Tips, tools and traps to avoid

Your success with online video boils down to one thing–quality. But there’s a lot more to the quality of an online video than visual clarity. In fact, there are five crucial qualities when it comes to marketing with online video. Those five qualities are explained below, along with tips, tools and traps to avoid.

No. 1: Quality Planning
Online videos aren’t as easy to change as a section of text on a website’s landing page, so it’s a good idea to do some planning before you start rolling the camera. Start by determining your objective for the video and then plan the content to meet that objective. Here are some examples of marketing objectives and content you should consider including in your video for each.

Marketing Objective and Content to Include:
-  Brand recall – Your logo, emotional content, entertaining content
-  Advertisement – Your value proposition within the context of a story
-  Lead generation – An incentive combined with instructions for sharing contact information
-  Education – Product demonstrations, step-by-step instructions, product comparisons
-  Endorsement – Customers giving testimonials or professional paid endorsements
-  Immediate sale – The immediate benefits of your products or services and a call to action

Tip: Consider creating more than one version of your video.
It saves time and money to shoot three different introductions or endings to the same core video, and once you have multiple versions you can use them to test one version against another or to personalize your video for audiences with different interests.

Tool: A written script or outline
If you have a short video, writing out the content word-for-word gives you the ability to test the length and post the words as a transcript for search engines and people who would rather read your message. If your video is longer, use an outline instead of a word-for-word script.

Trap: Forgetting to plan for the context of your viewer
For example, if most of your audience will be viewing your video on a mobile device, you should consider the smaller screen, the location of your viewer and the features of the phone when planning your scenes and calls to action.

No. 2: Quality Production
The production quality of your video can really make or break your image. Production quality includes the visual and audio aspects of your video, as well as the quality of the spokesperson or actor, the story line and the believability of the entire presentation. Generally speaking, consumers expect serious businesses to adhere to high quality standards when it comes to video and audio presentations. They watch enough high-definition television to know the difference between a quality production and an inferior one.

While you could spend $1 million to produce a 30-second commercial with cameras, special effects, actors, locations and pre-production, you can produce a quality video with a much smaller investment. Most professional production companies can adjust their production services according to your budget by adding or removing services while keeping the quality of the video and audio high. LightGroup–the company that produced the video introduction to this article–is one of those flexible production companies.

If you’re the do-it-yourself type but you can’t afford to buy good equipment, or you lack the experience or technical skills to put together your own studio, search for a rental studio, public television station or freelance producer to help you out. (I did a quick search and found several professional studios for rent in my town for as little as $30 per hour.)

Tip: Consider the length of each message when recording.
The best online videos for marketing purposes are short, or “snackable.” If your message is long, plan on dividing it into a series of short two- to three-minute videos, or start with an introductory video selling the benefits of watching the entire longer version.

Tool: Video production software
If you want to produce your own videos, you’ll need the ability to record it, edit it and format it for different uses. Two options are Adobe Visual Communicator and Quicktime Pro.

Trap: Thinking that poor quality makes your video seem more personal
Don’t use a cheap web camera and far-away microphone to intentionally give your video a rough look unless you want your customers to think you’re begging for money.

No. 3: Quality Distribution
Putting a video on your own website is great for your website visitors, but if you stop there, you’re missing out on the huge distribution potential of online video. In fact, many people who prefer online video presentations only search on sites such as YouTube and Hulu because they think they contain the entire collection of online videos. Once you have a video ready to post online, make sure you post it on the following sites.

• Your own website
• Online video sites such as YouTube, Hulu and iTunes
• Your blog
• RSS feeds
• Social media sites

Tip: Buy search and display advertising on your distribution channels.
Many distribution channels, such as YouTube, allow you optimize video posts for search engines and even place ads near videos or in videos with related content. One of the benefits of advertising next to a video is the fact that the viewer of the video isn’t scrolling down the page while watching. That means your ad displays for a longer period of time than a typical page of text allows.

Tool: Syndication services
Posting your videos to every distribution channel can take a lot of time and effort. Using a syndicator allows you to distribute your video to many online video sites at once. TubeMogul.com has a free level of service that allows you to make up to 100 video deployments per month. Brightcove.com and ooyala.com include a variety of enterprise-level services if you’re a bigger and more serious video distributor.

Trap: Exchanging free distribution for bad advertising
Some distribution channels allow you to produce and post videos for free in exchange for allowing advertising to appear in your video. While there’s nothing wrong with that concept, some advertisements might be distracting at best and competitive with your video message at worst. Before you agree to allow ads in your video, make sure the ad content is compatible with the goals of your video.

No. 4: Quality Interactivity
Watching a video is a passive activity. If you want your viewers to take action, it’s best to make your videos interactive. Interactivity can be built into the post-production process, and many video players allow you to add interactive elements such as:

•Interactive links that display during key portions of the video
•Calls to action that appear as text overlays
•Clickable screens that allow the viewer to click on objects in the video
•Comment forms that pop up during the video
•Live chats that allow viewers to discuss the content

Tip: Use interactivity to collect information.
Providing interactivity in a video is much more useful to your business when you can use those engagements to collect contact information or analyze traffic patterns and viewing habits. Make sure your video player is capable of tracking interactions and views, and include links to signup forms and social media sites so viewers can join your e-mail list or follow your company.

Tool: Video players
Online videos should be hosted in a video player with the typical play button and other click-to-control elements. Some players allow you to add brand elements, interactivity, formatting and distribution. I like Viddler.com, which allows you to record and publish videos with viewer comments, share links, add content tags and use your own branding. I also like Veeple.com for its ability to make parts of the video screen clickable. If you’re into live broadcasting, check out Ustream.com.

Trap: Useless interactions
Interactivity can be a distraction if it interferes with your original goals. For every interaction you add to your videos, ask yourself if that interaction moves the viewer closer to a purchase decision. If not, don’t add it to your video.

No. 5: Quality Sharing
Video is highly shareable, but the value of sharing isn’t represented only by the number of views unless your only goal is brand recognition. If your goal is to generate leads or immediate purchases, don’t lose focus by trying to make your video “go viral.” Instead, focus your video content on getting people to share your lead generation campaign or immediate purchase incentive. For example, if your video promotes a sweepstakes to collect leads, your video should ask people to share the sweepstakes information, not the video.

Tip: Go mobile.
Video is one of the technologies helping to drive the adoption of more sophisticated mobile devices. Make sure to provide your videos in a format that can be viewed on mobile devices, and give your viewers the ability to download the video to their mobile devices either through a text message or a mobile site. Some sites, such as YouTube, automatically enable mobile sharing.

Tool: Video sharing links
Many distribution channels such as YouTube and video players such as Viddler.com make it easy for viewers to share your video with others on social networks, but you can also enable sharing by placing sharethis.com share links or RSS feeds on the website pages that contain your videos. To enable sharing via e-mail and mobile devices, you can provide a mobile link to your video or post the video to a mobile website and ask users to share the mobile version via SMS, MMS or mobile social media posts. Companies such as mogreet.com allow you to proactively send mobile videos to your customers via MMS messages and ensure that the videos are formatted to play on almost every mobile device.

Trap: Creating videos in only one format
There are a few standards in online video, but they are always threatened by new technology. For example, Flash is a great technology, but sadly, it’s not supported on many new mobile devices. Make sure your distribution channels have the ability to display your video in a variety of formats so it can play in a variety of browsers, mobile devices and desktop video players.
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By John Arnold | July 13, 2010
John Arnold’s no-nonsense marketing advice is featured in his well-known marketing books, which include Web Marketing All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies, E-Mail Marketing for Dummies and Mobile Marketing for Dummies. John is also a leading marketing speaker, trainer and consultant specializing in do-it-yourself marketing advice for small businesses, franchises and associations. If you have a marketing tool or technology you would like John to write about, contact him at http://JohnArnold.com.

The WLAN hotspot is located within the rooftop antenna, and passengers can connect to the internet via any laptop, netbook or new-age tablet, like the Apple iPad. Audi says that the network is capable of speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/sec and that WAP2 encryption is on hand in order to securely transfer data. Audi claims that this is the first such factory-installed system, although other automakers offer WiFi connectivity with dealer installed accessories.

The new A8 is already packed to the brim with the latest and greatest in automotive technological achievements. Things like the automaker’s second-generation MMI control interface, the integration of Google Earth and an impressive LED lighting system up front set it apart from other vehicles in the class, and the addition of wireless internet will only strengthen the appeal to prospective buyers. The full details are available in Audi’s press releasebelow.

by Steven J. Ewing – AutoBlog
Audi A8 – taking the fast lane onto the World Wide Web

- First factory-installed WLAN hotspot in a car
- Wireless access for iPads, laptops and netbooks
- Secure encryption, stable connection

The new Audi A8 is the first car in the world to offer an optional factory-installed WLAN hotspot for wireless Internet access. Passengers in the front and rear can simultaneously access the Internet through the car’s integrated WLAN module and via UMTS, using up to eight terminal devices such as laptops, Apple iPads or netbooks.

Wireless surfing, accessing information, data and e-mails from company networks, and downloading the latest apps for the iPad – passengers in the front and rear can conveniently and securely use all of these features while traveling in the Audi A8, just as if they were in their own office. WPA2 encryption provides the necessary security for the transfer of data.

Using the WLAN hotspot is remarkably simple. To activate Internet access with speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s, the driver merely needs to insert a data-capable SIM card into the Bluetooth online car phone. Alternatively, an Internet connection can be established via Bluetooth by using a compatible mobile phone with a SIM Access Profile. Any existing mobile phone contract can be used for this – often coupled with a flat-rate data plan.

Communication with the Internet takes place through the rooftop antenna of the Audi A8 via the car’s own UMTS module. This enables utmost connection stability with outstanding reception quality.

Outsell, which provides research and advisory services to the publishing and information industries, described the spending shift as “an industry milestone crossover event.”

It said overall US spending on advertising and marketing will increase by 1.2 percent in 2010 to 368 billion dollars.

Outsell said 63 billion dollars, or 52.8 percent of total online advertising spending by companies, would be on their own websites, which it said constitutes a “powerful form of direct to customer marketing.”

“Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding,” Outsell vice president and lead analyst Chuck Richard said.

“As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they’re spreading their spending over a widening set of options,” he said.

By category, Outsell said spending on print newspaper advertising was expected to drop 8.2 percent to 27 billion dollars while print magazine advertising will rise 1.9 percent this year to 9.4 billion dollars.

US newspapers and magazines have been facing declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.

Outsell said that spending on direct mail marketing campaigns would rise 2.7 percent to 24.4 billion dollars and spending on custom print publications would be 3.0 percent higher at 19.3 billion dollars.

Spending on print directories would fall 8.3 percent to 11.6 billion dollars while spending on print newsletters would be flat at 11.4 billion dollars.

“2010 will not suddenly erase the painful memory of crumbling ad spending in 2009, but it will provide much closer to a flat year for several of the traditional media types,” Outsell said.

“This means that publishers with significant shares of traditional media in the mix and who pounded their expenses and debt into shape sufficient to survive the brutal 2009 should be able to carry on at those levels in 2010.”

Spending on television advertising was forecast to drop 6.5 percent to 59.6 billion dollars.

Outsell surveyed more than 1,000 US advertisers in December 2009 for its annual “Marketing and Advertising Study 2010.”

Brietbart: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.642d53c67e2bcaf6302164c0de9f8c70.3d1&show_article=1

What is Search Engine Optimization and how can it help your business?  Search Engine Optimization or SEO as it commonly known is the process of organizing your website to be ‘read’ by search engines in the most effective manner.  The result, hopefully, means that the quantity and quality of traffic is vastly improved.  The earlier a website appears in search result pages and the higher its ranking, the more traffic it will generate.

Search engines are the gatekeeper for users looking for specific information on the Internet.  Search engines read the programming language of your website known as HTML or Hyper Text Markup Link. HTML is text-based information on a web page identifying all text as links, headings, paragraphs, lists and so on.

‘Spidering’ is a web-crawler program used by search engines that runs an automated script to browse the web in an automated and methodical manner.  Search engines use spidering to obtain up-to-date data, although they can also be used to automate tasks on a website or index downloaded pages to increase the speed of searches.  They also are used to check links and validate HTML code.  This bot or program starts with a list of URLs to visit and then identifies all the hyperlinks on the page and adds them to the list of URLs to visit.

There are specific types of search that a user can employ: Industry-Specific, Local and Image.  An ‘Industry-Specific’ search is based on the category of a company such as ‘plumbing’ or ‘dentist’.  A ‘Local Search‘ allows users to geographically constrain searches against local businesses.  And an ‘Image Search’ is specifically designed to find pictures, images, animation, etc.  Your website should be optimized for each of these types of searches.