Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Viewer's Choice of Sponsor

I've said for years that one day I'll be able to get online to watch David Letterman and have a choice to pay for the viewing (minimal... perhaps $.50 per show, or some kind of subscription) or have an advertiser of my choice pay for the episode.

If I choose to buy the show commercial-free, then I am either billed via credits to CBS or one of their online vendors (such as a YouTube or other online property).

If I choose to have an advertiser pay the $.50 for the show, then I am given the option of the willing advertisers. It could be anyone from the local merchant to a national brand.

Let me give you an example. I know I need a new pair of jeans, so I enter "jeans" in my "Choose Your Sponsor" search field. My results brings me 3 options: Target, Levi's and Sears. I choose the Sears ad because it promises an automatic 15% discount on any pair of jeans. Then, a video "player" opens up that is branded with Sears' logo and web link, and a 1 minute commercial starts streaming. Depending on how advanced Sears' marketing department is, you'll probably see the video customized based on the "jeans" search. Or, maybe you'll just see an all-inclusive Sears commercial. Regardless, they're paying for your Letterman show, and you're going to see at least a few more Sears "blips" (5 sec. commercials) during the broadcast.

There are a lot of companies - local and national - who are willing to spend $.50 for me to see a one minute presentation, especially if I am choosing that advertiser based on what I am looking to purchase.

The best way for business to take advantage of video in marketing and advertising online into broader online and traditional marketing programs.

It's all too common to have a video campaign run in a vacuum. For instance, a YouTube channel is set up, and maybe promoted on YouTube, but not mentioned anywhere else. Or they have video on their site that's not connected to any other marketing their doing.

The best approach is, not surprisingly, an integrated one. For instance, one can offer select behind-the-scenes videos exclusively to bloggers and community owners to post on their own sites in conjunction with a broader campaign. Video can similarly be integrated into widgets in this regard. This shouldn't just be for the sake of syndicating video - it's much more effective when tied into a broader campaign like a seasonal retail or travel promotion, or a new release from a media/entertainment company.

For videos with any viral potential, marketers should also make sure their own sites are optimized around it so that when consumers go to Google and Yahoo searching for the content, the marketer's site comes up first - presumably housing the video or at least linking to it on a video-sharing site.

The bottom line is not to create and syndicate video content just because consumers are now devouring video. It should be a thoughtful part of a campaign, whether or not it's the centerpiece.

You Tube does have a certain appeal, even for the little people trying to hash out their own niche in a huge marketing world, but I wouldn't rely on that as the bread and butter, just maybe for a bit of spice. Wildly popular videos can mint your business, but unless you produce the news, it isn't likely a home made movie about your product or service is going to get a lot of views. What you can do with you tube however is use it for research and social networking.

It is being used quite effectively for campaigns, mailing out the links to the videos, etc. This might be the most effective way to use the tool.

Another similar method might be to choose videos made by others which support your message and send your readers these links in your mailouts and blog.

My space has a fairly large video ad market, but it seems the marketing opportunities available there are under constant scrutiny in order to protect the members from spam and the like. Yet it is still possible to produce an imbedded video and give it away free for now.


Another effective tactic I'm seeing much more of these days is instructional or "proof of earnings" videoa made with your audio and screen captures from your home computer. Camtasia seems to be the vendor of choice most of the time for these productions. This is an easy product to produce and since it is a "how-to" product, is very popular.

I say just harness the power of consumer generated media! Let your customers do the work - you endorse it. Remember the "Fedex guy" (fedexfurniture.com)? Boy, what a botched mess that was. Fedex should have jumped on that bandwagon immediately and took advantage of all the free (positive) press.

Any business could do the same. It's free. It's relatively easy if you know what you're doing. It's powerful. Or hey, just make it LOOK like it's consumer-generated.

The best way for businesses to take advantage of video in marketing and advertising online is to educate.

Dove did this extremely effectively with the Evolution Ad http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/flat4.asp?... and now they're doing it again with the Too Old to be in an Anti-Aging Ad at http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

These ads are effective because they get people talking and teach people something.

In the photography world (my world), we have created a targeted YouTube for photographers at http://www.simplephotolife.com/simplevideo/ My own videos ( http://www.simplephotolife.com/simplevideo/sear... ) have generated almost 10,000 views since the first was released 4 months ago.

10,000 views for anything is a ton - for a handful of homemade tutorials it's INSANE. Advertisers on SimplePhoto.tv would be best off creating content. Like Dove.

Nobody is going to watch a video ad. MySpace plays them all the time. Talking ads/moving ads - they're still ads and they annoy people. Teach them something, make it cool and boom, now they're talking about YOU.

Thanks,
Matt Antonino
matt@pictureinfinity.com

I'm getting thousands of views of my Youtube, Google and Yahoo videos. (Several hundred views per day of all the videos combined.)

I am having success in two different ways.

1. I film basic product sales videos. They are very simple, with an intro with our logo, and then a straightforward product demonstration that I personally do. I wear the same logo shirt outfit in every video, so that they all have a consistent look and feel.

In a world of thousands of drop ship sites that all sell the same thing and have the same two paragraph product descriptions copied verbatim from the manufacturer, my customers truly appreciate these videos.

They prove that we actually have experience with our products. They show an alternative view of the products that you don't get from just looking at a still photo. And they learn the real pros and cons of the product.

I upload the videos to the top three video sharing sites, Yahoo, Google, Youtube, so that they can get incremental views from people who just happen to find them on those sites. They are like free commercials that are always running for me.

Then I embed the video from one of those sites into my web site on the product page, so that I don't have to pay any bandwidth costs for streaming these videos over and over. (I get tens of thousands of visitors per day on my main site, so the cost adds up if I pay the bandwidth myself.)

The other terrific thing for me is that I shoot and edit these videos myself, so it doesn't really cost me anything but time.

No one can "steal" the videos, because I am wearing a logo shirt and I talk about my company in them.

2. The other way I am using video is that I am making purely instructional videos that mention my company and URL at the end.

I am using this strategy on a different web site that is really a hobby business I have been running on the side for almost 10 years. It is a niche category that isn't really big enough to make a whole living from, but it is big enough to pay my mortgage with only some incremental extra work.

Even better, with this business and these videos, I have used Citizen Marketing to get people to make the instructional videos for me!

I pay $10 in store credit per instructional video. (The instructions are simple, so these videos are not long or complex.)

People love it that I am promoting their instructional videos because they get to be "famous experts."

They get compensated in store credit, which is great to them because they love the hobby too, but only costs me wholesale to give it to them.

And they teach a whole new generation of people about the hobby for free on Youtube, Google Video, and Yahoo Video, so these new people can learn how to do this hobby for free, and hopefully buy from me.

Everybody wins!

The most important thing that these two strategies have in common is that the videos all provide useful information.

It's the content that counts in the end.

Online advertising is a tricky business, to create liking and conviction (not only awareness) with online advertising so called word-of-mouth buzz is something that is very much pursued as an end result.
And this is also the main issue. Due to the difficulty to control the outcome of 'word-of-mouth buzz' marketing, most companies are reluctant to pursue it, as it can have both negative and positive effects.

Of course this isn´t exclusive to online advertising but also traditional, but with the web a positive or negative effect from an campaign will be rapidly magnified. The issue with online advertising is that, in order to create liking and conviction (with buzz) the content must be in some way challenging or entertaining otherwise it won´t create much more than awareness.
The Chevy Tahoe example is one where things didn´t go as expected; Chevy hosted a contest on their site for consumers to create ads for the car, the results, not always positive (link at the bottom).

By using services such as BzzAgent, which is a fast growing word-of-mouth network that essentially helps businesses test word-of-mouth marketing on a controlled sample (I don´t work there); the uncertainty around the outcome can be decreased.
The way to use online video advertising as an buzz creating promotional tool are endless, the only constraint in my view is ones creativity.
If online video advertising is used for a traditional awareness generating purpose the application is more straightforward and the main challenge is to target the right audience and generate the right response. A possibility would be to use it as a convenient demonstration tool. For example high involvement purchases, where consumers often detailed information about the product. This would of course go into more the 'creating knowledge' part of marketing.

This is a topic one could discuss forever but as a closing remark, I believe that if the uncertainty can be reduced regarding the outcome of an buzz creating ad campaign the market will grow exponentially, and with services such as BuzzAgent surfacing up companies can see beforehand what response an campaign might give.

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNedC3j0e4
Email : philip@ventureme.com

Wow! Great stuff all. This is exactly the kind of discussion of meaty ideas I was hoping to hear and certainly the kinds of things I hope my readers eat up. Thanks for great, thoughtful posts - keep it up

John

Not usually one to chime in, but I see the future of video as bringing a personal touch to web sites through the use of presenters or hosts, much like TV.

It's a great way to catch and retain attention while delivering a lot of information through visuals and audio. Of course, I would say this as I have just started a company specialising in such productions!

Interested in your thoughts though, as I for one dislike the increasing number of video adverts that use all my bandwidth and CPU.

-- Andrew

What is the best way for businesses to take advantage of video in marketing and advertising online?

We are a Marketing Solutions company that also does video production. However, that was not always the case. Over time, we found that we must help clients identify the need whether it's awareness, lead generation, or education and develop a program that addresses that need. THEN...decide on the best vehicle...video, DVD, direct mail, or conventional advertising. You can create a Telly Award winning video but it's worthless to your clients if it doesn't get watched. And if it doesn't work the first time, they won't come back.

Businesses can utilize video to promote awareness in the case of a small business located in a hard to reach area of the country. A video tour with testimonials helps "showcase" the company to potential clients around the world. Again, the key...getting them to watch the video. Creative packaging, along with a dynamic video gets the job done. Case in point...a series of postcards to Ethanol Plants generated no leads. But, when they received a creative mailing tube graphically designed to look like an ear of corn with several kernels inside and a label that stated: Ethanol Marketing Starter Kit arrived, the phone started to ring. The follow up video generated leads.

Video can also help educate. A particular business indicated that if they could get a potential customer to tour the plant, they have nearly a 100% close ratio! So, if you can't get every customer to the plant...take the plant to every customer! The video/DVD plant tour is being played at every major show, dealers lots, and part of a direct mail campaign. Since dealers sell several different brands, the video helps distinguish their product above the rest.

Video can also help sell the invisible. whether it's a process that is hidden within the confines of a manufacturing operation, or a service that has no visible "product", a video can help animate and educate.

Video can portray commitment and professionalism. A well produced video will show your customers and clients the commitment and investment you have made in producing a quality product or service.

So using video is more than just shooting, it's capturing the passion, the mission, and getting it to the correct vehicle...motivate/educate, make something happen!

Video marketing needs to have a few simple approaches. First you need to know your target audience. Are they looking for something to educate, or entertain? Once that is determined, create your marketing video. The tools provided on every Mac today, along with the amazing new video cameras allow people with the least bit of experience to start producing their own videos. Second, and most important, listen to your customers and opponents. Chevy failed because they took the idea of web 2.0, but didn't realize their opposition was more passionate and Internet savvy than their actual customers. Listen to those that are passionate about your products, and quite possibly they will produce the best viral marketing pieces for you. Take for example DC Skateboarding Shoes; over the course of a year their skateboarders would practice crazy basketball shots when they were not skateboarding. No one in DC’s marketing department conceptualized this piece, it happened organically. Next thing they new, they had a viral video clip that entertained their demographic and reached out to a much broader demographic that would make any basketball shoe company jealous. Check one of the many clips here http://youtube.com/watch?v=FGX4QrYNzIY.

This is the true form of Web 2.0. Listen to those that are passionate about your product. Let them produce some pieces. If their piece is good, and it synchs with your brands goals, you will have a wildly successful video marketing clip. Furthermore, it allows for that consumer to feel a part of your brand, and they will promote it like crazy.

As Matt Antonio said, and I agree, no one wants to watch a video commercial. It needs to look organic to the content it compliments. A great example is the television show, The Amazing Race. Ever wonder why they are always driving Mercedes, but there are few Mercedes adds, because Mercedes and The Amazing Race have realized that properly incorporating product into a show is much more effective. The point of this is that for any video marketing piece to be highly effective, it can’t look forced!

Video marketing needs to have a few simple approaches. First you need to know your target audience. Are they looking for something to educate, or entertain? Once that is determined, create your marketing video. The tools provided on every Mac today, along with the amazing new video cameras allow people with the least bit of experience to start producing their own videos. Second, and most important, listen to your customers and opponents. Chevy failed because they took the idea of web 2.0, but didn't realize their opposition was more passionate and Internet savvy than their actual customers. Listen to those that are passionate about your products, and quite possibly they will produce the best viral marketing pieces for you. Take for example DC Skateboarding Shoes; over the course of a year their skateboarders would practice crazy basketball shots when they were not skateboarding. No one in DC’s marketing department conceptualized this piece, it happened organically. Next thing they new, they had a viral video clip that entertained their demographic and reached out to a much broader demographic that would make any basketball shoe company jealous. Check one of the many clips here http://youtube.com/watch?v=FGX4QrYNzIY.

This is the true form of Web 2.0. Listen to those that are passionate about your product. Let them produce some pieces. If their piece is good, and it synchs with your brands goals, you will have a wildly successful video marketing clip. Furthermore, it allows for that consumer to feel a part of your brand, and they will promote it like crazy.

As Matt Antonio said, and I agree, no one wants to watch a video commercial. It needs to look organic to the content it compliments. A great example is the television show, The Amazing Race. Ever wonder why they are always driving Mercedes, but there are few Mercedes adds, because Mercedes and The Amazing Race have realized that properly incorporating product into a show is much more effective. The point of this is that for any video marketing piece to be highly effective, it can’t look forced!

We think video is a great way to get your brand seen. We produced LBTV a 7 episode, 40 minute video series that integrates our brand right into the content.

Watch LBTV episodes 1-7 in order and you'll see that creating advertising will be much more involved than creating a simple video ad...

http://youtube.com/profile?user=lonelybloggers - Look for LBTV

LBTV has a story, characters, humour and even a plot.. It's very tough to get people to watch 40 minutes worth of video, but it's well done if you do spend the time to see what we tried to do.

Lars was right -- You can post videos on different sites and see thousands of views daily. Videos can be found via search engine and you'll enjoy additional benefits for as long as you have them posted.

We spent $5000 to produce our 7 episodes of LBTV as we believe professionally produced content (for only $5k) is worth it -- There's nothing wrong with using your webcam to create little videos for your site though as well.

We talk about our results to date on the LonelyBloggers.com blog - Lot of good information there to anyone thinking about integrating video into their marketing mix.

I point out - It's a tough go and you need to keep testing to learn about how online video works and doesn't work. I've learned alot in the last 3-4 months about video advertising and will open your eyes to what's at stake right now.

Take the "expert marketers" out of the equation and let your customers create the ads.

Find out what works best for YOUR company. I believe others touched on the idea of doing a bit of research to find out how to incorporate online video into your media mix in a way that your customers will value.

That said, I'd like to site a few examples of online video that I think work well. These concepts could translate well to a variety of different types of businesses.

1. Allowing customers to create their own videos promoting your business or product. My favorite example right now is MyHeb.com. HEB is a growing grocery store chain in Texas, and they are currently holding a "Make Your Own Commercial".
I saw promotions for this contest in-store, on television, in my email box, and on their website. Yes, they did a very good job of integrating all their marketing efforts in promoting this contest. Customers simply have to create a 25 second commercial explaining why they love thier HEB. This is a great for getting their everyday customers to really think about why they choose HEB. Some of the these are quite funny.

HEB rap
http://www.myheb.com/Submissions.action?list=&_...

Spoon in Love w/HEB Icecream
http://www.myheb.com/Submissions.action?list=&_...


2. Promoting commercials on online videos. Although I don't have time to watch Oprah during the day, I do visit her site quite a bit. I recently noticed that when I clicked to watch one of her video clips, a short (but tastefully placed) advertisement is played before her segment. Initially, I was a little annoyed, but was quickly surprised to see how short and unintrusive the ad actually was. To implement this tactic, you must first identify prospective sites that play video, and serve a market that would interested in your business.

http://www2.oprah.com/videochannel/videochannel...

3. Creating videos that help build your brand. Dadlabs.com is a neat little website just for dads. These guys sell dad gear and instructional videos for men that teach soon-to-be dads how to survive pregnancy, labor & delivery. They also create short video interviews on topics that dads would find interesting. These videos are an excellent way for would-be customers to get to know the business owners, and also walk away with tips that will help them be better parents. They could've just made their instructional DVD's and placed them on a "brochure website", instead they have created something of a talk-show with their site that is helping to build their identity as "expert" dads.

Diaper Pails: The Sniff Test
http://www.dadlabs.com/gear/diaper_pails__the_s...

Here they are promoting a neat product that dads might find interesting:
http://www.dadlabs.com/component/option,com_vir...

I will talk to you about what I do now with my business and how we help other businesses and musical talents market via video and showcased images set to featured musical artists.

We here at Poetic Images are trying new approaches to help companies, talented discovered/ undiscovered musical artists and non profits reach the public. with this we are using direct verbiage (facts and points) and musical pull to create an interest in the passing viewers online and in stores. We have been creating DVD's featuring images and charts designed to accompany Grant Funding applications, business presentations, retail store commercials (in store viewing), salon commercials (looped on TV's in the salons) and on websites as flash shows and myspace pages where many of the public eyes are today....as the information of the companies filter over and over its accompanied by featured musical artists as well. much like the stores do now with the radio or music videos playing...its their commercials and the music along with it that they are playing.

simple yet to the point.

you can view some of our clients examples from weddings, fashion shows, commercials ...to even memorial moments. (yes, VIP funerals documented)
this is a way to inform the community and the potential clients of vendors information, specials, and even (for nonprofits) shows the public where their donated money goes as the foundations documented year is featured on their sites.

internet, video, and images with music are grabbing attention in more then one way. TV's are used more for gaming then watching commercials. why watch the TV commercials when you can fas forward them with the new cable boxes. Everyone is online and at your site for a reason.
this approach proves to be interactive with the viewers and serves a great purpose for the companies.

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?...

What is the best way for businesses to take advantage of video in marketing and advertising online?

I think the challenge here is not creation of quality videos nor increased viewership; Quality commercials have been produced for various traditional media like TV for many years. What is missing online is how to target a specific audience. With TV it was simple, advertisers pretty much knew the profile of the consumers watching a specific TV show; for example if it was a show related to parenting, any kind of children products were a good bet.

With the web, videos are showing up online and viewed anonymously by viewers who may just find it irrelevant and close the video in 5 secs. So increased viewership is not a good indicator of sell through.

Having said that, my solution to the problem is that, it is extremely important to position your video's on appropriate websites and specific pages, so that consumers go thru a systematic process of looking for information and arrive at your video, where the video could be the final nail in the coffin! (meaning closing the sale, or getting the deal).

To be more clear, I will use this example below. Specialized search websites are appearing everyday. Here in Atlanta, kudzu.com is the preferred search website when looking for service professionals (Electricians, plumbers, landscapers). Kudzu has found this niche of service professional listings and taken this away from yellowpages.com, who is the mac daddy of business directory listing service.

Kudzu allows businesses to feature their own videos (depends on business subscriber level). So when consumers are say, evaluating for example landscapers, the landscaper who puts a small commercial video, explaining his service and previous projects completed will definitely win the confidence of the consumer and lead the consumer to call the landscaper who has done some impressive landscaping projects shown in his video. Therefore, the video is not just a commercial, but the equivalent of the business owner standing in front of the consumer, pitching for their business.

In summary, its not the quality of the video, nor the amount of viewership, but getting the right eyes to view your video commericals online.

(Now, I do hope I win a pass to the NY conference :):))

Cheers,
Sid,
easyalphaguy@hotmail.com

Hey John - so who got the passes? I'd be interested to know which of these entries you deemed worthy. Thanks!

The best way for businesses to take advantage of video in online marketing and advertising is still evolving, but is coming sooner then we think.

Right now we have several disparate systems that need to be tied together in order to streamline the traffic generation, video presentation, content and sales process.

For example, we need a search engine for people to find our video presentation and website. We need to host the video at a site like Google or You Tube – intermingled with all kinds of non business related videos that discourage shoppers from searching for product related videos. We need a website to display the video and promote the product. Then we need a shopping cart system to take orders and an affiliate program to encourage people to send visitors.

The You Tube phenomenon was started, it seems, by just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what would stick, without much thought about the idea of business marketing, advertising and sales. And now everyone is trying to make You Tube work for their own purposes.

Now take Google, You Tube, My Space and put them together with checkout and multi-tier affiliate tracking and assemble them into one site, just for people or businesses who have something to offer and people looking for a product, service or solution.

Here is what is coming down the road for the benefit of businesses and consumers:

A site where advertisers can set up their own pages, host their videos and audio presentations, manage their text content - all for free, and use the built in checkout process and setup an affiliate advertising program.

Visitors use a search engine on the home page to search by keyword terms. The search results bring up pages within the site that are relevant to the search terms – and perhaps some sponsored ads. The visitors find the pages they are interested in, watch the associated videos, review the content and make their purchases.

If the visitor is interested they can register as an affiliate for the page they viewed, tell others about the video, page content or products, and share in any revenue generated.

For businesses it is easy and free to promote and sell to people who are looking for their products, services, and materials – using video, audio and text. Plus have traffic sent to their pages by other motivated consumers and businesses.

Consumers search, find and learn about their interests and make purchases - all in a consistent format, using various media formats including video and audio. Consumers can rate the content found on pages.

Affiliates sign up for the pages they want to promote and send visitors to that page. If the visitors buy within a year, they share in the revenue.

It’s a winning scenario that brings together in one place the pieces of the most popular web services available.

To learn about the kind of system I am talking about go to this page on the beta site by using this link:

http://www.freeiq.com/websource

<pingback>...- see the post and comments.
I'm working on putting together some information to help small business marketers get beyond the "YouTube isn't for business" thinking. Actually, YouTube may not be for your business, but online video has some great ...</pingback>

I work for a PR and business development firm that specializes in B2B and B2G. To help market our agency we've begun to post videocasts on our website of CMOs discussing internal and external marketing challenges they face and the strategies they've developed to solve those challenges. We believe, as I have read in some other posts here, that the best way to use video is to educate people and provide them with useful information. Yes, we link to the videos from our website and we clearly brand the videos as coming from our firm, but they are not a blatant sales pitch. In fact, besides the opening and closing screens, there is no mention of our firm during the videos. We're starting with two videos, featuring the CMOs of ManTech and iDirect. Neither firm is a client. Both offer the viewer compelling content and we've recieved positive feeback on our efforts. Our aim is to position our firm as a true business partner by showing that we understand our clients key pain points and can creatively help solve them. By posting this type of thought leadership from CMOs we're hoping to offer other marketing professionals a resource they will find useful and not another sales lecture. You can see what I'm talking about here: http://www.gotostrategic.com/mediaLibrary/media...

On the business communications side, it seems to me that the online community are growing accustomed to video and, to a degree, are becoming expectant of it. For complex communications or high value products and services video does provide an obvious advantage for sales and marketing and, as long as they are given the choice, people are happy and willing to watch it.

On using youtube, there are too many reasons not to use it for business videos. These, in no particular order, include; distribution rights (you give up yours when you upload), quality (it’s compressed to a lowest common denominator), stickiness (they will always draw eyeballs to their site from yours), distribution (it’s out of your control).

I have two very informative video presentations done for my recruiting company.
Apart from my own web site i am unclear where else i can use them for marketing purposes.
Youtube is not really for business promotions.
Can anyone advise on some business alternatives?

Tony, See my post above or just go to http://www.Freeiq.com/websource for an overview of Freeiq.com

- Bob Speroni