maine web development, web design, internet marketing

Simple Minds, live: They could have streamed this concert
on YouTube

“Why don’t you post some videos of yourself on YouTube?” “You really should set up a Facebook fan page to promote your skills.” These are some of the things that I said in a conversation with my drummer friend this week. As you might have read in my last post, he is a social media skeptic. The same might be said for a band called Simple Minds. They are a highly successful live act, but only in Europe. The band hasn’t toured the U.S. or been offered record distribution in North America in almost nine years. They have minimal social media presence, so perhaps a Facebook page or YouTube channel would help in these matters. With a solid following, they could tap in to the eighties nostalgia market.

I digress.

A lot can change for the subjects above if they took the time and made the effort to market themselves with online video. Online video can be the quickest, cheapest and simplest way to generate traffic to your website and create exposure for your brand.

Whatever your vision is for introducing web video into your marketing plan, one thing is clear – it must capture the viewer’s attention in a matter of seconds. Here are some technical and marketing items to consider when using online video for your small business:

Editing

Because hiring a film crew can sometimes be costly, you might want someone in your organization to learn the basic tools involved in film editing. Editing takes care, time and patience, but with a well thought-out strategy, the video concepts you come up with will become easier to produce.

1. Final Cut Pro/Final Cut Express: The best of the best. Final Cut gives you the most options in terms of effects, editing capabilities, titles and much more. The Express edition is more consumer driven and user-friendly when it comes to converting videos for web optimization.
2. iMovie: Apple’s proprietary software. The iMovie editions up through “HD 6″ acted very much like a less feature-enriched and less professional version of Final Cut, but worked seamlessly with all of Apple’s iLife applications. Since the introduction of iMovie ‘08, the software is geared more towards web uploading capabilities – perfect for the short web video marketing pieces you might want to create. iMovie is bundled with new Macs.
3. Adobe Premier Elements: A direct competitor with Final Cut and iMovie and one of the most popular programs for those using Windows machines.
4. Windows Movie Maker: I hesitate in recommending this software, but it’s a) most likely included on your PC (if you’re a PC) and b) it’s free! Movie Maker will undoubtedly provide the basic tools you need to edit and promote your work, but won’t offer nearly the same amount of features as the programs above.

It’s important to point out that online video doesn’t need to have human interaction to be an effective marketing tool, but it does need to tell a story. Graphics, images, animation and even a PowerPoint presentation, with the right amount of music and voice over, can be just as exciting. If you think you’re a boring person or no one in the company is eager enough to jump in front of the camera, then the latter might be the way to go.

The Importance of Audio

Chances are, if you’re using low-cost digital video equipment like Flip Video, your audio will be spastic and produce sound in a variety of levels and qualities – especially if you jump from scene to scene or location to location (and if your subjects use highly different methods in projecting their speaking voice). Your video editing software can also take care of audio, so you’ll want to focus on maintaining proper levels throughout the video clips and make sure your subjects are speaking clearly and succinctly. Many viewers will be listening with headphones, so any burst of loudness will create an undesirable jolt in their experience and soft-spoken dialogue will be a turn-off to the viewer almost immediately.

If you’re using a camcorder, a good way to avoid volume fluctuations and overall audio weirdness is to attach a shotgun microphone. Shotgun mics work with a “narrow acceptance angle,” which in loose terms means that there’s lower risk for interference (air conditioning vents, people walking and so on). Hopefully, the videos you shoot will be in 1080p HD, so you’ll want professional-sounding audio to go with that crisp, professional-looking video.

Branding & Messaging

Branding in online video is almost an oxymoron, because users now have complete control over what they watch (see: DVRs). Distractions on the website in which the video resides and placement of the video on the web page also come into play in the overall viewer experience. The first question you must ask when molding the messages in your video is “What kind of response do I want to elicit from the viewer?” This can be a very hard question to answer, but perhaps better approached with these other questions:

• Do you want the viewer to take immediate action? Such as visiting your website, downloading media, or commenting on a blog?
• Do you want to retain the viewer in the long run? For instance, will your video be the first step in the purchase cycle?
• Do you want the viewer to provide you with their contact information (a qualified lead!)?

Another important part of the branding process is the health of the video’s hosting location. The best place for housing videos on your website is a dedicated media section, devoid of any distractions (such as irrelevant links or ads). Then there’s YouTube, of course, where you can create a company channel with its own avatar and background consistent with your website’s graphic design elements.

Don’t discourage viewers from watching all the way through. You only have a few seconds to capture their attention, so be imaginative.

Future

The emergence of new technologies and capabilities for online video for small businesses is a weekly occurrence. More and more, web users are looking for the quick fix – and in many cases, prefer video over reading text. Our computers will eventually become our televisions, so businesses not in the business of producing TV shows will have to take it upon themselves to market themselves with video.

More advanced blog posts about the future of online video will include hiring a media production firm, video search engine optimization (VSEO) and online video editing. Look out for them.

I have a talented drummer friend who is very active in the music community of New York City. He gets gigs by answering ads on craigslist, through word-of-mouth, and general networking. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a website, his MySpace page is updated on an infrequent basis, and he refuses to take part in any type of social media. I am constantly urging him to invest in a Flip Video or Kodak Zi8 camera, start filming his gigs and drumming demos, and then post the footage to YouTube or Facebook – and promote it with a blog or Twitter (or both!). These ideas are always met with great skepticism (“what about my privacy?”) or excuses (“I have no time!”) and the conversation usually ends with nothing happening. Who knows – he could be missing the chance to record with T-Bone Burnett, Jack White, or Jay-Z. Hopefully some day he’ll embrace the new social technologies and get some more exposure for himself.

Photo Credit: Nick J Webb

All of the above can very well be said for many small business owners. Some would offer that they don’t have the time, resources, or manpower to introduce online video into their marketing efforts. Much like my musician friend above, small businesses must be wary of their marketing spend. Fortunately, a lot of the tools used in marketing with online video are free (or very affordable) and a 5-10 minute piece can pack in a lot of information, while also being entertaining, informative, educational, and engaging. Below are some tips you can use when incorporating video as part of your marketing strategy:

Equipment

Sound. Lighting. Vision. In this order of importance. These are the three essentials when making sure your video project is not lacking the quality people expect from online streaming media. The video devices you use rarely have decent on-board microphones, so acquiring a viable sound solution is a must. If viewers immediately notice the sound is not up to par, they will tune out… immediately.

It’s also wise to follow the general rule of thumb for lighting, which is to provide your filmed subject or space with 2-3 times the normal lighting in a room or environment.

Finally, be sure to check out the affordable HD video camera options currently available on the market. As I mentioned above, the Flip Video and Kodak Zi8 cameras produce very nice results for web-ready content. You can also check out the new Zoom Q3, which adds higher quality audio to the equation. Of course, there are a plethora of higher-end digital video cameras out there that would produce more professional looking images, but it all depends on your scope and budget.

What to Film

1) Yourself!: Are you an industry expert? Do you want to take a break from writing blog posts? Do you have a message or knowledge that you think would be better communicated through visuals and the spoken word?

2) Your employees: What better way to personalize the B2C or B2B relationship than to profile the people who do the actual work. This could also open up opportunities to start regular video blogging amongst your team of experts – providing a constant flow of fresh content to the web user.

3) Product demonstrations: Companies have innovative products that are made in ultra-cool ways. Wouldn’t it be nice to demonstrate how these products work and how they’re made, in addition to the drag-and-zoom options of a photo slideshow? It’s also a good way to boost sales (wink-wink).

4) Celebrations: I’m not talking about company birthday parties. I’m referring to customers celebrating your business. Get customers to film testimonials and post them on your website or Facebook page. Capture your products and services in action – a dog enjoying a new line of chew toys, a solar panel instillation team preparing a house for green energy, or your dry cleaning business accepting an award at an event for excellence in social responsibility.

Prepare

Before your organization dives into online video, make sure you don’t become a deer caught in headlights. First, you’ll want to outline and script each shot of your film – even if there’s only one shot and one subject. There’s also the task of storyboarding. This involves the rendering of the action taking place in each shot. Storyboards can be done on a napkin or made to look beautiful by your graphic designer. Whatever you do – have a plan! These processes of preparation are all part of that plan.

Finally, discover why you are making these videos. What do you think visitors to your website or social media sites will want to see? The two main purposes of online video in your marketing plan are to engage and to tell a story. Will these videos achieve these things? Know your audience before they get to know you.

Promote

There are numerous ways in which you can promote your videos once it goes live. Since YouTube is the fourth most visited website in the world, it would be wise to create a company-branded YouTube channel. If your company has a Facebook page (the second most visited site – now with 400 million users!), you can also post them there and announce their existence on Twitter, the company blog, newsletters, and your website. Online videos can also be optimized for search engines.

Speaking of search engines, I will discuss SEO as it relates to online video in the next blog post about video for your small business. I’ll also get into editing software and techniques, audio issues, and the importance of branding and messaging in your video content. Stay tuned…

YouTube recently took the title of fourth most visited site on the internet (behind Google, Facebook and Yahoo). Whether you consider YouTube a thriving online community of people searching for information or a huge time suck – you can’t ignore that people are on it and using it.

I have seen my fair share of cute, funny, gross, odd videos and shared them with my friends. I have also seen lots of great business content – how to videos, video blogs, product demos, presentations and more. Video is a great way to really put a face to your company, appeal to visual learners, build trust with your customers and reach out to your audience in a new way.

B2B Video marketing

B2B companies often drool over the shiny new toys that their hip B2C siblings get to play with but video translates into both B2B and B2C. In the B2B buying process, often the most time consuming piece of the process is the research phase. B2B purchases are large and usually take more then one person to make the purchasing decision. What better way to build trust with potential customers than with video?

A picture is worth a thousand words.. and video is worth like a zillion words.

Here are a few ideas for your B2B company when creating an online video:

• A message from your president
• Demo of your products
• Training, how to, or a presentation
• Highlights from tradeshows
• Client testimonials

As with any marketing effort, developing a plan and measuring results may be the most important part! You and your marketing team need to decide what content your audience wants to hear from you, how you are going to shoot your video, what you want to achieve etc. before you turn on your video camera.

Kyle and I did a short presentation this week at the Social Media FTW conference here in Portland on using YouTube for business. Below are our slides from the event. We are also hosting a roundtable next Tuesday on YouTube Marketing for Business if you would like to attend and bring your burning questions.

This video tutorial focuses on the popular open source blogging platform, Wordpress.  In this video, I show you the ropes of the Wordpress platform: how to add and edit new posts, and some of the basic features of blogs.