* 85% of successful viral campaigns are simplistically entertaining
* Adopt a seamless integration of active content
* Invoke emotions in the audience
* Create sequels
* Do not restrict access

Viral marketing is one of the most cost-effective techniques to bring your message across to the mass audience for most internet marketing firms. Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money on television commercials, newspapers ads or celebrity branding, viral marketing ensures that your fans do all the work by disseminating your message to their friends, family members and even total strangers.

But although this technique costs virtually next to nothing, you still need to learn what makes a viral campaign successful.

Firstly, hire a web designer to integrate a variety of active content seamlessly to deliver your message across to the public. Although it’s widely understood that viral campaigns generally make use of interesting Flash games, compelling video clips or emotive images to capture attention, many campaigners do not take advantage of integrating all of these components to deliver one powerful message. A fantastic exception though is the “Why So Serious?” viral campaign launched in 2008 in the months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight.

“Why So Serious?” is integrated with countless number of touch points. There are online games, live streaming audio, scavenger hunts, downloadable trailers, specialty items and so on hosted on one website. Such an extensive amount of work done on this site has not only resulted in users discussing about this website design but also built up the hype of the upcoming movie.

As a result, this comprehensive campaign has earned the site over 10 million unique visitors from over 75 countries.

But if you do not have the manpower or resources to emulate the “Why So Serious?” viral campaign, then make sure you have an engaging storyline that tugs at the heartstrings of the public. An excellent example is “A Virgins Plea” viral campaign.

A website was created in 2006 by a 25 year-old-virgin who made a bet to get 5 million hits in 30 days so he will be able to lose his virginity to a female friend. The website only consists of a short text. There are no Flash videos, audio or even a single picture. Incredibly however, the website has garnered so much publicity that the creator of the website had to admit on record that the website was a hoax.

Even so, it is obvious what the impact of a simple story can do. Web surfers who felt for the creator bombarded the site. Although it is unwise to lie to your mass audience, it is clear that a good story can go a long way in viral marketing.

So if you have carried out a successful viral campaign, what’s next? Well, don’t just stop there; create sequels or other active content to keep your fan base satisfied. “I Got A Crush… On Obama” is a viral video created while US President Barack Obama was still a senator. Since the video’s meteoric rise in popularity, Obama Girl used her fame to launch a website. With new videos and articles being regularly posted on the site, Obama Girl continues to be a prominent online personality.

Although these viral campaigns are different by nature, they have achieved immense success. Another important factor to note is that all of these websites are easily accessible to everyone. Do not make registration compulsory, or require users to download a certain software. Also, engage in SEO service to ensure your campaign comes out tops in every search engine.

Emulate the factors of these successful viral campaigns to appeal to the mass audience. But remember to be creative and different. The audience likes surprises.

—

Christina is an online marketing associate at Singapore Internet Marketing Company – Conversion Hub. She also actively contributes to forums on topics related to advertising and website designers. She also does website design. Christina graduated with a Singapore degree in business management, majoring in marketing.

Being referred by some as the “newest marketing revolution”, video marketing is definitely gaining a lot of popular audience. So what is it that sets video marketing apart from other marketing paradigms? What are the main benefits of using video marketing over other conventional and well known ways of marketing? In this write up, we try and explore the answers to these commonly asked questions and try to evaluate and analyze the essence of video marketing in general.

First and foremost, video is one of the most interactive ways of interfacing with your prospect. The whole feeling of watching someone live and talking gives the clients a more reassuring effect and thus, it bolsters your brand image in the minds of the client. As the common phrase goes, people these days tend to believe what they see and video therefore, happens to be one of the best mediums to stamp your point across to your prospects with authority. The simplest way to picture this concept is by putting yourself in their shoes. Imagine you are reading about a product, lets assume that product is a used car. Now, if the same car is being listed by another dealer, who is willing to send you a video of the vehicle, it is eminent that you would favor buying the vehicle from the dealer who is willing to share some videos, photographs and other media with you.

This is as simple as saying, you just don’t trust anyone owning a blog and claiming to sell a product, claiming to be effective, until and unless you see the product and its claims right in front of your eyes.

Another reason as to why video has gained considerable popularity amongst marketers is because it gives the marketers more space to test their creative juices. What I mean by saying that is, that it is not possible for all marketers to pen their thoughts down and some campaigns do require video demonstrations. Therefore, those marketers who find it difficult to jot their ideas across on a text pad and paste it on their websites, find it easier and better to use video marketing to put their points across to their prospects in a cleaner, more interactive and youthful way.

Besides, thinking from a prospects point of view, which medium would you like   to be detailed through? Interactive, moving pictures depicting a story, or boring mundane lumps of text written in stereotypical language, describing a product that is not actually present there for you to review? Think about it, I am sure you would be prompted to move onto video marketing to strike that special chord with your clients.

Mike Saunders provides Small Business Marketing Ideas and coaches clients in his firm Marketing Huddle LLC and also is a Marketing Consultant with the Denver Small Business Development Center (SBDC). By visiting http://www.MarketingHuddle.com you can get his 2-hour Marketing Coaching System FREE and view the “interview with Mike” to learn more about his unique approach to marketing tools and systems.

YouTube now accounts for 25 percent of all Google searches. Their search engine numbers state for a fact that “more searches are done through YouTube than through yahoo.” Studies have also shown that traffic from video sites can convert as high as 30 percent

Online video marketing is one of the most powerful mediums on the planet and at the top of the heap, is the video giant YouTube with over 107 million unique visits each month. On average, viewers watch around 65 videos per month. Currently, there is about 20 hours of video being uploaded every minute and there is a lot of competition. How do you get your message heard in that setting?

In order to be found and then shared (which is really the success formula) you must optimize your videos so that they are found in searches then you must engage yourself in the community. You have to be someone who is well-known and liked. “Wow that was a great video. I am going to send it to all my friends.” The combination of optimization and engaging is really the success formula.

There is one disadvantage to YouTube in that it doesn’t provide the kind of web analytics that you can get for a website. You can get analytics only if you are a branded channel. At the moment, there is YouTube Insight for free and it does provide helpful information but not the full-bodied type that marketers really want; improvements can be made.

There is one excellent case-in-point for the power of marketing with video on YouTube. The producers of Monty Python put a YouTube channel strictly for protective purposes. They wanted to ensure that people were not downloading their content for free.

The idea was that by creating their own channel with high quality content, people wouldn’t be tempted to download bootleg versions. As an after thought, a direct-to-buy-link was added at the bottom of the video. People who enjoyed the video and wanted to acquire the DVD could just click on the button and get directed to Amazon.com; sales went up by 23,000% on the click to buy link.

YouTube is becoming a direct response instrument for certain products, it works well with websites such as Itunes, Amazon and ecommerce stores. One of the most significant trends in search is YouTube; it is the second most popular search engine on the planet with Google being numbers one. There were 3.6 billion searches conducted in July 2009, as a search engine YouTube is not to be ignored it is too big.

YouTube Video Optimizations Tips

Before applying any optimization techniques make sure that the video content is something that a lot of viewers will want to engage in. A lot of marketers just throw their massage out there and hope that a lot of users will watch; that is not enough. What follows are tips to optimize your video for organic discovery, to get better search rankings and to show up more often in the related videos listings.

1. Your creative must be first-rate so that when people watch they a will respond by giving a rating, leaving comments or by sharing your video.

2. The video title, description and tags should be very clear and concise they must describe your video accurately. Use complete sentences whenever possible. Include the date when the video was created and include interesting details which will allow for better indexing.

3. Use tags that are consistent with each other. Some marketers try to attain a large viewer-ship by using keywords that are very popular and are not related at all to each other or to the video. YouTube has measures in place to discourage spamming behavior.

4. Using the embed-this-video option for placing your videos on blogs, websites, Facebooks and the like make it easy for others to share. It will ultimately effect ranking on YouTube and on Google as well. YouTube takes into account video ratings, number of views, and viewer comments as important pieces of data.

5. Another important aspect of the community is being proactive and engaging. When you participate by commenting on other videos you are able to connect with other content that already has a large following.

6. By using annotations, you are able lead the viewer in the direction you want them to. So it’s possible to create a series of videos with annotations which instruct the viewer to jump over to the next video where your message will carry on.

7. It is important that whatever content you upload is not too long. It should be the kind of content that viewers immediately react to. Typically videos that are 2 to 3 minutes in duration perform better those that are 10 minutes long. YouTube uses signals to determine if viewers are enjoying what they are watching and for how long they are watching.

So you have a message that you want to get out to the masses and now you have the formula for success on YouTube. Create videos with great content, optimize, engage, be proactive and have fun. Can you make money on YouTube? Absolutely!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Castillo

5 out of 6 would rather watch than read
… that’s what made TV so popular.

Adults would

1. prefer to learn in privacy without peer pressure,

2. they would rather watch than read, and they would

3. prefer not be distracted by the entertainment value of the learning materials.

Video is also extremely helpful in cases where the trainees have low reading motivation. We convert your manuals, standard operating procedures, powerpoint slides to video format with animations, narration, music, etc.

Training Videos have been around for decades.

At some stage, we’ve all been made to watch one with a poorly written script, bad acting, overly dramatised narration and of course, bad music (and hair, you can’t forget the hair). And if you’re like me, you probably had lots of fun laughing at them and not learning.

But forget any bad experience you’ve had with a 70’s style training video. Educational videos really do work and they have come a long way.

The reason they have lasted such a long time is that they can quickly and effortlessly get across important training messages. Complex information can easily be understood.

Other benefits include faster staff training, a more productive and efficient workforce and reduced training consultant fees.

Best of all, educational videos will always deliver a consistent message and never have a bad (hair!) day. Important messages can be watched over and over again.

Tailor made productions are an indispensable training tool for companies with a large workforce that have important processes and procedures that need to be undertaken safely and correctly. New inductees can easily be trained to your specific company needs.

So if bad music and poor narration doesn’t work, what does?

1. Keep your Script Simple, Stupid

To get your training video going, it all starts with a KYSSS. Better wise known as Keep your Script Simple, Stupid.

Too often companies will write their own script based on their big (boring) training manuals. This is great if you want people to refresh themselves with a nap during their training session. Not great if you want to grab their attention and teach them something.

The beauty with video is that both pictures and sound tell your story. So you don’t need lots of talking to explain things, as you can show people what you mean.

After all, research has found that people remember about 80% of what they see, not what they hear.

Our advice is to spend a lot of time getting your script right, as it really does drive the quality of the production. Use lots of short sentences and avoid overly technical jargon.

If you can, get the video production house to write the script for you. Often getting a trained script writer to write your script means that it will be written in simple English that is not overly technical (ie: not a yawn creator).

2. Leave your Director Dreams at Home, Buddy

Often we’ve been called in to re-do a training video that was made in-house. An aspiring staff member with (dodgy) dreams of Hollywood believes they can have a crack at the company training video.

By the end of it, their pesky dreams are no longer. Long hours of frustrating editing has seen to that (which is a relief to their manager).

Despite their Scorsese intentions, the end result is often an out of focus, badly narrated production with jarring music. Usually pretty reminiscent of training videos of old or like something your mum would make.

As a training tool, it has little impact because people are too busy trying to work out what the camera is trying to focus on or trying to hear what the narrator is actually saying (which is usually them talking while filming).

Our recommendation is to use a professional video production house with lots of training video experience.

When choosing a video production company, take a look at their videos to make sure that the script is sensible, the narration is clear, the camera work is smooth and at the same quality as what you’d expect on television.

Stay away from production houses with no training video experience or who themselves aspire to be film directors (which seems to be about 95% of them). Too often, they have no business acumen and forget to focus on how to get messages across and improve learner message retention.

3. Reiterate, reiterate, reiterate

Using titles to reiterate your important training messages is incredibly effective. They need to be used generously in a production, as they really do increase your message retention rates.

4. Change what’s on screen……now

Expert training video producers have lots of tricks up their sleeves to grab audience attention and concentration.

One of them is changing what’s on screen every few seconds. The change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be as simple as a close up shot, a new title, or even a shot from a different angle.

By constantly changing the on-screen vision, people are more likely to keep watching with interest.

Another important point is to avoid getting your video done through your training consultant. In our experience, they tend to look at the size of their commission cheque (particularly sales trainers) and do not care about the end result. Most training consultants have no video experience which means they do not know the best way to present information in a video format.

Remember, if you need to get a training video produced, focus on the quality of the script and ensure that you choose a video production house that wants to improve learner message retention rather than just provide pretty pictures on the television. And for good measure, take a look at their hair!

Marie-Claire Ross is a Producer at Digicast Productions. A video production house that specialises in corporate training and marketing videos. You can check her out (and her hair) at http://www.digicast.com.au or phone (03) 9696-4400.

—

Why pay a publicist outrageous fees to get you a tiny insignificant article in a newspaper or magazine rag when you can literally become an industry niche sensation overnight using a carefully constructed video and a handful of long tail industry specific keywords? Traditional publicists have become that 1972 bowling ally loitering, disco dancing reject while a new breed of publicists have stepped in and transformed the industry from paper, to cyberspace in only a few short years.

Why traditional publicists have been adjusting that pathetic comb over hairstyle, young and aggressive publicists have been creating publicity techniques that deliver results in 24 to 48 hours as opposed to 6 to 8 weeks and as far as results, there is no comparison. Online marketing and publicity techniques such as creative video submission, if done properly can transform the direction of a failing company to “THE” industry powerhouse almost instantly by loading the video with solid, well thought out descriptions and targeted long tail keyword tags. A publicist who understand the concept of pure video publicity can tailor a campaign that can outperform any traditional publicity technique ever devised by the good ole’ boy networks who overcharge and under deliver for their clients.

Video marketing can stretch past the tiny geographic proximity of a city, across state lines and into international territory. Publicists that specialize in video marketing and other online methods used in strategic combination with one another, will have the client dominating every aspect of their industry niche. Targeted video marketing by the Web 2.0 type publicists translates into instant client results that build stronger client relations and can transform the future of any company in any industry.

James Scott, CEO of Princeton Corporate Solutions ( http://www.princetoncorporatesolutions.com ) specialize in corporate and political publicity strategies as well as assisting corporations of all sizes raise corporate awareness via online media. James uses Princeton Corporate Solution’s vast arsenal of contacts and proprietary methods to promote companies preparing for PPM and IPO offering due diligence by investors and lending institutions. Whether you are looking for massive, results oriented publicity or a corporate consultant to help you get your company ready to get to the next level with a Private Placement Memorandum James is here to help starting with a free consultation. call 267-233-0183

—

The Death of Traditional Selling

Far too many people waste time pursuing leads that refuse to pick up the phone or return calls. In your initial interactions, the prospect seemed ‘hot’ for your services. You did your song and dance. You sent literature. Now, nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the selling process.

Why? Because they suffer from an ailment more common than the common cold; salespressuritis. A sickening fear of being sold.

There is a simple cure for this fatal ailment. Avoid selling in the first place. I don’t mean to steer clear of all contact. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the ‘gurus’ of the past preached.

In corporate sales, gimmicky sales pitches DON’T WORK. If anyone buys they buy in spite of the gimmicks, not because of them. Gimmicky sales pitches don’t work in big ticket sales situations either. There are two reasons why they never have worked and never will.

Today’s market is far too sophisticated. They’ve “seen it all” with respect to alternate choice closes, Ben Franklin close, and all the other stupid techniques that insult a buyer’s intelligence.

Second, fast-talking, outsmart-your-listener, old school techniques don’t work if you’re selling anything over a few hundred bucks. And lets face it, there’s not an industry alive that will pay sales reps to make sales under $100 (except maybe MLM). So chances are what you’re selling qualifies as a big ticket item.

The key to sales success in today’s corporate and big ticket markets is to talk less and listen more.

Here’s proof. In 1992 I came across a small case of sales training booklets that would change my selling career forever. The case was labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. The promises of the system seemed somewhat outrageous. And the sales model was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before then. But I reserved judgment and like Mikey… I tried it… I read every page of the system. I worked through the sample case studies and scenarios. I had no clue if my efforts would pay off or not.

The results? My sales more than doubled. In fact, finally finding a selling “system” instead of winging the sales process made me the top salesperson in under 30 days at that company where I had previously been struggling just to keep my job. People with more experience than I had years on this planet were selling less than me.

Pretty impressive stuff considering the month before I received a written warning of dismissal if my sales didn’t turn around. And here, all of a sudden, I became number one on the totem pole. Sweet!!

However, I DON’T recommend using the Xerox Selling System today.

The Xerox sales model is a tedious process to use. Yes, it’s more effective than “winging it”. But the problems the system brings are many.

The process is easily fouled if you forget one or more techniques or miss hearing your “cue” for what to say next. And worse, the Xerox selling model often causes objections where none existed before.

How? By encouraging you to attempt to force replies from your listener, by requiring you to follow a bunch of predetermined hoops to get your listener to jump through (which they probably don’t want to do) and by encouraging you to move them towards a close. People aren’t stupid. They will notice your efforts to ‘close’ them even if your closing process is merely parroting back to them what they liked about your offer, then doing some lame alternate choice close. You just destroyed your credibility and created unnecessary resistance.

That’s why I decided to look for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing — for me and for the client. What I found isn’t a single selling system. It’s a combination of two. Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (available at www.unlockthegame.com) and SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon.com).

The SPIN Selling model is easier to use than Xerox model because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs. This simplifies the needs-based selling model.

To give an idea how simple it is, I use Microsoft One Note to separate each of the S.P.I.N. elements into four individual tabs. Basically each tab contains one or more questions to help me understand the client’s interests and needs, and whether or not there’s a match for what they want and what I do. This is NOT a collection of those lame sales closing gimmicks.

SPIN Selling confirmed what I had discovered on my own… listening and asking sincere questions is far more effective than using lame brained canned sales pitches. Trying to push people to do stuff they don’t want to do is just plain stupid. It doesn’t work in professional selling environments and it’s mentally draining on you and the person you’re speaking with.

As effective and simple as SPIN Selling is, it’s isn’t strong enough on its own for today’s sophisticated market either. Just like the Xerox model, the SPIN Selling method has holes too. Reverse Selling plugs those holes.

The underlying focus of Spin Selling is similar to that of the Xerox model: closing. “Sharpening Your Skills” (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook) with the aim of preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then ‘vomiting’ that noise onto a client is a disaster for consultative selling. That type of selling is the main cause of unnecessary skepticism and objections in a sales call. Don’t do it.

Reverse Selling forces your attention away from closing and back where it belongs… determining if you and the client are a true match for each other or not. And if not you simply say so and thank them for their time. The focus is NOT closing. It’s helping people. That’s what’s missing from the SPIN Selling and the Xerox model.

That’s why I recommend using Spin Selling for its structure: situation, problem, implication, needs. But for what to say or ask during a sales call, I merge the Reverse Selling “no sales pitch” approach into those four elements.

I recommend you do it too. You’ll eliminate all selling pressure from you and the person you’re speaking with when you focus on their needs, instead of yours. And instead of reflecting an ‘always be closing’ mentality, your sincere concern and willingness to help will shine through.

And you’ll develop a selling structure that presents you as a concerned and competent professional. But best of all, by tossing out the archaic old school sales pitches you make it easy, even a joy for others to pick up the phone and talk with you.

Andre Bell is an author and marketing advisor. He runs an informational website that provides technology marketing tips and recommendations for Solution Providers, Computer Consultants, and Small VARs. Visit his official site at http://www.AndreBell.com for his free nine-step technology marketing guide.

2. In internet selling, videos have become a hugely important tool for conversion. Here’s why videos make sense: The whole purpose of a website is to STOP SEARCH. To arrest the interest of both the serious and casual visitor. To tell him within few seconds: “Hey, I’ve got what you are looking for, here’s how it works, and here’s how you can get it”. It’s that simple.

The Conversion Miracle: The typical retail site conversion is 2.6% (source Internet Retailer). Now, if using videos on you site (remember 5 out of 6 people would rather watch than read) you up your conversion to 5.2% … you have just DOUBLED YOUR SALES. Conversion of 5.2% is not that far fetched … many top-ranking corporate sites convert in the 20%-24% range.

3. Videos are powerful tools in critical differentiation … you see, there are really no competitors, just failures to differentiate.

The average human can handle a short list of 6 items (it’s not an infinite universe of competitors — 6 maybe fewer!). When he works through the purchase-decision matrix of comparing suppliers, capabilities, designs, prices, features, benefits, warranties, after-sale support … he edges to the supplier he feels emotionally and rationally as the best fit for his needs. (Million-dollar tip:) If you are able to differentiate your offering in such a way that direct comparisons are impossible, and you overwhelmingly demonstrate through emotional/rational video why they should a) buy from you,  b) buy from you now, you get the sale; you win over your competitors.

Here's a simplified version of video being used in internet marketing. The full version would include sets of massive feeder site networks, feeder blogs, tested selling sentences, keyword targeted sniper sites, lead recapture devices, dozens of targeted short movies, articles, PR feeds, online magazines, press releases, video releases, product clustering psychographics, pre-attentive factors in purchase decisions, millions of impressions and hundreds of thousands visitors ... remarketing retargeting, geo-targeting, traffic source optimization, buy-word targeting, psychographic category targeting ... retargeting alone can boost responses up to 400%. We've been in online and offline sales and marketing since 1985, and we're still on honeymoon!

4. Being family guys with kids ourselves, we are keenly interested in setting up automated sales funnels for you. Here’s why: running a small-/medium-sized business is fun only when you don’t have to be duct-taped to it 24-7.

You gotta be able to spend time on vacations, family, traveling … while the business runs itself or is managed by other people while you are taking time off. You gotta set up systems … you cannot trade time for money for the rest of your life.

Want to talk more … call John at 1-800-535-4999

See also our related sites:

InternetSalesAgency.com

MassiveMarketingPackage.com

SalesAgent-1-800-535-4999.com

The24HourSalesman.com

——

Critical Differentiation Using Videos

Your prospect is looking at two proposals – one from you and one from your biggest competitor. With minor differences, the proposals look about the same. What’s going to get the prospect to pick you over your competition? In other words, what’s your tiebreaker? In Becoming a Category of One (Wiley, 2009), Joe Calloway writes in the second edition of his best-selling book: “Relentless, attention-getting, differentiating consistency of performance. This can be your ultimate tiebreaker … do what you do, extremely well, every single time, with every customer,” writes Calloway.

Calloway tells the story of a plumbing company that decided to own being on time. The company staked its brand on this one customer expectation. Its advertising “hammers you over the head with this one focused, precise differentiator,” says Calloway. Sure, it’s a basic customer service, but in an age when people are more pressed for time than ever and waiting hours for a repairman has become a national joke, punctuality is a huge differentiator – and the company’s revenues show it.

Now, how do you think is the best way to communicate this to hundred prospects at a time … across time zones, across borders, even across language barriers.

—

A professionally made corporate video can greatly enhance your company profile and can be used in a variety of applications. Listed below are a number of the most common uses for corporate video.

Promotional Video Production

A promotional video is a dynamic, fast moving commercial, often with a musical accompaniment, and can be used to promote any of the services or products that your company has to offer.

Promotional videos are used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to engage the audience at the introduction to a multimedia sales presentation, conference, or training seminar and are also very often used running on a loop on exhibition stands and in company reception areas. These promotional videos can also be incorporated into CD ROMs and DVDs as an introductory piece.

Promotional videos can be highly effective and powerful at communicating your company’s strengths in a dynamic and exciting way. The same video promo can also be used for a variety of applications, thus reducing filming expenses.

Executive Broadcast Video Production

One of the biggest problems facing directors of large multi-national companies or plc’s is attempting to communicate on a personal level with their immense and geographically diverse audiences. Executive broadcast corporate videos enable the senior member, or members, of a company to dedicate a couple of hours of their time to being interviewed, and tackling any major questions or issues which may have come to light. By using a corporate video, they save themselves the huge cost, and time, of travelling from place to place attending conferences in order to achieve the same result.

An Executive Broadcast can be used for a multitude of corporate and training video applications, from welcoming new employees to a company, to communicating new management strategies or simply sharing your vision of the companies’ future with your staff. Corporate video production can provide the ideal means of explaining your businesses core values to the customers, and can even be the perfect medium for communicating price sensitive announcements to city institutions and the press etc. There are many other uses for executive broadcasts and video production companies will work with your business to create tailor made executive broadcasts to suit your company.

Customer Testimonial Video Production

Customer testimonial videos are recorded interviews where a customer is asked to give their feelings on a product or on a company’s service. Customer testimonial video production is becoming increasingly essential in the current business climate. Customers often like to hear the opinions of their fellow consumers, and customer testimonial corporate videos can be the ideal way to communicate this information.

Customer testimonial corporate video can be in the form of short clips of customers describing their reaction to a product or company, or maybe longer interviews of customers dealing with specific or more in depth viewpoints.

Customer testimonial video production can be used for a variety of purposes, from forming part of a video promotion, as an endorsement on exhibition stands, as part of a general sales presentation, or even to be used on an e-business card, and then given out at events, exhibitions, meetings etc. Customer testimonial videos can even be useful when assessing one’s own business, as they can be used to create video case studies of customers, and thereby assess the product from the customer’s side.

Conference and exhibition Video Production

Conference and exhibition video production can take the form of entire programmes of their own, or just as short clips to be incorporated into another, longer corporate videos that report on conferences or exhibitions that companies have held.

When a company has a large event, or exhibition, it is not always possible for all the people who need to attend to be there, but with so many issues being discussed and products being demonstrated, with conference and exhibition videos, these events can reach a much broader audience. The relaxed environment at these type of events, enable a much more laid back attitude to come across from the people being interviewed, and it is easier to get an honest opinion, something which can never be undervalued in any business.

Once filmed, conference and exhibition videos can either be put onto DVD for video presentations, or distributed on CD-ROM, through the internet or via your company’s intranet.

Once an event has been filmed, it can be put to a variety of applications, from the obvious use of providing a record of the event for all who were unable to attend, to taking simple sound bites of interviews for incorporation into sales and marketing presentations. Conference and exhibition corporate videos also provide a great opportunity to capture presentations from guest speakers that the people who couldn’t make it to the event would miss out on. A good corporate video production will reflect the atmosphere at the event, and can be an excellent way to encourage staff and/or customers to come to these events in the future.

Video Production for Tourism

The medium of video is unequalled in promoting the full tourist experience to potential visitors, with video production being an ideal way of marketing the amenities, attractions, and individuality of a city or tourist destination on an individual, local or even international level.

In the form of a CD ROM or DVD, the potential scope for video production for tourism is immense. A video will allow viewers to interactively explore a given destination, take a virtual tour around a hotel or enjoy a guided trip around a city with a well known presenter.

Most reputable video production companies will offer to create a tourism video, DVD or CD ROM as part of a larger marketing package, creating eye-catching packaging and inserts to complement the promotional program.

Consumers have the option to choose from a huge number of travel destinations and experiences: They not only want to comparison shop, look for the best deals on airline tickets, hotel reservations, rental cars, cruises, attractions and activities, but they want to see and feel the different flavors and characteristics each unique destination has to offer them — long before they commit to a destination.

Show them what the hotel offers … they want to see it for themselves. The same for activities, the surrounding amenities, shopping and so on. If your traveling is dedicated to a specific area such as a beach, then you need to offer your visitors video of real people enjoying the area.

You need to show them videos of amazing experiences and cultural activities that are availalbe in the area. The absolute best way to sell someone on a product is to show and tell and to let themselves in the scenery.

Video lends itself to emotional involvement marketing with music narration beautiful scenery and friendly smiling faces. The idea is to bring the traveller to the “WOW, I want to be there!” feeling using Video Montage Postcards, Living Video Brochures, and Guided Video Tours. Not only do they get a taste and feel of the destination, they can view the activities and fun soon to be discovered. Whether it’s a 30-second spot or a 30-minute DVD, the power of video is undeniable.

Travel Video Styles

Video Montage Postcards — Montage of the exotic beauty of each unique destination in a video postcard (duration 30 sec. to 1 minute). The inviting beaches, breathtaking ocean views can be brought to life to entice the travelers. Here are four common delivery options:

— Internet video from your web site link (can also be submitted to 40+ video sites with keyword tags for free traffic to your site.

— A menu-driven DVD that highlights many destinations on a same DVD (holds about 2 hours of high-resolution video)

— iPod format for portable walk tours.

Living Video Brochures/Catalogs — Bring your travel brochures and catalogs to life with a travel DVD filled with videos of all the hottest destinations, hotel selections, activities, and entertainment. Destination videos motivate and help travelers to book after they have watched the video.

Guided Video Tours — Entice the interest of the potential traveler with fun, personal guided tours of key destinations and possible activities. The traveler wants to know exactly what they are paying for — we do the research and give the consumer a menu of different options. A guide will bring them through all their exciting possibilities before they even start packing their bags! This style is ideal when accompanied by supporting brochures for a quick reference guide for their specific choices.

Travel Video Formats

Online — The addition of Internet video onto your site is a powerful one. Internet video and rich multimedia combine to form just another kind of video distribution system that puts travel products and services in front of interested, pre-qualified customers 24 – 7 – 365. And, video does this in an intimate one-on-one informative and entertaining selling experience. Destination videos attract more viewers to your Web site, hold them on your site longer and motivate them to purchase travel services through your travel gateway.

DVD — Utilize technology to its fullest with DVDs. Each destination can be a separate chapter. Hotels can be classified, and activities organized in high-tech multimedia layering. DVDs will soon replace the traditional paper-based catalogs of today.

Brochures — In conjunction with any of the above video formats, we can produce all traditional support materials that would serve as quick references to the travelers destinations.

The typical retail site conversion is 2.6%. Yet if you double your conversion, you double your sales. It is the most profound way to leverage your online business.

RESEARCH FINDINGS: People are 3 times more likely to request further information in video format than in print format; they’d rather watch than read. And when they receive it, 92% will watch it and will not throw the video out. 5 out of 6 people actually prefer receiving information in video format compared to print. That’s what made television so popular.

67% of the 1.08 billion internet users don’t sprachen English but are 4 times more likely to purchase when the presentation is in their native tongue. It is the fastest growing segment of internet users, expected to make the bulk of 2 billion by 2010.

We shoot the video in a way that allows changing the voice-over track easily to French, German, Spanish, Swedish … whatever language you need — inexpensively. You can create an extremely cost-effective and personal selling environment regardless whether you sell to Korea, Russia, Italy or the Netherlands.

To learn more creative uses for video in your sales,
drop everything and call John 1-800-535-4999 to get
the ball rolling. Idea is like a pin, don’t sit on it.

————-

Incorporating media, specially video, in your landing page can affect your conversion rates in both ways. It can either increase or decrease the number of visitors on your website who are willing to convert. If you think that including a video on your landing page is appropriate as a marketing strategy then try it out.

When adding video to your landing page, keep in mind your target audience. Know what questions or concerns they are asking themselves when they arrive at your website. Think of how to solve these issues that your visitors have and address it in the video. Introduce the product or service you are providing them. State the benefits and how your product or service can make their lives easier when they make purchase or sign-up for your mailing mailing list.

What appeals to visitors on your landing page when you have a video is that they can relate a face to the product or service being offered. It makes the interface between the marketer and consumer more comfortable. It’s like having a salesman to assist you as you shop around. But not everyone is fond of having a salesman tagging along. This is the issue that you need to test out when using a video in your landing page. Look at the conversion rates when the video is up and when it is not. People react differently when any media is added in a landing page.

Here’s a few tips to help in adding video to your landing page:

1. Keep it under 10 minutes

Playing time and loading time of the video is a large factor that visitors consider when arriving at your landing page. When they notice that it takes a long time for the video to load, they could easily opt to get out of your website. A very long video can take much of your visitors’ time and not many are willing to spend a lot of time to listen or watch a video if urgency is on their mind.

2. Make it personal

Make your presentation easy to understand and easy to connect with in an emotional level. Appeal to what your visitors are feeling at that moment. Lessen their anxiety by presenting your website’s authenticity. Tell them that personal information is handled with utmost security and transactions are safe and confidential.

3. Keep it real

Avoid fancy editing and text layovers. Make it like you are talking with a friend who needs your help. Be sincere in the presentation and be honest. When you say something in the video be sure to commit to it. Failure to deliver whatever you are promising will cost your visitors’ trust in you.

]]> http://ontariovideoproduction.com/2009/10/video-in-landing-pages/feed/ 0 http://ontariovideoproduction.com/2009/10/use-video-testimonials-to-convert-visitors-into-customers/ http://ontariovideoproduction.com/2009/10/use-video-testimonials-to-convert-visitors-into-customers/#comments Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:48:43 +0000 John http://ontariovideoproduction.com/?p=210 If you’re marketing your business online then a video testimonial could be what turns traffic to your website into the customers you want. Driving traffic to your website has never been an easy feat. If you’re in the business market, turning traffic into potential customers can be a long and frustrating journey.

If you’ve ever kept count of the amount of visitors to your website then you’ve probably wondered why you are getting so few results. Don’t be disheartened, though. A large proportion of these visitors are robots and spy bots, a fact worth knowing. With the World Wide Web ever blossoming, it gets harder to stand out from the crowd.

In this fast paced society we want information quick and what could be quicker than a search engine which produces tens of thousands of websites in a fraction of a second? So the entire world has access to your website. What are you going to do to turn a potential customer into a customer? With its personal touch, a video testimonial could do just that.

It makes sense then, surely, that in order to drive customers to your company you should start with the customers themselves. A video testimonial is a customer giving their opinion of your service on video. It’s a lot more personal than a short paragraph of text tagged onto the bottom of your website as if it were written by a monkey.

Whilst any testimonial is better than no testimonial, for what it’s worth, the person behind the message may as well not exist. How much easier is it to relate to someone when you are face to face? A video testimonial brings you one step closer to that.

To make a video testimonial you can consult a professional, see my resource box below, or, if you prefer, you can do it yourself. If you are choosing the latter, there are a few things you should take on board before partaking. Firstly, you need the right equipment. Quality is everything when it comes to advertising so you may want to invest in a decent video camera or perhaps hire one.

Nobody will be impressed with grainy footage and a muffled voice. Remember that appearances count so make sure that the setting of the filming is clean, tidy and professional looking – this is very important. Now that you are set up, you need to contact your customers and find out who is willing to participate. Have them prepare a speech for you so that they are not clamouring for words whilst on film. Explain the purpose of the video to them, stress the key things that you want to come from the testimonial.

To make a good testimonial, the message should be sincere, clear and concise. If a customer says that your company is the best, ask them why your company is the best and ask them to explain that on film. Now that you have the equipment and your customers, you can begin the testimony itself. Keep it short – a good testimony should be short and sweet, no more than a couple of minutes long.

Do a few takes, that way you can find the perfect one later. If you have many customers wishing to give testimonials, it may be worth considering each customer saying a few words and making a montage of the footage. There are guidelines to doing this all across the web. Once you have finished filming, you can then begin uploading the videos to your website.

You can use a free service such as YouTube or alternatively you can host it yourself. Whilst a video testimonial isn’t the be all and end all of successful internet marketing, a clear and sincere message from a happy customer is a good place to start.

Paul Palmer is from the UK, he is a Social networker and online business marketer, specializing in SEO and internet web site marketing, see my blog as detailed below. If you would like to find out more please visit my blog including the post on video testimonials. Please leave me a comment if you like the article here or the information available at my blog http://www.gimesum.com/blog