Showing posts with label online social media video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online social media video. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
4 Innovative Ways to Use Web Video for Small Business
| This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. You’ve seen videos of people doing ridiculous things on the Internet. But you probably haven’t seen too many videos of small businesses sharing their good work. Web video is more or less the domain of the ridiculous — whether that means something cute or something painful. Even top ads and commercials have a touch of the absurd (Old Spice, Dos Equis, I’m looking at you). So how does a small business compete with disturbingly low attention spans and a whole Internet of viral videos? Read on for five ways that small businesses can take advantage of web video without blowing their budgets and let us know your own success stories in the comments below. 1. Request User Submissions“Going viral” is a frustrating term both for its elusiveness and effectiveness. Viral videos can quickly get your product and brand out to a wide audience, but there is also practically no guaranteed way to “make” a video viral. Save yourself the trouble and get your audience to do the work for you. Ask your fans or customers to send in videos of themselves using your product. For some, this can be a guaranteed hit. Such is the case with Michael Di Pippo, inventor of Pen Fishing Rods, a telescoping fishing rod that collapses to the size of a large pen. If that didn’t spark your interest, check the above video of someone actually catching a fish with it. Di Pippo bet that the shock value of it actually working would inspire customers to take videos using his product. The result was a motivated user-base and free publicity. You might not be selling something as unique, but you can still encourage your clients to send in videos of them using whatever you’re selling. It’s a good way of extending the relationship past the point of sale and building a community. Alternatively you can try to create a viral sensation like Blendtec’s Will It Blend? series. Rather than testing their blenders on tomatoes and walnuts, they started blending strange products like glowsticks, an iPad, and a crowbar. As a result, the videos (and Blendtec’s product) received millions of views and all it took was a little creativity. And a crowbar. 2. Replace ContentTry making a video instead of writing out your business updates. It’s easier for people to click play on a ~5 minute video than read a 500-word news brief. It helps to have some experience with basic editing and a decent camera, but people will ultimately tune in because your content is interesting or useful. Try offering deals or discount codes through your videos, while also talking about your product or service. Using video to share business news or deals will help your business feel more personable as customers get accustomed to seeing you speak. This choice isn’t for everyone and every business, but it can help make your updates easier to digest and give your homepage a boost of personality. 3. Teach Them and They Will Come Product demos are fun, but may not work for every type of business. For example, it could be tough to do a “demo” if you sell quilts or home garden supplies. Instead think of ways to teach and give back to your customers while also using your product. Selling quilts? Try a “How To” video on how you sew your quilts. Garden supplies? Make a video on how to plant a variety of bulbs and seeds using the products you sell. If you’re business isn’t based around a physical product, think about doing a webcast or video on how to use your advanced features or set up the service. 4. Make Some Face Time If you’re a small business, you can make your size work for you with video services, like Skype or even video calling on Gmail. Huge corporations like PepsiCo and Virgin are constantly trying to make their outreach more personal by attaching real people and real names to their customer service and social sites. To get even more personal, create a business Skype or Gmail address (or any other service that allows you to video chat). Let customers know they can call you for some digital face time if they have any questions about your product or need help troubleshooting it. Doing so will help you build a stronger relationship with your customers and make your business feel more approachable at the same time. |
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
5 YouTube Marketing Tips for Better Engagement
n addition to its incredible success as the de facto portal for video uploads and viewing, YouTube is itself a community. For brands, it provides an additional viable opportunities to spark discussion with followers. It’s a place to build relationships and create a space for users to converse with each other about branded content.
Just as Facebook has become an incredibly popular place for brands to maintain a dialogue with their customers, YouTube offers a similar opportunity, although the conversation is driven primarily by video content. Treating YouTube not only as a platform for video distribution, but as a forum for engagement deepens the customer experience.
So how do companies make the most of the conversations happening on YouTube?
1. Start With Great Content
Whether you’re a popular consumer brand or an emerging B2B company, engaging content that prompts discussion and social pass-along requires outside-the-box thinking to make an impression (pun intended). Like any other content provided to social audiences, videos on YouTube must be engaging and compelling enough to spark those discussions and encourage sharing.
A classic example of this is “Will it Blend?” Blendtec’s famous video campaign that purées popular gadgets is an ingenious way to captivate viewers while demonstrating the power of the product. The ROI equaled its creativity, with sales jumping 700% since the campaign started four years ago. Great content brings users to your channel and your videos; engaging them once they arrive is another challenge.
2. Don’t Post Your Videos and Run
Pairing good content with a commitment to engaging viewers and commenters will help strengthen those relationships on YouTube. Old Spice is a fantastic example of how great content worked in conjunction with a smart response strategy. After an intensely popular run for its initial commercials, Old Spice took the relationship building potential of the YouTube community to a new level by creating 180 individual video responses to those who commented on the originals. It’s now highlighted as one of the most successful interactive campaigns in history, with 40 million impressions in the first week and a 107% jump in sales after the first month.
3. Know Thyself
Understanding what your brand voice is and what your goals are will shape how your brand interacts in this space. Are you aiming to be a resource for your customers with how-to videos? Be ready to respond to questions and be as helpful in the comments as you are on film. Going strictly for the fun factor? Take a cue from Old Spice and approach your responses with the same attitude in your content that got the discussion going in the first place.
4. Use Data to Inform Your Actions
Pull lessons from platform-specific data points, such as what people “like” and “dislike” on YouTube. Initiate discussion about what’s popular and what’s not. Your viewers are voting with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down — try to get a dialog going about why.
5. Cross-promote
There are discussions happening on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, often about the same content. If you post the same video to Facebook and YouTube, draw on conversations happening in other spaces.
For example, when you post a video to Facebook that’s seen traction on YouTube, point it out in a post:
“10,000 people in Acme’s YouTube community ‘liked’ this video. What do you think? Tell us here and join the discussion on YouTube.”
You’ll expose different parts of your community to other opinions and potentially encourage others to join the conversation regularly on more of your company’s social pages.
Like Facebook and Twitter, YouTube can be a fertile ground for interacting with your customers. Its features and content may differ, but the basic principles for interaction remain the same. Keeping this in mind and taking a savvy approach to YouTube responses can help your company make the most of this incredibly popular social space.
Article provided by Mashable
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Online Video Ads??
Video ads and Online Video marketing
It makes excellent business sense to use video ads to promote your business. They will give you a chance to generate more interest in all of your products and services, which can convert leads into customers. It's one of the best ways to introduce people to your business.
Promotion by using videos is essentially putting short commercials online. They will give potential customers valuable information about the products or services you offer, by acting as your online marketer. Using videos in marketing harnesses visual messages that will serve to drive traffic to your site in a much more memorable way than conventional banner or text ads. Use the type of online video marketing that best showcases your company to the market, in order that it will be the most effective.
When you promote your company through the use of videos, you'll need to keep a few things in mind. Make sure your ads are short and simple, and only use information that is pertinent to your business. Promote the benefits that people will receive when they deal with your company. Video ads should show your potential customers the appropriate message about your company with clean and simple photography, to grab peoples' attention. Only utilize videos that truly show the services and products your company specializes in. When consumers are problem-solving, and then they see your video, showing a solution through the use of the services or products you provide, they will be much more likely to consider dealing with you.
The internet-savvy audience of today will appreciate online video marketing that gives them information they can use, regarding the products or services that your company provides. Many people are more inclined to watch something as opposed to reading something, so utilizing videos plays into that. It is also easier to evoke an emotional response through a video than can be done with written words. Promoting your company through online video marketing will enhance the appreciation of your potential customers, while giving them valid information about your services or products. This will also spread your company's brand online.
Video ads will locate new customers and result in more sales, which is the obvious goal for your company. Effective marketing will depend on your using ads that let people learn about your business by viewing helpful, informative videos. Online videos can use the Internet to connect you with many potential customers everywhere in the world, and it doesn't take a lot of effort on your part.
Utilizing the power of online video marketing, you will be able to attract many leads, with nothing more than the click of a mouse. Anyone online will have access to your videos, so make yours stand out, to gain the most exposure. Video ads will put your brand out for everyone to see, and they are one of the most effective means of advertising today. Creative videos will draw people in, and entice them to learn more about your business. Using videos to deliver the message of your company will give potential visitors a means to remember you that will be retained better than audio or print ads.
Sean Allen
Director of Social Media and Sales
Cell: 619 301 4533
Posted via email from WeTubeU
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