Marketing With Video

Marketing With Video was first published to Power To The People

With my new job I have been thrown into another area of marketing that I knew existed, but had no idea how powerful it was. My new job, or part of it, video marketing for our company. To be quite truthful, I was skeptical about how well it would work, much less where to start. I was scared that if I failed, I may lose my job. What if nobody watched? Well I'm glad to tell you that it has been a huge success! As with a lot of things, you can learn a lot about a topic if you just search the web, and that is exactly what I did. It turns out my boss was right, we needed to expand our online presence, and video did just that and increased our sales. So as usual, I wanted to share my experience with you and give you some tips if you are thinking about using video for your business. A great place to start is a making a game plan. I found this article that gave me some great advice for getting it done:

Five Habits of Successful Video Marketers

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Video marketing requires a certain amount of discipline, attention to detail, and rigorous focus on analytics to get right. Yet, it remains as much an art as it is a science. In this post, we look at five habits that separate the few from the crowds when it comes to delivering on exceptional video marketing campaigns. 1. Plan Ahead Try to avoid common roadblocks and pitfalls that will otherwise prevent you from capturing video and creating new content to share with your audience. This means thinking ahead, creating a content schedule, and incorporating trends and local events into your planning. Consider when and where you’ll be able to shoot video, and factor in extra time to do so. You might even want to scout out locations before getting there so you’ll already know the shots you want to get (or avoid) when you’re on site. Other key steps to take would be to ensure you have all the necessary equipment, and that it’s all in working order. Meaning, your batteries are charged, your cables are organized, and everything is packed securely and ready to go whenever you are. It could also mean that your video recording studio (using the term lightly - it’s ok if this is just a tripod) is always setup so that when inspiration strikes, you don’t have to spend half an hour on setup while your ideas run away from you. 2. Stick to a Schedule Committing to a regular cadence for sharing new videos helps build and maintain momentum with your audience. Hitting it out of the park with a viral video is relatively unlikely to happen, meaning you’re much better off creating more videos that drive engagement and reach on a regular basis. Producing lots of video is easy said than done, right? Actually, it doesn’t have to be. Keep your clips short and sweet, get to know some animation tools like Animoto, GoAnimate or Powtoon, and invest in some simple products that will make your life easier, like an iPhone tripod and a decent microphone. Seek free or reasonably priced stock footage, images, and music sources to mix things up. Commit to an easy schedule at first, such as once or twice a month, and go from there. If you still think it might be too much to produce videos on a regular basis, try thinking creatively about how you create and reformulate other types of content. Throwing an event? Film it. Got a cool client in the office? Ask them a few questions about recent trends relevant to your business. Read a cool article recently? Record a short video with your personal take on the matter, or offer an interesting and related fact pertaining to the key points that were made. Finish reading...

Great advice, and I have actually learned a lot from Sprout Video for making and getting my videos found on the net. In my testing I did find some interesting results. My videos that were shorter in length tended to do better. Videos that were 10 minutes almost never were watched all the way through. I wish I had found this article before, and it would have helped me out a bunch, so I'm including a little of it here:

5 Important Lessons on Video Ad Length for Demographic Targeting

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Today’s essential read comes from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Tremor Video, and Millward Brown Digital. The three collaborated on a free report called Multiscreen Video Best Practices that offers timely data on video ad effectiveness. NideoScreensTo create the report, researchers tested three different video ads in two lengths each (10 seconds and 30 seconds) on desktops, phones, and tablets. The ads represented three verticals: automotive, CPG, and quick casual restaurants. They were shown to 1,800 18- to 54-year-olds in the U.S 1. Size Doesn’t Bother Millennials The screen showing the ad matters, the report finds, but not equally for every demographic. Millennials (age 18 to 34) were impacted by both smartphone and tablet ads at roughly the same extent: Their scores for brand appeal and persuasion were close for both types of devices. 2. Go Bigger for Older Viewers For older adults (age 35 to 54), however, tablet ads had far more impact than phone ass. That group showed markedly higher brand appeal and persuasion scores after seeing an ad on a larger screen. Older viewers were also more likely to rate tablet ads as interesting, unique, or involving. 3. Go Short for Millennials So how can video marketers best reach millennials? With shorter ads. The report finds that young adults scored 10-second ads higher than 30-second ads for brand appeal and persuasion whether they watched those ads on a smartphone or tablet. Read Entire Article...

Great stuff. It is very important that you keep in mind your audience's age when planning your videos. There is so much information on the web that you can find about video, video marketing and video seo. If you are interested in learning more, for FREE, check out some of my favorite blogs on Video Marketing - Video Brewery Reel SEO MD Internet Marketing Solutions Enjoy - and I hope this really helps you -  catch ya on the flip side!