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Improving Your Marketing Strategy

image of video camera for business video

Marketing: Get Creative!

If you’re creating a marketing strategy, you have likely thought about the website and possible videos to display. Video has become the hot thing to do! If you’re a small or large business not using video, listen up! We have a few tips to share about how to improve your marketing strategy. We know that text is the gold standard in conveying and sharing information. We do it all the time. Between text messages, website text, emails, etc., this has been the traditional way we share information with each other. That’s about to change. We’re seeing video pop up more and more on our social media feeds. We’re seeing video billboards. We’re seeing ads pop up on websites that are…what else? Video. The reason this is happening is because video is more engaging and the effect on the viewer is longer lasting. The other reason this is happening is because viewers can easily digest the information being shared. If you’re handed an owners manual or a video link, which would you use to learn how something new? We’d guess a link would be your choice.

Strategy: How Long Should My Video Be?

Given the above, how long should videos be? We’ve talked about this before in a previous post. Since the attention span of viewers is relatively short, we recommend your video be short. Short means different things to different people, so when we say short, we mean approximately 60 seconds for some and 90 seconds for others. Think about Twitter, SnapChat, Vine…all of those platforms force us to keep it short and to the point. Besides, don’t you like to learn something quickly and move on? That doesn’t mean that longer videos should never be used. Longer videos should be used when appropriate, such as, client testimonials, office tours, or any time it really takes a little longer than 60 seconds to say what needs to be said.

How to Make Your Video Better

Tell stories. People love to listen to stories. Interestingly, videos that tell a story get watched more often than those that don’t. Videos that tell a story and move you emotionally are the ones that get shared most. For example, Samsung created and posted this ad for their new service for the hearing impaired. We shared these because we care about the message and want others to see it.

Think “What Should the Viewer Do Next?”

At the end, are people left wondering, what was the point? Should I click on something? Should I share it? Or did I just waste some of my valuable time? More than likely, you have some form of call to action that you want your viewer to take. Don’t be shy about asking them to do it. Whether it’s “Donate Now” or “Call Us Today,” there should be some call to action so the viewer knows exactly what to do and why they watched the video.

Video SEO

I hope you realize by now that you must optimize your videos to get the most traction with Google and other search engines. Believe it or not you can insert transcriptions into your videos on YouTube…and it’s extremely easy. In fact, YouTube does it for you… automatically. The reason this is important is because these words are like the text on a website. This is where the keywords that are spoken are converted to text and indexed as keywords. If you want to optimize your video for search (for both Google and YouTube…the number 1 and 2 search engines on the planet), you should create a transcription in your videos. These are just a few tips that we hope will help you create and get the most out of your video. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call.

 

Related Articles: 

Hotel Video Production Marketing Strategy

5 Reasons To Include Video in Your Marketing Plan & Strategy

Marketing Strategy

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Best Platform to Host Video

YouTube logo

When we create videos for our clients, they often ask, “Where should I put this video?” Unless they’re creating their video for a commercial to run on cable or broadcast television, this is a very good question. Yes, the obvious answer is to place it on their website, and this is often where it starts, but should it be hosted somewhere else? There are a few schools of thought on this. The SEO companies of the world say to host it on YouTube because it’s owned by Google. Some like to host it on Vimeo because it plays much cleaner and give you options not easily set up on YouTube. Both might be right, but now there are many other players entering the arena.

YouTube just celebrated it’s 10 Year Anniversary and much has changed since it’s inception. YouTube was first started in 2005 and later purchased by Google in 2006 for $1.65 Billion in stock1. Most of the early users were the general public…but not so much by businesses. Since then, many business host their videos on YouTube. In fact, checking Internet Live Stats, as of 11:30 AM on September 23, 2015, there have been over 2,481,613,747,000 YouTube Videos Viewed today! Think of that…from Midnight to 11:30 AM. Mind boggling!

So…Where SHOULD I Post My Video?

YouTube

While YouTube is one of the most often used locations to post your video, it’s not the only one. A couple of pros and cons to YouTube. First, YouTube is easy to embed into your website (or anywhere else), they have highly reliable servers, you can analyze your data from multiple angles, excellent search capacities and search results are viewed as you search (even in a Google search). One of the main cons to YouTube is that content can often be hard to find. Unless someone stumbles upon your video or it’s embedded into your website, most people may not find it easily. YouTube doesn’t lend well if you’re looking for your audience to find you accidentally.

Vimeo

There are many similarities between YouTube and Vimeo; however, one of the most noticeable differences is design. Vimeo is used by many who are very conscientious about design elements and visual components important to their brand. You might have noticed a lot of professional filmmakers listed on Vimeo for this reason. Also, one of the drawbacks to Vimeo is the number of people registered as users. It is a significantly smaller community that YouTube.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the newest members of the video hosting companies. We all know Facebook in a social way, but now they are offering the ability to host a video within your feed…while giving it priority over posts without video. The current algorithm improves your post to be seen if it has video (especially when uploaded to Facebook directly, not hosted elsewhere). With one of the largest audiences on the planet, Facebook will soon be one of the larger video players in the near future. If you already have a Facebook fan base, using video will improve your engagement with your fans. They key is to have a large enough fan base. Without the base, your video will only be seen by a few. One other thing to keep in mind is that people usually log into Facebook to get updates about their families and friends, not learn about your business…so be tasteful in your post quantity!

Wistia

Wistia is a relatively new video hosting website that is a paid site. This might be for you if you wish to embed video and get extreme analytics on the backside such as how long someone watched the video, at what second did they leave (or stop watching), where viewers skipped to, where viewers rewatched, etc. They have a feature called Heat Map that shows you a timeline with color coded action points. You can also integrate email programs with Wistia. This is a little more complex, but worth it if you’re into data.

We know there are many more places to host your videos, but these tend to remain at the top of the list in terms of popularity, ease of use, and providing embedding capabilities with some analytical features. Do you have any sites you use to host your videos? Do you have any better options that we don’t know about? Post them in our comments section. We’d love to learn about them!

1 Wikipedia – History of YouTube

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How to Use Video on LinkedIn

linkedin logo

Did you know that LinkedIn has added the ability to add video to your profile. There are a couple of simple steps you need to take, but, it’s simple. Under the section you want to add the video, click the video option after “Add Media:” You can add a document (think PDF), a Photo (maybe a project you’re working on or a photo of your office building), a link to a website, Video, or Presentation (you can even upload a PowerPoint).

When you link the video, it will embed the video into that section. All you need to do is go to your Profile page, click the little pencil at the top of the section of your Description. A new window will open and allow you to enter your Name, Position, etc. and all the way at the bottom is an area where you can either upload a video or provide a link to media. This is where you’ll want to upload your current, most interesting, video. Once you’ve added the media, you can add a title and a brief description. That’s it! Now, Add to Profile.

The next question is, “What should I put there?” That’s the easy part! We think an explainer video might be best, but here are some other options:

  • Explainer – Essentially a video that tells your potential clients a little about you.
  • Customer/Client Testimonials – Let your clients tell potential clients why they were happy working with you.
  • Product Demo – Show your potential customers something important or new about your product.
  • Service Demo – Show people what you do.

A couple of questions you might have after reading/watching this is “How long should my video be?” While you can click on the link to find out the answer to this, we can sum it up here with: that depends. A commercial is typically 15 or 30 seconds. While commercials are nice, they’re not your best option for LinkedIn. A 60 to 90 second video should do perfectly for LinkedIn because someone who has searched and found you will most likely want to spend a little time learning about you, and 60 to 90 seconds is adequate for that.

This is an example of an Explainer video:

Regardless of length, the key is to tell a story and make the viewer relate to you and your business. It’s very important to help the view understand why they need to hire you. Remember, you’ll be able to host your video on Vimeo or YouTube and embed it anywhere…including LinkedIn. Create one stellar video and use it everywhere! It builds your brand and it builds confidence in you.

If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or post the question in the comments below.

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How to Dress for a Video Shoot

red shirt

How to Dress for a Video Shoot

One of the last questions we get, and usually the day before the shoot, is “What do I wear?” That is an important question…so much so, we’ve created a PDF helping our clients with this problem. We thought it might also make a great blog post for those who haven’t hired us for video production but still want to look good on camera!

What to Wear on Camera

  • Bright & Warm Solids. Bright, warm, solid colors are the best. If you wonder which colors work best, think teal, coral, purple, even orange. These colors pop on screen and make you look your best. Pick colors that pop rather than light colored tops that may blend in with the background. Here’s an example of just the right colors:

  • Avoid Wearing Black, Bright Red, or Bright White. If you have ever seen an interview on television where the person was wearing black, you might remember that their clothing became difficult to see or define…such as a jacket lapel that disappeared. Wearing white usually washes out too much, especially if you’re shooting in front of a white screen. Red bleeds on screen. In person it looks nice, but the screen and the color red are not friendly together. If you’re going to be in front of a green screen, you MUST avoid greens, or you’ll disappear with the rest of the background!
  • Avoid Patterns. Patterns that are busy like checks and herringbone do not do well on screen. Much like the color red, a busy pattern will look like it is ‘buzzing’ on screen. You don’t want your clothing to take away from what you are saying, so avoid these items. A lot can be fixed in post production, but this is one area we cannot. Keep this in mind.
  • Dress as if You Were Meeting an Important Client. If you are a banker, that would mean a suit. If you are a plumber, you might consider a golf or polo shirt. Think of your most important prospect and assume they’ll be watching you.
  • Jewelry. Avoid jewelry if you can. Dangling earrings, necklaces, or bracelets often make noise. You’re used to the noise, so you probably don’t even hear it any more; however, the camera will pick it up. It will sound annoying to the viewer, so avoid it if you can. You can wear stud earrings or a flat laying necklace…but avoid bracelets.
  • Hair and Makeup Should be “You, plus 10%.” This means wear just a little more than you normally would. Additionally, lipstick is a MUST even if you don’t wear it everyday. Wear makeup you’re comfortable with, but add that 10% for the best look on camera! Remember to consider your skin tone and if you have questions, ask your producer.
  • Bring Options. Not sure if what you want to wear will work? Bring it with you to the shoot. Your producer can help you make a final selection and ensure you look your best. If you’re doing multiple videos, consider wearing a couple of outfits so it doesn’t look like you shot all of them at the same time. However, if you are shooting video that you want to keep a consistent look across every video, feel free to wear the same thing.

These tips should help you determine what to wear when you have to be on camera. If you know you’ll be in front of a camera, use this post to help you decide what to wear. Remember, video is a little different than real life. By following these rules, you can look your best on every video.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us directly or post your question in the comments below.

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Office Tours – Showcase Your Space!

empty office

Looking For a Video Idea?

If you work in a field where customers come to your office, you probably keep it looking pretty spiffy.  The level of comfort your clients have in your space is likely important to them, and in turn, you. Virtual Office Tours have become really popular on websites for this exact reason.  A potential client can have a look around the office before they schedule an appointment.  If you run a hotel, medical facility, or even a spa, virtual tours are a really valuable selling tool.  Today, most virtual tours are created with still photos and software that “seams” the shots together giving a 3D effect.  It’s a great tool, but we at Plum Productions think it’s a missed opportunity.

A Video Tour Can Do Everything a Virtual Tour Does – With a Much Greater Marketing Impact.

  • Firstly, they’re narrated.  The viewer can actually hear information about the space they’re seeing.
  • Second, in the narration, they can also hear about different services that are provided in the different spaces.  It’s a marketing video and video tour in one.
  • Lastly, if you feature someone prominent from the office, it also becomes a “Meet the Doctor” or “Meet the Staff” video.

Recently, we created a Video Tour for a local medical office. The video was hosted by the doctor, so patients got a look at his beautiful office, and an idea of who would be providing their treatment.  You’ve have to take a look:

Every business looks for ways to save money, and combining an Office Tour, Marketing video and Meet the Staff video is a great deal. Happy Video Marketing! Jenn

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How Do I Create An Event Video?

image of trade show

Event Videos: Not Just For This Year Anymore!

Here’s a question we get frequently:  “We have an event coming up and would like you to record the event so we can use the video to promote next year’s event.”  To that, we respond, “Yes! But why wait!?!”

When we get this question, we often suggest that they don’t have to wait until next year to get that promotional video. Once we know a little about the event, we can create a video that piques interest. For example, if the event was targeting business owners that want to know how to use technology to help them in their businesses, how would you help them understand that before the event? You’d use a video like this:

The first 0:34 seconds is the promotional video followed by the actual event. In this case,  there were three messages that were important in this video: Where you should market your business (mobile), where you must list your business, and what are the helpful mobile apps helpful in business?  The top three reasons you must attend the event.

Marketing an event is important. It takes flyers, postcards, social media, and word-of-mouth…Add video to the mix to help people explain the upcoming event more clearly. When the video is added to the mix in social media (or through QR Codes on printed materials) you give people the method to share what the event is without losing the quality of the message. It’s like that old telephone game… you tell me, I tell someone else, they tell someone, and before long…the message isn’t the same. Video prevents this by maintaining the message and providing the platform needed to share quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

If you have an upcoming event and need a promotional video, let us know. We can certainly help you fill the event with interested people!

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Does Video Provide an ROI?

image from demo video

Did you know that Digital Video is a very powerful tool in business? Ever notice the games on your iPad or iPhone? Many of them are now using video to advertise to you. Why is that? Because it works.

Product Videos

Video about a product is usually ‘to the point.’ In fact, the most effective videos that are about a product are under 2 minutes. These videos typically contain information that will help a prospective buyer make buying decisions. They include the benefits clearly and support all other material a possible buyer might encounter. Do you want to improve a possible buyer’s chances of buying? The location of the video within the website is more effective if placed near the purchase or buy now button. Once someone has watched the video, he or she should feel confident in making the purchase. If so, you don’t want them looking far for the button to purchase (or phone number, if this is your call to action).

How do you know if Video works?

Good researchers know that calculating cause and effect takes data. Pure data. If you’re going to do a video, you’ll want to know, did it work? One way to determine this is to do some testing before posting the video on your website and after posting the video to your website. Here are a couple of steps to consider: Pre-Test. Measure current data. How long do potential customers stay on a page? Typically people stay on a home page for just enough time to determine – Is this who I was looking for? Can they do what I need them to do? Do they provide the level of professionalism I’m looking for? Can you do the job? Can I trust you? More time on your site may equate to level of comfort and may lead to more sales. But how will you know unless you measure it before and after? Here are some stats that support having online video:

  • 188.2 Million People in the US watched 52.4 Billion Online Content Videos in December 2013. (Source: http://www.invodo.com/resources/statistics/)
  • Professionally produced video optimized for eCommerce outperforms user-generated video (UGC video) by 30%, delivering a 24.7% lift as compared with an 18.7% lift for the UGC video. (Source: http://www.invodo.com/resources/statistics/)
  • 93% of marketers used video for online marketing in 2013. (Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Barriers-Tumble-Video-Marketing-Adoption-Grows/1010374)
  • Mobile is important too! 72.1 million US Smartphone users watched video on their devices at least monthly in 2013. This is expected to rise to 86.8 million, more than a quarter of the US population, in 2014. (Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Long-Form-Video-Content-Rivals-Short-Even-on-Smartphones/1010492)
  • 51.9% of Marketing Professionals worldwide cite video as the type of content with the best ROI. (Source: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Which-Content-Marketing-Tactics-Best-ROI/1009706)

While we may be biased, the stats are now screaming out, “Use Video!!” If you have any questions or comments, please leave them here, or contact us directly.

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Should I Create an “About Us” Video?

Still from testimonial video about Elite Payment Processing

How Does Video Help Your Website?

When we created our website, we contemplated about creating an About Us video or to just have an About Us page. We opted for the text version because we believed it helped our Search Engine Optimization (SEO) because words are easily understood by Google. Since the creation of our website, we’ve learned how important video is to SEO. Not only that, we’ve discovered that an About Us video can help sell products.

Imagine you are looking for a photographer for your event. During your search you find three photographers that you think can do the job. You click on the About Us page for each and find that two of the three pages are text based. When you watch the one with the video, you not only learn about the photographer, you also learn she has a great sense of humor. You think, this is perfect for the event we’re putting together.

Here’s an example of one that could be used as an About Us; however, doesn’t exactly follow the full format of creating an emotional connection first.

Video speaks to the emotions of the buyer, while text speaks to the logic. When you present to emotions, you will connect with the buyer. When the buyer connects with the personality within the video, you have a greater likelihood of acquiring the sale.

Key Points to a Successful About Us Video

  • Be Unique. Your company has a story, a culture, and a personality. This should come through in the video you post. If you’re an accounting firm, you will most likely want to present a professional, straight forward message. If you’re an advertising agency with flair, you’ll want to present a professional, creative video.
  • Earn Trust. Use a testimonial or two in your About Us video. Think about it. Potential customers are looking for someone, they’ve elected to do more research about you, why not give them supporting material in the form of a testimonial.
  • Keep the Video Short. Try to keep the video to somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes, but make the first minute the most emotionally connective.
  • Make It Personable. This may sound logical, but many people want to push a sales pitch; instead, make it about the benefits of using your company and the values you hold. Connect with the potential client.

If we can help, let us know! Watch for our About Us video, coming soon!

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Interesting Stats About Video & Online Marketing

ipad with analytics used during meeting

CMO.com produced a list of interesting advertising stats from various sources on the internet. It shows us that most people are ok with video advertising on the web, but, as you’ll see, there are some formats that work better than others. Here’s some of the list:

  • Want to engage your customers (or potential customers)? 44% of US email marketers report increased engagement rates in messages containing video.
  • One fourth of viewing times of streaming video on tablets is spent with contact more than 60 minutes long.
  • Each minute, the equivalent of 100 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube!
  • Time of advertising videos:
    • 13% are less than 15 seconds
    • 36% are longer than 30 seconds
    • 72% of in-stream online videos ads are watched to their completion
    • 79% of in-stream online videos ads are watched to their midpoints
  • 27 Times. That’s the multiple of consumers that are likely to click through online video (versus a banner ad).
  • Digital video advertising (US) will reach at least $5.4 Billion by 2016 (while in 2011, it was $2 Billion)
  • 65% of online business-to-consumer marketers use YouTube, compared to 61% for business-to-business.

Here’s what some of these stats mean to you. Remember how pop-ups were the best way to advertise? Every website used them…and they were very successful. Now, they’re just annoying. Not to say that video will be annoying, because it probably won’t unless it is used improperly, we believe we are on the largest increase in the use of video for digital marketing. We believe that every branding and advertising campaign should include a component of video. Whether online or on television, it is where potential customers can best understand you.

We like to say that if a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth 1.8 million words. Don’t know why that math works, check out how we came to that number at our previous post about a Video is Worth 1.8 Million Words.

There are more stats at the original article, but we wanted to share with you the highlights that you most likely will want to know.

Source: Abramovich, G. (2013). 15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Online Video Advertising. CMO.com. Retrieved from: http://www.cmo.com/articles/2013/8/27/video_15_mind_blowing.html on May 1, 2014. 
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If a Picture Is Worth 1000 Words…Video is Worth 1,800,000!

image of person holding sign that says a picture is worth a thousand words

We’ve had people ask, how in the world do you get 1.8 million words from a video? So, let us show you (I know, the picture says 1 million, but it’s actually 1.8 million).

If we all agree that a picture is worth 1,000 words… And we shoot video at 30 frames per second (fps) That gives us 1000 x 30 = 30,000 words every second!

And we shoot the video to a length of 60 seconds…

30,000 words / second * 60 seconds =

1.8 million words!

Why is this important? If you are thinking about resetting your website or changing the way it looks, a video is a great way to add a stronger message or call to action. Nothing says “Here’s what we do,” “Here’s what are customers say,” and “Here are the results,” better than video!

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