,)(*%5"$%(%3#1)-&11%/;(--&*=%(88)-.%.$(7),(1%(-8%,$#1,9%L1)-.%6"#$% company logo or a promoted product is usually the best option. 5. When tagging you videos make sure you spread the net wide with your keywords. You have plenty of room for tags so make sure you add in some general popular tags (still related to your video) to get the best search results.
6. You have a choice of three thumbnail pictures when you upload a YouTube video. Make sure that you pick the most enticing image that will stand out amongst other search results. 7. Make use of playlists if you have a lot of uploads on your channel. It keeps the page look )-.%,)86%(-8%"$.(-)1&89%!"#%/(-%(*1"%8)$&/,%#1&$1%,"%10&/)4/%3(,/;&1%"5%/"-,&-,%1#/;%(1%(% 1&$)&1%"5%4*'1%"-%(%.)7&-%0$"8#/,9
A Note On Local SEO Remember that the location of your business can be used to improve your SEO and rankings and should be used to the greatest possible effect. Use your location in key words and titles associated with your online video and reach out to potential customers and clients in your local area. By using local landmarks, people and products you are guaranteed to generate interest in your business from the local area, this can provide you with excellent public relations opportunities in your location as well as an extra dimension to your video content on YouTube and Google et al.
GET STARTED
If your business or enterprise is not utilizing any of the above strategies you are drasti cally missing out on a whole world of promotional opportunities. By creating video content with SpectreVids you will be provided with professional quality work and services. Our packages are varied and suit many price ranges and strategies meaning you can get the absolute best out of our team whatever your budget and plans. At SpectreVids we pride ourselves in creating ‘video for all’. If you have a website the video productions we create for you will make a difference. Remember, video is the most subscribed, shared and beloved content on the Internet. Getting your video on not only your site but also the myriad of social media and video channels is essential to creating a success of your business on the web.
About SpectreVids SpectreVids is a subsidiary of Spectrecom, one of the UK’s leading video production ;"#1&19%M0&/,$&/"'%;(1%3&&-%0$"8#/)-.%4*'1%(-8%7)8&"1%5"$%*($.&%(-8%'&8)#'N1)@&8%"$ ganisations since 2004, and we now operate a large media complex in Waterloo, London ,;(,%)-/*#8&1%J%4*'O:D%1,#8)"1=%(%$(-.&%"5%.(**&$)&1%(-8%&8),%1#),&1=%(-8%(%'#*,)N1+)**&8%)-N house production team. Spectrecom’s many corporate clients include the NHS, Cunard, SAGA and over 20 of the UK’s top universities. Hotel groups include Starwood, Guoman Thistle, Choice and Best Western.
About Our Studio :;&%1,#8)"1%/(,&$%5"$%4*'1%(-8%:D%0$".$(''&1%PBBC, ITV, Channel 4, FIVE, Sky), com mercials, music and corporate video. We’ve hosted productions including the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, Sky TV’s An Idiot Abroad with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington, and Warner Brothers Harry Potter (DVD bonus extras). If you make a SpectreVid at our studios, you never know who you might bump into!
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