Holistic Technology Enabled Internet Marketing Solutions

photo credit: vancouverfilmschool

As I discussed last week, web video doesn’t require the same kind of equipment you need to shoot an amazing indie short. However, that doesn’t mean you get to skimp on the creativity!

The blessing and curse of web video is that you have only 2-5 minutes to say what you’ve got to say. You don’t need to try and make a two hour long story make sense, like a filmmaker does, but instead you have to compete with a dazzling world of distraction — email, Twitter, other websites, etc. Your video needs to come on strong and stay strong.

So how do you do this? There are many tried and true forms, and when it comes to business-to-business, you have the added advantage that viewers are not as entertainment hungry as the typical YouTube crowd. You can focus on more informative resources such as a message from the President, a testimonial from a customer, or just a description of what you do in a slightly more entertaining way. One particularly nice touch I like is Christopher Penn’s opening to FinancialAidPodcast.com.

Of course, an idea does not a video make. You need to turn the idea into words and images, and this is where even the simplest web video requires a touch of art. Turning on the camera and letting it run just isn’t going to work. You need to plan out what the video will be in as much detail as possible before you even think about trying to record it.

This is the process in filmmaking called pre-production, and as many a seasoned videographer will tell you, the more time you spend in this process the easier the recording will go, and the finer the finished product will be.

So what do you need in pre-production? These specifics will get you going:

• A script – Fancy software that uses the Hollywood screenplay standard is probably not needed. Instead, a simple two column format works. I tend to write it like play dialogue — SOANDSO says something, then paragraphs describe the visuals. A storyboard consisting of doodles of the frames that accompany the audio can help.
• The actors – Who’s going to be in the video? Are they willing to do it? Do they need to memorize their lines? What outfits does your script call for?
• A place to shoot – It all depends on your script, and there are trade-offs no matter where you choose to shoot. Interiors can be quieter, but are hard to light adequately. Shooting outside can get a very crisp shot with little effort, but you’ll be forced to deal with wind and possibly traffic noise fuzzing with your audio.
• Props – Flying monkeys? Check.
• A date and time – Once you’ve figure out what you want to shoot, who will be in it, and where you’ll do it, now you just need to get all of those elements into the same place at the same time. It’s not as easy as it sounds!

Even with the best of planning, a video shoot can be tedious and frustrating (Why DOES that plane keep flying by?!?!), but the more effort you put into the front-end, the smoother the process will go in the end. In reality, a good professional video team is more than just a bunch of guys who can wield a camera — it’s an organized, artistic company that can manage the logistics of a complex project, show endless patience as they do and re-do their work, master all of this technical gobbledeegook and use all this technology to convey a cohesive marketing message.

Next week we’ll talk a little about how to get your video out there once it’s done. Until then, have fun! And don’t miss my upcoming webinar on using web video to tell your story.

Inbound Marketing is the term for the types of marketing efforts where you are being found by consumers when they are researching information.

Outbound marketing is the term for interruption based marketing like television commercials, radio ads, newspaper articles, telemarketing etc. All of these marketing methods are built to interrupt people while they are trying to do something else, like watch their favorite TV program. Humans, as clever as we are, have found different ways to ignore these outbound marketing efforts:

• TV commercials – Meet the DVR Fast forward please
• Radio Ads – Satellite radio, Internet radio, portable music devices like iPods Turn it up!
• Newspaper ads – Our eyes are trained to look at the content not the side bars or full page ads Who still reads the paper?
• Telemarketing – Caller ID Unknown caller – no thank you
• Direct Mail – aka Junk Mail is promptly thrown away. Mine doesn’t even make it in our house Recycle bin right next to mailbox

Why are you wasting your marketing dollars on suffering marketing mediums?

Because it is safe and what we have always done. STOP. The power has shifted back to the customer you can either hop on now or be left behind. Your customers are researching products and services before they contact you. They know about your company, your competitor, maybe even your employees (a website’s About Us page is usually the second most viewed page on a website). They want a conversation, not to have someone shouting at them through traditional marketing channels.

Be found when your customers are looking!

Inbound Marketing efforts focus on you being found when your potential clients or customers are looking for answers or more information. There are lots of places to reach people but here are the biggest examples of Inbound Marketing tools:

• Blogging – Blogs are a great way to constantly be adding targeted new information to your website. You can easily add a blog to your current website or have it separate from your site. Blogs can tackle difficult questions, discuss industry news and so much more. Blogs are also very share-able and many people bookmark good blogs to refer black to.
• SEO and SEM – Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing and Organic Search are all positioning your website to be found for relevant searches. We live in Google’s world. People online search for everything under the sun. By doing a little research, some measurement and producing good content targeted correctly you can make sure your site is found when that search query is entered.
• Social Media – The Internet has gone social. People all over the world are participating in Social Networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more. While on the sites they are discussing problems, solutions, products, services and more. If you are not participating and being able to contribute, you are missing out on an opportunity. There are thousands of online social networks. It is your job to find the communities that matter to your business and participate in them accordingly.
• Online Videos – Why tell people in words what you can show them in video? How to Videos, viral videos, and video blogs are very popular and a great way to reach out to consumers. Video production no longer takes a huge studio and camera crew. If you have a little bit of time, talent, and the will to do it, you too can produce good video content! Once your videos are online they are easy to share, comment on and ask for more information

Stay a part of the conversation after the purchase

One of my favorite aspects of Inbound Marketing is that you can also be a part of the conversation with your customers after the point of purchase. Lots of companies are using Social Media, Blogs etc. to tackle Customer Service requests, promote their brand, build trust and more. For this purpose I also like to add email marketing to the Inbound Marketing mix:

• Email Marketing – A well executed email marketing campaign can be one of the best ways to build trust and stay top of mind with your customers. A content rich, well targeted email can be sent to your customers’ Inbox and many people save them for future reference and share them with friends that they think will find them useful.

Let’s chat some more

I hope this was a good review on what Inbound Marketing is. I will tackle a little more in depth each of the topics I went over quickly here in the next few weeks. If you have any specific questions or feedback on a topic you would like to see discussed please comment below!

In two weeks’ time I’ll be presenting Show Don’t Tell, Using Video to Tell Your Story and I felt like warming up to the event by writing a few posts on web video principles that will help you out if you’re thinking of getting involved in the video production process.

The nice thing about web video compared to, say, recording for home television viewing, is that you’re working on much smaller screen. This is great because you don’t need to invest in zany amounts of equipment in order to get started (as cool as that Canon XH A1 is!). People aren’t viewing a video on the web in order to get blown away by your stellar cinematography. They’re looking to be amused, learn something, or get more engaged in your site. And so the technical scrutiny is much lower than on a Hollywood movie set.

On the other hand, on the web you are in an insanely competitive environment for the viewer’s attention. Unlike the viewer trapped in the theater, or even the television viewer (who has to take the initiative to pick up the remote if they’re bored), on the web your audience is actively multitasking and your video has mere seconds to capture their attention.   So while you don’t need a million-dollar sound stage to produce a video for the web, you need truly interesting ideas.

Now, that idea doesn’t have to be smashing a Ford Focus into bits but it should be something tangible and valuable. It can be as simple as having the president of your company talk about what you do, or getting a customer to talk about their experience with your company.

Getting more adventurous, can you reveal a tip or trick about what you do in video? Interview an expert in your field? Provide web-based training? Or maybe just have a staff member get attacked by flying monkeys?

The important thing is to get an idea, kick it around with a few people to make sure it’s not completely insane, and then make it happen. Unlike TV or movies, which necessitate a massive output of resources to get a finished product, web video can be produced with style for reasonable amounts of money and time.

There are three key things you need to produce decent looking video:

• A camera – Obviously.  You need something to capture the actual video, and today the possibilities are endless and affordable.  Many web videographers stop their search here, but I urge you to buy more gear!   I said you didn’t need a Hollywood sound stage, but I didn’t say that grainy videos with audio that sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of the well was good, either…
• An external microphone – Please, please, please do not record video with the built-it microphone on your camera.  It will never sound that good.  It’s hard to find budget camcorders with an external mic-in jack anymore (why oh why is good audio so neglected in budget videography?), but you can also look into recording audio separately with a device like the Zoom H2.
• Lights – Ever notice how in lots of web videos the participants look like they’ve been stricken with vampirism?  That’s because interior lighting is terrible for video (if you really want to understand this, here’s a good article on lighting for video).  Outside shots can be acceptable without extra lights, but if you’re shooting in your office, do your videos the kindness of investing in a decent set of daylight-balanced lights.

Got your gear?  Great!  Now your video’s just going to fall together in your lap, right? … Well, not quite.  Next week, I’ll talk more about taking an idea and making it a reality.  Following that, we’ll talk about how to get your video out there once it’s complete.  And if you just want to talk to someone about your great idea, drop us an email.

Reaching Baby Boomers Online

A question I get often is people concerned about their target demographic not being online, for example Baby Boomers. We all know Baby Boomers are one of the most powerful demographic groups and with traditional marketing suffering everyone is so excited about the popular and inexpensive online marketing and social network marketing options.

With all the fuss about the biggest content producers being a small portion of the online population. That must mean my target demo of Baby Boomers aren’t online right?

Nope – Boomers are online reading, researching, sharing content every day.
Great quote from Matthew Lees, Vice President, Analyst, Patricia Seybold Group:
“Boomers are a natural fit for social networks and technologies. They have the time, the life experience, and–more and more these days–the need for social tools to help them accomplish their own goals.”

Here is some great info on Boomers participation online and my comments on each. Info provided by MediaPost

• Online boomers were more likely to send or receive e-mail on a given day: 54% versus 49% of younger Americans who are wired

  Perhaps as younger generations are BBMing, Texting, IMing, Facebook mailing, posting on each others walls – Boomers are sticking to email. Email is convenient, easy to use, you can participate on your own watch. Email marketing is holding on strong and perhaps a well targeted email marketing campaign could be just what the doctor ordered! Want to know what social networks your Boomers are participating in? Ask them in your emails or online forms. Speak to your audience and deliver content they want and you should be set for success.

• About 66% of online Boomers have looked up health information online, compared with 54% for younger users.
• Boomers were more likely to visit online support groups for specific medical conditions and personal situations: 55% versus 36%.Boomers are tuned in. Even if they aren’t producing as much content (yet) they are locked and loaded and looking for more information on the subjects that interest them more. Marketing power has shifted to buyers and potential consumers are researching products and services before they make purchasing decisions.
• Half of online Boomers have used the Internet for financial information, compared with 28% for the younger group.Boomers are powerful – they have income, are educated and make up one of the largest portions of our population. They have been around the block, been duped before and are careful about their fiscal decisions. Social Media Marketing‘s strongest asset is the ability to build trust with consumers before the purchasing point.

My advice on reaching Boomers? We know they are reading the information maybe not writing the content but they ARE participating so much like any other marketing approach – create content that Boomers want to read, enjoy, share or comment on. Some obvious examples would be information about healthcare or medications.  But how about traveling options for boomers? Bird watching or nature blogs? Assisted living information for them or their parents? How to videos? Who knows specifically. Maybe ask your customers what they want to know more about. Like any buyer persona find out what your customers are looking for and provide them good quality content.