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7 easy tips for online video marketing success

Online video is all the rage but are you making the most of your web videos?             Here are 7 easy tips for online video marketing success   Make sharing as easy as possible. Integrated sharing controls and embed codes make it possible for your viewers to spread the word …

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5 things to ask your web video production company

If you have made the decision to use web video as part of your marketing campaign, it’s wise to appoint a professional web video production company to make the videos. With increasingly sophisticated equipment and excellent editing software, some business may decide to go it alone. But using the professionals is, in the long run,  …

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Developing your web video strategy

  The growth of web video is well documented, so I’ll quote just two more ‘YouTube’ facts: Over 48hrs worth of video is uploaded to YouTube EVERY MINUTE. The site has over 3billion views every day. The commercial opportunities of this change in web user behaviour are less well understood, especially by medium and smaller …

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Are video websites good for business?

There have always been plenty of great reasons to create a video website, but one of the main reasons why businesses have been resistant is the costs associated with web design and video production. However, that is no longer a factor with reputable companies offering introductory wesbite packages with video from around £1100.   Can …

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Facebook Video Tutorials

All you need to know about Facebook and Facebook Marketing All you need to know about Facebook and Facebook Marketing is the second series in our social media marketing video tutorials that our sister company Opace are rolling out over the next few months covering Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. In this Facebook video tutorials blog …

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7 easy tips for online video marketing success 5 things to ask your web video production company Developing your web video strategy Are video websites good for business? Facebook Video Tutorials

Sep
20

Beyond YouTube – Getting your web video seen

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web video marketing

YouTube is sometimes regarded as the second most used search engine, and it is essential that companies that use web video as part of their online video marketing strategy upload video to their websites. However, uploading a video is not enough by itself to make sure the video gets seen, and there are other submission strategies that will promote your web video – and therefore your business:

Video marketing tip 1 – Video sharing websites

There are literally hundreds of web video sharing sites, although none currently comes anywhere close to YouTube in terms of their audience. However, almost all allow you to submit for free and should be given consideration. Remember, you are trying to build links, establish your website as a quality location of regularly updated, original and relevant content so the more opportunities you have to do this the better – and if they are free then better still. Nobody is suggesting you submit to them all, but that you go ‘beyond YouTube’ and submit your web video to a select number of “other” quality video sharing websites. Well known services like Vimeo and PhotoBucket have a high Google PageRank and an increasing number of users – and you, your colleagues and customers may have other favourites that are worth considering.

Video marketing tip 2 – Blogging

In almost all business sectors, blogs and bloggers play an important role often wielding great influence within the sector and with potential customers. Obvious examples are in fashion or music, but almost any sector will have evangelists and experts that can blog regularly. These blogs are then often linked to other blogs and spread ‘virally’ so will help you to gain great exposure.

What bloggers often need is content, and the content they rarely receive is web video. So the chances are, with the right video sent to the right blogger, it will be used. What is ‘the right video’? It’s likely to be informative rather than promotional, a ‘how-to-guide’ not a ‘buy from me’ video. With carefully crafted content and correct tagging it can drive traffic to the website. Who is ‘the right blogger’? It will be someone who blogs regularly on the relevant topics, whose demonstrates expertise and whose blogs generate responses.

You’ll need to spend time researching and reading, and take more time to build up relationships by responding to posts etc. Don’t ask out of the blue to link to your video, but get to know the blogger, build up a rapport – you’ll then be in a position to develop a longer-term relationship.

Video marketing tip 3 – Social media marketing

It may seem obvious but online video marketing means using social media channels as much as or more than traditional media. Make sure you link your web video to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other sites that you (and your customers) use. Make sure the video can be Bookmarked, StumbledUpon, Digged etc to maximise its ability to be referenced by others.

Video marketing tip 4 – Forums

The way in which potential customers are doing business has changed because the World Wide Web – and it is changing the Web in return. Plenty of buyers visit review sites and forums to gather information and find out about others’ experiences. Whatever your sector, there will active forums about the area your business is involved in. Becoming part of these forums, responding and advising using your expertise is a great way to build your brand and will open another avenue to distribute your web video. As with blogs, this is about building up trust and relations. Most blogs won’t let you post links straight away – they want you to contribute.

All four of the channels discussed will require time – to research, to upload and to contribute. However, they do offer excellent opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of your online video marketing – and that will mean improved recognition and sales for your business.

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Aug
19

5 video marketing myths

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Web Video MythsHow we use the web changes constantly and one of the most recent changes has been the growth in online videos. YouTube, which sees over 2 billion views a day, has largely been responsible for changing web user’s behaviour. What started as a home for the weird and whacky has itself become one of the most useful tools in web marketing and pointed the way to the future for business websites.

It’s becoming clear that web users like video content. Media websites have increasingly moved to online video – and they have been some of the main beneficiaries of Google’s recent algorithm changes which seem to indicate the vide content will play an increasing role in SEO.

So why do so few businesses use web video marketing? Here we examine some of the myths about web video marketing:

1. It’s too expensive

Like all marketing, web video marketing needs to be cost effective. It’s important to remember that good video has a much greater potential for going viral than good or even great text. Not only will it allow you to leverage the power of YouTube [now the no. 2 search engine according to some] but there is a greater chance of your video being embedded and linked by others. This not only helps build the good quality links that helps with your sites SEO, but does something much more important – gets your business, expertise and products/services noticed. How valuable is that?

Additionally, production web video marketing material is an increasingly competitive market and there are plenty of entry level companies offering great value.

2. It’s difficult to create content

You can find some great ideas about coming up with web video content, but to put it simply, if you can write about it, you can make a video about it – and often with much greater effect. If you sell products, showing how they work not only makes the benefits clearer for the customer, but actually prevents them from choosing your competitors; the customer already starts to think of your company as experts and they may start to connect with the person presenting the video – turning your business into a brand.

From ‘Meet the Team’ to product reviews, conference/exhibition videos to FAQ’s there are dozens of topics that will make great web video marketing for your business. Nobody will pretend that it doesn’t take preparation and dedication – lots of valuable things do – but the rewards for the business should be well worth it.

3. It’s too embarrassing

To coin a phrase, it’s not all about you! Seriously, there may be other people in the organisation [or family or friends] that aren’t embarrassed. Or you can feature just the product without appearing in the video yourself. One thing to remember is that most viewers are not expecting Hollywood standards. In fact, slick and smart videos are often actively disliked by viewers. Most people are looking to see real people talking honestly, giving their expertise for free.

Additionally, searching the web should deliver a wide range of existing video content that will be useable for your web video marketing. Others are likely to have already made and uploaded online reviews. Enthusiasts will have created ‘how it works’ videos. These will make great content for your website – and save your blushes

4. Videos have limited SEO value

Increasingly, search engines try to reflect what visitors’ value in websites. Search engines want to deliver users websites that provide a good experience – great copy, interactivity via social media etc and – as we have seen – online video. Therefore search engines actively prioritise those business that use online video marketing. Look yourself – next time you do a search on Google see how prominent video content is featured. Again, they are often YouTube videos. Including online video marketing will allow your business to benefit from this channel too.

There is best practice for all online videos around tags, titles, descriptions etc. to gain the most SEO benefit, but they are essentially no more difficult or indeed different to any other SEO practices.

5. It’s just for Big Businesses

Smaller businesses often feel that their customers don’t want video. The facts tell a different story – and point to a future where online video marketing plays an increasingly important role:

  • More than 27.4 million UK Internet users (78% of the total UK Internet audience) viewed 3.2 billion videos online.
  • 68% of people who watch online videos, will in turn, pass links for these videos onto their friends… turning them into viral traffic machines.
  • More than 65% of the people who watch online videos are between the ages of 35 and 64 (and 67% of these earn middle to high incomes)

Already changes in mobile technology has seen a massive increase in mobile searches and related video viewing. Small business can sit back and let large brands dominate, or they can look at the facts and consider the value of web video marketing.

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Jul
21

The importance of web video in internet marketing

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web video marketingThe importance of internet marketing cannot be denied.

It has been proven time and time again to be cheaper and often more effective than offline marketing such as TV, Radio and Print. The round the clock and global availability of the internet makes it possible for business to market their products and services anytime, to anyone and in real-time. However, internet marketing will only be successful with the use of appropriate techniques and tools.

An impressive and useful website is the basic requirement of any business looking to promote itself online, but to make it truly popular there are lots of other factors that come into play. Relevant and informative content, good navigation, use of visually appealing images, search engine marketing, social media marketing and interesting videos are some of the features that can make your website popular.

Let’s look at content…

Text content and pictures provide the general information about your business and typically form the basics of a web page, but a web video can impart so much more than just text and images, for example personality. By adding videos to your website, you can give your visitors and potential customers a much better idea about your business. For instance, a hospitality business can include a video clip to show the premises, services, staff and location of its hotels or guest houses. Not only would it give a better idea to potential customers about the services, but it would also make the website more engaging and interesting, helping to keep visitors on the site for longer.

Let’s look at marketing…

Web videos can be hosted on YouTube as well as other video and social websites which are proactively searched by a global audience of potential customers. YouTube is now considered by many as the second largest search engine – with over 2 billion views a day. It’s free, SEO friendly and still growing. Facebook has more than 700 million users worldwide, that’s 1 in every 13 people on Earth. Twitter has over 200 million users, sending out over a billion tweets per week. If you don’t have web video content, then you will be missing out on an invaluable way to promote your business and gain more brand exposure using these networks.

So how can you take advantage of web video?

Businesses can of course produce these videos with basic recording equipment such as a web cam, mobile phone or cheap digital camera, which can work very well for things like video testimonials, blogs and how-to guides. But for a superior and quality rich video promotion, you will probably need to consider a professional web video company who will use the best cameras, recording equipment and lighting. A good web video production company will also help to market your video using social media, video networks, email and even optimise your video for SEO to improve its ranking in search engine results. Without a doubt, the inclusion of web videos on websites and social media can be one of the most effective ways of strengthening any internet marketing campaign.

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Jul
18

Is web video is changing the way we sell to customers?

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Web video advertisingEveryone loves to watch fun and informative videos and animated graphics, hence creating an interesting video for your internet marketing campaign is bound to grab the reader’s attention.

Marketing your products and services using a video website or on social media sites like YouTube and Facebook has become so so successful because audio and visual stimulus is proven to increase memory retention – people remember what they see!

Web video advertising

In the past, when any company wanted to advertise their products and services to the masses, they had to create expensive TV commercials or radio ads. All these processes required a significant investment of money and time.

With the advent of the internet, social networks and web video technology, advertising  has become so easy that any of us can do it using some basic web video advertising techniques. Social media is changing the way we communicate with each other and how we do business. Today, all you need to do is create an interesting video with good content, which you can do yourself or with the help of a video production company, and you can get connected with the people that you want to target instantly. 

Delivering the sales message has also improved by using web video. Your target customers will react better to messages delivered using video as it helps to establish a personal and emotional connection with the viewer, enabling them to see a real person and company, and fully understand what you are trying to sell. Video production companies can help you to formulate the key messages and deliver them in a way that will turn viewers into customers.

There has been change in the attitude of the customers as well, they want to communicate with the service providers and expect to have the complete knowledge of the product they are buying. Customers are now expecting to have video content provided to them as standard as they are well aware of the power video has in enabling them to make a decision.

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Jul
18

How to maximise your Social Media with Web Video Marketing

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Web video marketingAccording to a recent estimation, more than 28 million people in the UK now view videos online every month, where YouTube alone is ranked as the number 2 search engine by many internet marketers.

It is also speculated that in the coming years, internet marketing campaigns which do not include video content will be dead before they even begin. Hence businesses are starting to adopt video integration using social media, which is a cost-effective, simple, yet powerful method that allows them to market their products and services directly to customers, using web video.

Videos in search engine results

Videos also rank well on search engines, like Google, Yahoo and Bing, and many businesses are starting to create regular video content (e.g. video blogs and video testimonials), which they then upload to sites like YouTube and Facebook which can be indexed in search results.

Videos on social networking and bookmarking sites

Social sites like Twitter, Squidoo and Digg are also used to link to video content, helping to boost its popularity in search engines.

Posting the promotional video on social networking sites is incredibly effective as it tends to attract viewers more easily than was possible with traditional text and images, plus it holds them there for longer, helping to increase the chances of success.

All you need to do is to create an interesting video that has the capability to hold the customer. It doesn’t need to be fancy or TV production quality – it just needs to be informative and something that visitors will want to watch.

You can hire a video production company to help you to produce a great video. They will be able to advice on the script, delivery, setting and even the use of actors if required. Most video production companies will create a free quotation for you. This will not only help to convey your message to customers in the best possible way, but also maximise your social media marketing efforts.

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Jul
18

Great ideas for online video content

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Online video ideasIf you’re website was not seen by the second largest search engine, you might be concerned to say the least, and yet it’s true of most websites.

YouTube and Google Marketing

YouTube is now considered by many as the second largest search engine – with over 2 billion views a day. It’s free, SEO friendly and still growing. If your website hasn’t got video content, then you will be missing out on an invaluable way to promote your business and gain more brand exposure. Google’s latest shake up of its algorithm, from which YouTube emerged as one of the ‘winners’, also appears to increase the SEO value given to web video. Even without these changes web video has long been recognised as a great way to attract visitors and engage with them. We need to move away from seeing websites as solely – or even largely – text driven. However, even more so than with text, many small businesses find web video a difficult concept both in terms of physically creating the video [and the costs involved] and what the content should be. I’ll come back to the former at some other date but want to offer some basic ideas to generate great video content.

1. Meet the Team

‘People buy people’ is as true for the World Wide Web as for old school face-to-face sales, perhaps even more so when you want your local, small business to compete against ‘the big boys’ and video is a good way of getting some of the personality of the company seen by potential customers. A straight piece to camera ‘Hi I am xxxxx’ is unlikely to come over too well, and it’s not actually something you would do face-to-face with clients. Try something a little different – perhaps film a planning or project meeting, or getting one of the newer team members to film a ‘Day In the Life Of..’

2. How Things Work or How-To Guides

This is perhaps the most obvious but still essential uses for online video. Consumers don’t want – and don’t need – to read through either printed manuals or online instructions when a video can show them everything they need to know. From setting up new equipment to baking bread, I don’t think there is a single business that would not benefit from having such videos about their products and services.

3…and now ‘The News’

There is no better way of keeping your customers up-to-date, and continuing to show your company’s ‘personality’ than with a short video of your latest news and activities. Every business has news – new products, offers or discounts, new staff, premises or forthcoming events – so you should never be short of content for a weekly or monthly update. They offer great marketing opportunities – customer’s can subscribe via the website or your YouTube channel, you can use it as part of your email marketing or direct to their mobile. You’ll be able to track all this so you’ll be able to measure your ROI on your investment in web video.

4. Ask the Expert

Whatever your line of business, you are a professional and online video allows you to make sure others see you as a source of expertise and authority, hopefully delivered in a friendly and approachable way. Forget about selling anything in these videos except your knowledge and experience; once you have established that you know what you are talking about the sales are likely to follow. Can’t think what to talk about? One of the most obvious is to talk about the basics of your profession – what is APR? How does bread rise? How do you measure an inside leg? Think about the questions you’re most often asked by customers, or perhaps try to link your products and services to something topical or a forthcoming event.

5. Read the Reviews

Reviews and feedback are another growing area of the internet and its unlikely your customers will buy any product or service without checking out the online customer reviews. Therefore make reviews part of your website. It’s a difficult concept – criticising what you sell – but you are professional enough to know all products/services have pros/cons not rights/wrongs, and in fact you can use the review to address some of the areas of concern expressed in the online reviews, and point viewers to other/additional services and products at the same time. Why not go one step further and get your customers to post online reviews of both the company and the products/services? Testimonials are an important way to win business, so what could be better than seeing ‘real people’ giving their honest opinions about the things they bought and the services they received? These are just a few ideas for getting starting with web video. Whichever approach you take, the important thing is to do it – the growth of internet marketing and online video marketing as both a search mechanism and part of the ‘web experience’ is going to continue for a long time yet.

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