Top 5 Misconceptions About Online Video Marketing
Trade publications and the mainstream media are all reporting on the emergence of online video as a highly effective marketing tool. And yet, many businesses and their marketing teams are at a loss as to how to best implement effective strategies that will translate into profitable results.
Engaging Media is at the forefront of this exciting Internet video revolution. We create affordable custom video marketing messages for businesses nationwide, of every size and from every category. This document addresses some of the top five misconceptions about what it really takes to launch a successful video marketing campaign.
#1 Video is too expensive.
Video can be expensive — but it can also be highly affordable, if you choose the right company. The more elaborate your concept the more it may cost to execute. However, a good company will provide you with affordable options, flexible terms and trackable results.
The real question is whether your business can afford not to invest in video as soon as possible. The evidence is clear; video makes you stand out from your competitors like no brochure or other text-oriented marketing piece can. Research on message retention shows that people retain 10% of what they read, 26% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and 50% of what they see and hear. Clearly, having an effective video message gives you an edge. It empowers your sales force — and can even reduce the number of salespeople you need to effectively grow your business.
Work with a video company that provides you with a mechanism to measure the effectiveness of your investment. Engaging Media gives its clients access to precise real-time tracking of their online video marketing campaigns.
#2 We can produce our own videos in-house and save money.
Possibly, but you may regret the results. You may have a relative or a sharp intern with a camcorder but do you really want to entrust an amateur to best position your business? The popularity of user-generated video is often misinterpreted, in terms of how it is best used effectively in marketing. For all the hundreds of thousands of videos posted on Youtube.com the most watched are the top twenty – and none of them are marketing messages. They are all “human oddities” that capture the public’s interest for a day or two, only to be replaced by a newer one. You’re in business. More importantly, you’re in the business of creating lasting impressions and relationships that result in revenue.
Professionally produced video doesn’t have to look slick. Our creative team is highly effective at bridging the gap for those clients that prefer an “edgier” or more youthful approach that may better speak to their market.
#3. We have to be charismatic, photogenic to use video – and we’re not.
Above all, your clients, customers and prospects want authenticity. You don’t have to be perfect to be effective with video. People want to connect with real people. Our expertise is bringing out the best in business owners, executives or their chosen representatives – and we’ve never failed.
#4. Creating a video is time consuming and requires several months to execute.
This is only true if you’re working with the wrong company. Engaging Media has perfected a simple process that will provide you with a highly effective online video marketing campaign in three weeks or less – from start to finish. Many of our clients’ projects are taped in a half-day and much of the planning is handled by phone. This in no way compromises the quality of the end result. We’re intent on providing you exceptional quality in a timely manner, so that you can begin to see benefits right away.
#5. The thought of video is a bit overwhelming. How would we use it? Who can know where to start?
There are more that seven ways you can immediately begin benefiting from video:
- implement one of our highly effective video email campaigns
- post it on your website
- hand out business card-sized video discs
- play it in your booth at trade shows
- have your sales team present it on their laptops
- mail them to prospects
- create a stand alone kiosk
Start by visiting our website: (www.engagingmedia.tv) to view samples and register for a no-obligation webinar that will answer many of the other questions about how you can implement an effective online video strategy this year. Take advantage of one of our limited-time offers that are designed to fit any budget.
It’s All About The Experience
Success in any business today means creating memorable experiences for customers. Who doesn’t want to escape from behind the computer screen and be moved and and inspired. There’s an entire marketing discipline surrounding this topic.
Siam Society, a forward thinking Portland restaurant has taken this concept to a whole new level. They reward patrons a chance to win their special “I did it in the kitchen” drawing. Winners get to strap on an apron and join their master chef in whipping up a signature dish. Plus, they videotape the experience and later post it on their web site. What fun!
Now you don’t have to invite your customers behind the counter to help cart inventory to give them a memorable experience of doing business with you. Simple gestures of appreciation can go along way in building trust and loyalty.
Here are the hard stats on this subject: According to the second annual Customer Experience Impact Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow Technologies, 80 percent of consumers will never go back to an organization after a bad customer experience, up from 68 percent in 2006.
The report revealed that service is a significant differentiator for companies: 51 percent of consumers cited “outstanding service” as a top reason they continue to do business with a company. Another 60 percent noted “outstanding service” as a top reason they would recommend a company. “Today, the success of every business depends on good customer experiences,” said Greg Gianforte, CEO of RightNow. “If you can’t make it easy and satisfying for people to do business with you, you’ll lose them to someone who does-and quickly.”
What are you doing to create memorable experiences for your customers and clients?
Back To Basics - Word Of Mouth Marketing
Even in this high tech era, word of mouth remains the most effective way to market your business.
Word of mouth, sometimes referred to as buzz marketing or viral marketing, was the fastest-growing slice of the $254 billion marketing industry last year, and is expected to account for more than $1 billion of ad spending in 2007, according to a report by PQ Media of Stamford, Conn., an alternative media researcher. That number is forecast to reach $3.7 billion by 2011, fueled in part by the eruption of blogs and the increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook.
Big players like Procter & Gamble are reducing mass media budgets in favor of trackable online strategies. There is plenty to learn by watching these trends, regardless of your type of business. The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that P&G recently enlisted 450,000 moms to become online evangelists to go online and incite discussions about its new Dawn Direct Foam cleaning product.
Why is this back to basics trend so hot? Think about it. With the overwhelming barrage of impersonal marketing clutter consumers want to connect with real people. The article reports that a recent survey by A.C. Nielsen found that 78 percent of respondents viewed recommendations from other consumers as trustworthy. That compares with 63 percent for newspaper ads, the second most-trusted medium, and well above the 18 percent for text ads on mobile phones.
But marketers beware. The general public has become savvy to inauthentic campaigns designed to manipulate buzz. Marketing guru Jack Trout notes that there have been a number of high profile flops. One was Pontiac’s decision to give away its new G6 model on “Oprah,” an effort that generated significant awareness, but “didn’t sell a damn thing.”
Online video can dramatically impact your word of mouth marketing efforts. At Engaging Media we work with clients to create highly effective video email campaigns that are sent to their existing client base. The objective is to combine a personal message with a compelling offer. So compelling that recipients will forward it on to others within their sphere of influence. Remember, the key to success is authenticity.