Online Videos….They Do Actually Work!

I have been talking to a few potential clients lately and there’s been some hesitation about jumping into the online video pool. I thought this might be a good time to point out an example of a highly successful video, and break it down into the elements that contributed to its success.

Anyone remember this Orabrush video? They’ve been able to garner almost 16 million views over the last 2 years which is crazy for a company/product most people had never heard about before this video came out. What makes this a success story? They were able to turn 16 million views into $1 million dollars worth of sales in their first year and 1 million units in their second. Now while these stats may seem unreal, here’s what I think helped them to get to where they are today:

1. They hit on a pain point for the majority of the world’s population

No one likes to think about the idea that they might have bad breath. It’s like the kiss of death for both men, women, teens, single, married, dating, etc its pretty much the most awful thing that could happen to anyone’s social or professional life. This video touches on that in a very heavy handed way. (Gee even I started getting concerned about my breath after watching!)

2. They Provide How-To Tips

They provide you with a method to discover if you have bad breath. I don’t know how scientific this is, since I suspect anything left on a spoon to dry is bound to stink, but it works. They also let you know how to use the Orabrush, which is a good idea when you are dealing with a product that no one has ever heard of and probably will have no idea how operate.

3. It’s Professionally Done 

I know the marketing guys at Orabrush mentioned that this video was done for a couple of hundred bucks which yes can be done provided you have people who know what they are doing! Essentially film students or professionals that were doing this for fun. This is not a video done by the average person, so let’s just get that out of the way. Not amateur no matter how modest they try to be, so it’s not something that I would recommend to most people to try at home, but if you are exceptional and know the right people go for it!

4. Most Importantly….It’s Funny!

The host is hilarious and talks about situations that we can all relate to (dates, Uncles with bad breath, trying to use mouthwash, etc)and thus its appeal to the average person. It touches on most of the frequently asked questions that we might have with regards to a product like this (how do we use it, why do we use it, why is it better than other products out there, and how we do get our mitts on one of these bad boys) and does so in a very humorous manner, which actually makes you want to watch the video in its entirety.

Keep in mind that these guys now have an entire YouTube channel that they contribute to on a weekly basis. That is a serious video strategy and again may not appeal to the average person, but definitely something to consider.

I don’t think that everyone should expect results like this, because they are highly unusual and quite frankly most people’s products do not have this kind of broad appeal, but there is no reason why you can’t have a perfectly good video that is entertaining and appeals directly to your target audience, which if done properly should get you a return on your investment.

Its Story Time! How to Incorporate Story Elements Into Your Web Video

Having just come off a film shoot this weekend for a short film(scene) that I wrote over the summer, I was inspired to write a post about things to think about when you are putting together a script/outline for your web video.

1. Web Videos are a Visual Medium

When you are considering putting an outline or script together you have to really keep in mind what your idea will look like on a screen rather than how its written on paper. Think about when you are reading a novel. Some parts of the book are easy to visualize in your head and other are just beautifully-written, but could never be brought to the screen. Don’t write a beautifully-written novel. Its not needed in this case. More often than not, the less words on the page the better.

2. Pick “Characters” with Some Life in Them

This is a note about picking participants to host/include in your video. I have seen this happen many times, where the best sales people, the person with the most outgoing personality,  the life of the party, the most beautiful woman/man in the office, etc. while amazing at their job, don’t always make the most interesting “TV/Web” personalities. In fact, often times it’s the most unlikeliest of people who end up being “star” performers.

3. Provide the Audience With A Clear Message

I always ask my clients this question because it is the most important element in your web video. Essentially, you need to ask yourself as an audience member, “why would I take out 2 mins out of my day to watch this?” this answer is especially important when you realize that you are not only competing with other organizations’ web videos for people’s attention, but also music videos, television episodes, funny cat videos, etc.

4. Have Something Happen

Its great that you have a clear message, visual elements and some amazing participants…now what? what happens next? how can you demonstrate that your product/service can get me as a viewer from a place of discontentment to one of enlightenment?  How does your product/service make my life better? It’s like that Netflix commercial from last year says “Don’t tell me, show me.” this is why the Blendtec web videos have been so popular, because they can demonstrate in a creative and non-boring way the power and capabilities of their blenders.

5. Don’t Be A Snore

Now that you have all the other elements taken care of, you have to make sure that what you’re putting together doesn’t put people to sleep (unless of course that’s what your trying to do! haha). I always suggest asking your most trusted and critical of customers, suppliers, etc anyone the video is aimed at to give you an honest opinion. They may not like it the first time you ask. Keep going! Eventually, your script/outline has to get better. Family and friends are great and they mean well, but they may not tell you the truth to avoid hurting your feeling, which believe me will hurt more when you put out something that no stranger will ever take the time to watch, or worse decide not to call you…ever!

Hope you found this helpful! Happy writing!

Video Strategy-Yes….You Do Need One

Lately, I’ve been struck by the number of people that I’ve chatted with that like the idea of creating a video for their organization, but are put off by the perceived high cost attached to this form of advertising. Yes, depending on the concept you choose to develop, it can get pretty costly. However, as I’ve said before it’s not about how much you spend, but the effectiveness of your message. With that said if you want to get a return on the investment you make in video, large or small, you need a plan. Yes, a well thought out path about how you’re going to get from point A to point B. This my friends, is where it all begins.

You need a carefully crafted plan for several reasons:

1. You need to know who you’re creating this video for. Who are you trying to target with your message? what do you want them do after they’ve seen your video?

2. While it’s great that you have a fantastic looking video, what are you going to do with it now? how you are going to promote it to your existing and potential customers? I am very interested in making sure my clients have an answer to this question, because I am personally invested in making sure that their video helps them achieve their organizational objectives.

3. What about tomorrow when your organizational needs change and you want to create a new video? wouldn’t it be more cost effective to have some footage stored away somewhere so that it can be used again later? All part of the plan (smile)

Do you have a plan for your next video marketing project? Do share!

 

Editing Your Videos within YouTube

I read a couple of days ago that YouTube re-introduced their YouTube Remixer tool, powered by Adobe Premiere Express, which allows YouTube users the ability to edit their videos within YouTube itself. No need to get a sophisticated editing software system when all you need is a few tweaks and your off to the races.

It seems pretty easy to use, and the how-to video suggests it has some exciting options that I will try out and will show you my results at the end of this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-n9p28Yh8w&feature=player_embedded While it’s a pretty easy and straightforward editing tool, it really is made for the average consumer. This is definitely not something that professionals will use in near future for their content, but that is totally okay. Going back to my earlier blog post this week “Home-Made Videos Don’t Have to Suck” this tool is perfect for those home-made videos that you just want to upload and do a little bit of tweaking before sending out into the world.

I love the capabilities on this tool. You can stabilize your shaky footage, particular important for people like me who may not have the most steady hand. You can do a little bit of colour-correction on your own, it’s not as refined as the professional tools, but it can really punch up the colours of your video if you want it to. You can add colour effects to the video as well if you want it.

The current YouTube video editor has been fun to play with. It allows you to cut existing videos that you’ve uploaded and publish a brand new video based on previous ones. Certainly you can upload new videos and edit those. There are options to add audio and use creative commons videos to add to your piece de resistance. You have transition options as well as basic brightness and contrast levels which are similar to the Remixer. but on a more basic level.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for…dun dun a dun! My new created creative commons video edited with YouTube video editor and remixer. Not the greatest thing ever, but pretty easy to do in about 5 mins (not including processing time, which by the way takes awhile, you’ve been warned)

Home-Made Videos Don’t Have to Suck

I was recently chatting with a potential client about the idea of using their own home video camera as part of a marketing campaign and whether that would be considered “okay.” In my humble opinion I would say yes it’s okay, but it depending on the situation.

That’s the thing it really goes back to your brand image and what you are trying to portray. If your brand messaging is all about down-to-earth, get in with the people sort of thing, let them know who you are, then yes I would say doing your own videos, and create lots of them. Just make sure you watch out for a couple of things:

1. Actually have a message you want to convey. A video with someone just rambling for the sake of it isn’t going to cut it.

2. Ensure that you’ve edited the video properly to take out any ums and ahs, include any titles or links to websites and most importantly make sure you have a call to action at the end to ensure that your audience understands this is part of your marketing and not just you accidentally uploading home-made videos.

3. You absolutely must get your audio right. No fading in an out while you’re talking, no audio track that is not synced to the picture. This is what will kill your messaging and makes you go from purposely home-made to horribly amateur if you don’t do it correctly.

How-To videos are a great way to create home-made videos that have a clear message and gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your product/service in action.

Customer testimonials can also be done via home-made video and work really well too. Again see rules above for how to do this properly.

The thing to keep in mind is that home-made videos should reflect your branding strategy and not necessarily on the size of your business. If you are a small, luxury jewellery company I would not advise doing a home-made video. Nor would I advise your whole video strategy to revolve around only home-made videos. Some well placed how-to videos, or testimonials or even a series of these is fine, however, your company profile and main marketing video should be professionally done if you want to be taken seriously in the market-place.

A really good example of an online retailer who’s got it right is Zappos.com. They have a great combination of home-made and professional videos. http://youtu.be/4hXd2alI3pA and http://youtu.be/7GXtFvMJ91o that allow potential customers to really understand Zappo’s company values, products and services offered.

So there you have it, home-made videos…Yes, You Can!

Who Are You? Online and Offline Profiles

I know that some of you are already pretty good at this and have mastered the art of face-to-face networking versus online networking, but bear with me here because it’s still something that I find kind of fascinating. This weekend I was fortunate enough to attend a Toronto International Film Festival-related lounge/party organized by RealTV Films. While I had a fantastic time I found it interesting people who I had only interacted with online were now suddenly right in front of me in the flesh. Honestly, it surprised me how different people are in their Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook profiles than they are in person. I wonder why that is? People who I had assumed were quiet and reserved based on their online profiles where actually the opposite and vice versa. Are online profiles a great place for people who are not as good at face-to-face networking to really be themselves?

That makes me wonder how you continue your relationship with said people if they aren’t as open during face-to-face interactions. Do you conduct all of your communications via twitter? or even that old-fashioned way of communicating via “e-mail”? Personally, I’ve spent a good part of my career in people’s faces, so I can definitely say that in-person really is my strong suit. Social media communication is a bit difficult for me, since I don’t really fancy myself a particularly prolific writer. Its taken some time, but I think I’m getting there. I am really starting to feel like my offline and online personas are starting to become in sync with each other.

The thing with online is that you really have to stand for one or two things that your passionate about otherwise people get confused about who you are. Take for example twitter profiles that look like this:

I am a nature-loving, pet-friendly, social media enthusiast, insurance salesperson who loves to play classical piano and travels the world looking for new adventures……

Huh? who is this person? what is it exactly that they will be writing/tweeting about that I can say “yes I follow this person because I want to learn more about x” and yet if I met them in-person we may end up being the best of friends because of the personality traits that we don’t put in our twitter profile, kind, helpful, organized, good listener, etc.

I also wonder about people who have online profiles based on their current job titles. What happens to your followers if you leave? do you get to take them with you to your next assignment or do they have to stay with the company?

Just some questions that I’ve been asking myself and and I wonder if anyone else has found a solution to this online versus offline persona issues.

 

 

Why Vimeo Plus Might Be A Better Option for Independent Artists

As part of my multi-blog series on video distribution platforms I thought it might be a good idea to review the new Vimeo Plus as an option for video sharing sites for small to mid-sized businesses that are just getting started in video. So here we go:

What is Vimeo Plus?

It’s the commercial arm of basic Vimeo that allows businesses and organizations to host their video content on a high-quality video management platform for $199/year.

What does it come with?

-Commercial hosting option (new!)
-High Definition video (up to 1080p!)
-Advanced Analytics
-Unlimited customizable video Portfolio sites
-Unlimited HD embedding
-Fast, Priority uploading
-Super-customizable and brandable video player (new!)
-HTML5 support with the Vimeo Universal Player
-Full mobile, tablet and connected TV compatibility
-Unlisted video review pages (new!)
-Third Party video player support (new!)
-Optional original file storage

Uploads and Play capacities?

50 GB of upload space per year up to 5GB per upload with the option of buying an additional 50GB for an additional $199/year. Play limits are set to 250, 000 plays with the option of buying 100,000 more plays for an additional $199/year (unused additional plays roll over for two years)

Customized Portfolio?

Involves some default themes (I don’t know how customizable that really is, but you have alternatives to the generic I guess is the point) and the option to use your own domain name.

Video Review Page?

The video review pages are semi-private, unlisted video pages. Pages are unbranded and accept anonymous comments, so even people who don’t have Vimeo accounts can leave feedback.

Things to watch out for?
If you do not renew your Vimeo Pro account all of your vidoes including source files (which they actually encourage you not to upload) will be removed. Eek!

I initially reviewed Vimeo Plus as an option for small businesses of any kind wanting some type of DAM/Distribution platform for a reasonable price, but now having seen the features that are available I feel that the target audience for this platform is only professional artists. Actors, Producers, Writers, Editors, Director of Photographers, Animators etc. Definitely people that I would work with and certainly a great way to showcase what your artistic style and what commercial work you’ve done in the past.

Unfortunately, I don’t see it as a permanent DAM solution or a distribution network that reaches out to the general public (YouTube still seems to be a better option for that). However, as a way to display your creative work in the way it was meant to be viewed in a relatively inexpensive way, I totally think Vimeo Plus fits the bill.

 

 

 

How To Decide on a Video Distribution Platform

A potential client once asked me “what distribution platform do you use?” to which I answered “um..any one you want.” you see essentially my job is to work with a client to create a video that sends out a message they are trying to convey to their audiences in a visual format within their budget parameters in the best possible way. That is really the jist of it. Once that video is completed how and where its distributed is really up to the client. Certainly I am able to give advice (which I am going to do today) but that’s the truth. If you are an organization that has a plan for how your going to promote/distribute that video then you’ll get a high ROI and if you don’t…. then I strongly suggest before creating a video you decide on the promotional strategy. That’s a pretty important element to video strategy I think. In this world of distribution platforms, digital asset management systems, and video sharing websites I realize it can get confusing so I thought I would shed some light into how to navigate your way through this process in a multi-part blog series:

1. First of all you need to ask yourself the question. What is my video strategy? meaning how many videos do I expect to create in a given year? one? 20? this makes a difference when your considering how your going to effectively distribute your video once it’s done and whether you really need an expensive distribution platform.

If you only plan on doing 1-5 videos over several years, my suggestion is skip the platform and just create your own free YouTube Channel. Distribution platforms (I will talk about some of the ones I like in later blog posts) while incredibly robust can also get expensive, and if you don’t really plan on creating a lot of videos in the near future they can be total overkill.

2. If you are in that 1 video every 5 years category I highly recommend YouTube as your primary video sharing site for a couple of reasons:

a)It is the largest video sharing website out there today and gives you a chance to reach the largest number of viewers. From a corporate perspective other video sharing sites just don’t have the same kind of audience reach and in some cases (basic Vimeo) don’t encourage commercial content.

b) While not the most comprehensive, YouTube still offers a pretty good analytics tool that lets you see how and where your video is being consumed. When you’re ready to know the nitty gritty of how videos are doing, drop-off points and rates then a distribution platform/more complex video hosting solution will be your next step.

c) In my opinion, one the best ways to get your video seen is through social media marketing tools. So its not really about your platform, but how you plan on promoting the video through your own social media networks that counts. Think about how many videos are watched on Facebook alone. While distribution platforms can often syndicate your content for you quickly and easily to multiple sites simultaneously, again I think nothing beats personalized messaging through networks you’ve worked hard to build. (i.e. your twitter account, facebook, tumblr, etc)

Finally, I do need to point out that your video content has got to be the most important thing. Without a thoughtfully created video with your target audience in mind all the distribution platforms and social media tools in the world will not be able to save your video from the ether that is the world wide web.

Some food for thought.