InsideScooper

by Greg
on May 8, 2012
in Digital , Media
with 2 comments

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The Whys and Hows of Video Marketing

What’s the one marketing tactic that can simultaneously capture the attention of your audience, provide viewers with an interactive experience, contribute to your SEO initiatives, and go viral very quickly in connection with social media? The one that not only allows marketers to easily and accurately track response rates, but also routinely generates the highest response rates of any marketing medium? You guessed it: video.

It works for B2C and B2B
One of the reasons we love video so much is that it performs well for B2B and B2C clients across a multitude of industries. We all know that the majority of consumers turn to the Web for information, and most of them start with YouTube. And according a recent survey by Forbes Insights, given the choice between a text document or video on a topic, nearly two-thirds of business executives preferred video. Furthermore, the survey found that 65% of U.S. corporate executives visit a vendor’s website after viewing an online video.

Some rules to follow
Considering the cost effectiveness with which video allows you to provide audiences with content that’s easy to digest and easy to share, it’s no wonder this medium has become such a hot topic in marketing. In fact, companies plan to spend about 35% more on video this year over last year. Here are six useful tips I picked up from the MarketingProfs Video Best Practices Guide for Marketers:
1. Be brief! Promotional videos should be kept under a minute. Video demos, webinars, and instructional pieces can be much longer.
2. Keep your focus. Every word, image, and sound bite should contribute to your key message.
3. Make it authentic. Keep the marketing speak to a minimum, and create a message that is substantive, authentic, helpful, and valuable to the viewer.
4. Utilize existing content. Take inventory of all the content you have, and see if any of it can be repurposed for video.
5. Consider hiring a professional. Your subject should be well lit, your audio should be clear, your speaker should be compelling, and your videographer should have a steady hand and a good angle.
6. Multiply your media. Video is multimedia, so incorporate still images, slides, text, sound, or even some animation to create a richer experience that engages your viewer even more.

A case study on video
Video is very search-engine friendly, which is one of the initial reasons one of our clients, HOP Energy, recently decided to incorporate it into their marketing mix. This brief case study on HOP is a perfect example of how video’s flexibility allows you to accomplish a great deal on a limited budget.

Challenge
HOP Energy wanted to create a general corporate video for their website, investor relations and trade show applications. The video would need to be such that it could be utilized by HOP’s corporate office as well as its 13 local distributors – none of whom were operating under the HOP brand umbrella. So they essentially needed 14 different videos, but only had the budget for one.

Solution
Scott Cooper Associates created a single video that was easily and cost effectively personalized for each distributor. We did this by creating a master script for HOP Corporate, followed by creating “inserts” that would alter different segments of the core video, allowing the audio and on-screen visual to be customized with each distributor’s logo and contact info. We created the strategy, wrote the script, scouted the talent, directed the shoot and performed all production as well as developed post-production effects and graphics.

See for yourself
Click here to view the brand new video live on the HOP Energy site. You can view any of the local distributor videos by clicking on their logos on the home page of HOP’s site. If you’re not already using video in your marketing mix, now is the time to get started. Outline your strategy today and you’ll soon find out firsthand just how invaluable this tool can be.