Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 09:05 AM
Whether you make your video assets yourself or hire a production company, they're costing you. It just doesn't make sense to park them on your website and hope people find them. Better to let them out of their cage so they can work even harder for you.
Here are six ways to do just that:
- Use social media to get people to watch them (put them on YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, and send people to them via Twitter).
- Include image and text links to your videos in your email newsletters and updates.
- Use video during your sales process by sending links to specific, appropriate videos to individual prospects.
- Embed a video in your in-person sales presentations. Everyone likes a video, and starting your Powerpoint slide show with video is a great way to put people in a receptive mood.
- Include them in marketing packages you offer for free in exchange for contact information.
- Re-purpose the content by using chunks in new videos.
These six ideas are designed to get you thinking about all the different ways you can make your video assets work for you. Placing your videos on your website is just one way- and if that's the only way you're using video right now, then you're not getting your money's worth. So let those videos out of their cage! Send them out into the world and you'll see your ROI soar.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Jul 01, 2010 @ 10:59 AM
If you're thinking about using video to market your business, good for you. Video's interactivity and rich content are very effective for engaging, communicating and connecting. But before you invest time or money (or both), it makes sense to be sure you aren't just making video for the sake of having video on your site. You want your video assets to work hard for you and justify your investment, don't you?
Here are the top four questions to ask before you begin shooting. Consider them thoughtfully, and you'll have the answer to the really big question: what kind of video should you make?
1. What do you want your video (or videos) to do for you? This forces you to get beyond the very general "We just want to have video on our site" and define your goals. Be as specific as possible. Here are a few examples:
- streamline our customer service process
- introduce our key people
- inject humor into the early stages of our sales process
- move people through our sales funnel
- demonstrate how our product works
- provide different ways for visitors to understand who we are and what we do
- provide in-depth learning experiences
2. Who are your audiences and how do they learn? Who will watch the videos you'll make? This question will help you define what style of video to make. If you're connecting with 19-year-old males, you'll make a different kind of video than you would for new mothers or retired golfers.
3. What is the message you want to deliver to your audience(s)? If you make them correctly, videos are like arrows. They deliver a specific message to a particular target. Figure out what message you need to send. If you have more than one audience, don't use the same video for all of them. Instead, create different versions of your message so that each group sees and hears exactly what they care about.
4. How will you measure success? It's not a good idea to invest in assets and then leave them alone because you trust (or hope) that they're doing what you want them to do. Better to know how you define success so you can determine if they're working. If they are, great. You've figured out what works, and you can continue to create video assets that do the job. If you find that they aren't doing what you want them to do - understand why not, and then try something different. The goal is to create assets that achieve your goals and contribute to your success. You won't know if that's happening unless you measure and analyze.
Take the time to answer these four questions before you begin production, and you'll have the information you need to make video assets that are powerful and effective communication tools. They'll work hard for you, and they'll do the job you made them to do.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Mon, May 10, 2010 @ 09:00 AM
We've been working with Grafton Suburban Credit Union for a while now, to create videos for their lobby TV screen and to help them understand how to use video on the web. Recently we asked CEO Ed Lopes if he'd do a video case study for us. We could have asked for a straight testimonial. But, by making the video about the credit union, its challenges, and how we provided solutions for those challenges, we're creating a video asset that is MUCH more helpful as a sales tool than a plain vanilla testimonial could ever be. Here's a brief clip that's not in the final case study. In this clip, Ed talks about when "the light went off" about using video at the credit union.
How to create a video case study
When you're working with a happy client to create a video case study, it's important to get a few details about their business so that similar businesses can identify. Then, after the 'who we are and what we do and who's our customer' section, you can ask about the challenges they face that are directly related to your product. After that, ask them to discuss the solution you provided and how that's been working for them. With some products, it's possible to measure success, so if possible ask if they can quantify how your product has been helping them.
Then, edit the video to create the case study. You want your case study to be short - about four minutes max - and you'll have extra video you can also use, like we're using Ed's video clip in a blog post.
Why do video case studies work?
Video case studies work as sales tools because they allow your prospects to see your product or service through the eyes of a business that's similar to theirs or that's facing similar challenges. While it's easy for you to say you solve a particular problem, it's a LOT more convincing if one of your customers talks about the solution you provided.
How to use a video case study
Place your video case study on a dedicated page on your website, and add a text discussion. Your sales force can now use that page as a powerful sales tool. You might also think about placing the video case study on a landing page, and then using it in your lead generation program.
Bottom line
Testimonial marketing is effective because people trust the authentic voice of a customer, and like to buy a product or service that's worked for someone else. Using a video case study is much more powerful than a straight testimonial, because it also gives information that's directly related to the problem your lead or prospect is experiencing.
(Check out the full Grafton Suburban case study here)
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Fri, Apr 16, 2010 @ 10:00 AM
My husband is a glider pilot with the Greater Boston Soaring Club, and so I am in the loop on some really cool videos about gliders and soaring. This video is one of the most breathtaking I've seen - hang onto something, watch it, and then we'll talk about what a bunch of crazy/brilliant Austrian glider pilots and stuntmen have to do with your business:
While you completely get that this is an awesome video - and you may even share it with friends via email or on Facebook or Twitter - what does it have to do with your business?
Business is about relationships
Cool videos are like little gifts you give your current customers - and those who may be your future customers. Videos that are not overt commercials, but instead have a more peripheral connection to your product/service, are interesting and worthy of conversation. They provide current/potential customers with a good reason to engage with you and to talk about you, and to share your video, which will introduce your company to more people.
The peripheral product connection for this video is to Red Bull, the energy drink. It's hosted on the Red Bull website, along with lots of other remarkable videos about sports and athletes and music and dance. It's a great place to go and get your daily Wow. (And, of course, your daily reminder that Red Bull is a brand that is associated with really cool activities.)
What about budget?
But wait, you say - are you nuts? We don't have the budget for a multi-cam production, with helicopters, in the Alps!
No problem. The beauty of video is that no matter how small your video production budget, you can make video that's fun to watch, and fun to share. Maybe it's a karaoke music video starring your office staff. Maybe you're a car dealer and you bring in your new puppy and take him for a drive in one of your new cars. Or bring in your 92-year-old grandmother and take her for a drive. Or...
You get the picture. When it comes to making videos that are outside the usual serious and all-business stuff, the possibilities are endless - all you have to do is stop thinking about video as a medium that's only appropriate for communicating seriously about your products and services. Instead, remember that people want to have fun. A fun video that's peripherally related to your product can have a place too. It can be cool in a way your strict product videos can't, and it has a far greater chance of being shared, and talked about. But you have to be willing to step outside that comfortable space where your video production budget is always spent on serious, product/centered videos.
The possibilities are endliess - so step outside your comfort zone, start thinking creatively, have some fun, and share your fun.
(...and if you're interested, take a look at some of the videos made by members of the Greater Boston Soaring Club about their adventures in the sky. They'll give you goose bumps!)
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 @ 07:55 AM
There's a local tech company that paid their video production company (one of our competitors) to create four videos explaining features of their product. The videos are beautiful and the company was very pleased with them. So the company sent the videos to their website people with these instructions: "Put them on our website."
What happened?
Mistake #1: The website people made the videos difficult to find. They put a small text link on the home page: "Click here to view videos." Then they connected that link to a page that starts with text about the product, with no mention of videos. The text explains the same features the videos discuss, and there's enough text so that the videos are now ‘below the fold' - a visitor has to scroll down to find them.
Mistake #2: The videos are framed incorrectly. The website people don't know 
anything about hosting video, so they subscribed to an online hosting company, uploaded the video, and then took the embed code to place video on the page. But they screwed up when they uploaded the video. They must have known it, because they used different upload settings for each video. The result is that one is squashed into a 4x3 frame, though the videos are all 16x9.
Another video has the correct aspect ratio but achieves it by placing big black bars on the top and bottom of the frame, making the video very small. The other two are even messier - stretched, squashed, and black bars. And though the videos have been up for almost a year, no one in the company seems to understand that they don't look right. Or maybe they haven't looked at them, but just assumed that "we have video on our website."
Mistake #3: The videos are all very small. They look like postage stamps. They're too small to see much of the product detail, or to read the text that's in the video. And the viewer certainly isn't noticing the gorgeous video the company paid a lot of money for.
Mistake #4: The videos are placed all on one page. They're stacked, one underneath the other. As though videos are set pieces that can't stand on their own, when in fact they're most effective on their own, one to a page. With four stacked on a page, the viewer sees a swarm of videos, randomly picks one, and ignores the rest.
Mistake #5: The videos were placed and forgotten. The company paid good money to make good videos, and assumed that was enough - that somehow those videos would do the job just because they're good videos.
What should have happened?
The process went wrong all the way back at the beginning, when the company had an idea: Let's make some videos. WRONG starting point.
The right place to start is with a question: How can we use video to market our product?
The answer to that question is:
First, make a video or a series of videos that communicate the right message to the right audience. This means that before you start production, you have to understand the audience(s) you're trying to reach, and the individual messages you want your audience(s) to receive.
Second, understand how you will connect the right audience with the right video(s). How will you make them easy to find? How will you make them easy and fun to watch? How will you focus the viewer's attention on the one single message in each video?
Third, how will you understand whether the videos are doing what you want them to do? What will you measure? Videos are communication tools. To know if they're doing the job you created them to do, you have to check up on them. You have to understand what you're asking them to do, and how you'll know if they're doing their job.
The mistake too many companies make is in assuming that all they have to do is make video that shows off their product and place that video on their website somewhere. And then Bingo! Magic will happen.
In reality, video absolutely can work magic for your company. And it will, IF you understand the rules of video marketing.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Fri, Dec 04, 2009 @ 09:29 AM
By now, you understand that video on your website is a great option. But you may be wondering just exactly how you should use video. Here are six problems that video on your website can solve:
- You have a story to tell. If you do the exact same thing all of your competitors do, and if all of your potential customers understand exactly what you do, then you probably don't need to tell your story. But if there's anything about your company that's special, unique, different, unusual - that's the story you need to tell. Maybe it's your customer service. Maybe it's the fact that your software or your machine will save your customers money. Whatever it is, video will tell that story in a way people will get - immediately.
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You need to make a personal connection. If you interact personally with your clients and customers, then starting that interaction on your website gives you an advantage. Video lets you talk to everyone who comes to your website, so they can see that
you have the qualities they're looking for in a professional.
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You need to explain a complex idea. Visitors to your website probably won't take the time to read through and understand a lengthy text explanation of your complex idea. An upbeat, fun-to-watch video that
explains your complex idea simply and clearly is a much better solution.
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You have information you relay over and over and over. If people are always asking the same questions, or if you find yourself doing the same old presentation about your product or service, then it's time to create educational videos that will do the job for you, so you can spend your time doing something besides repeating yourself.
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You need to train your customers on how to use something. Whether it's a webinar that demonstrates your software, or a how-to video that shows customers how to install your faucet, video is the perfect medium for training.
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You have something people need to see before they buy. A
virtual tour is just one example. If you're a hotel or an office space provider, describing in text - and even showing photographs - just isn't enough. You need a video that allows people to see your space as though they were looking at it.
The original title of this article was "Three Problems Video Assets Will Solve." But the list just kept on growing. I'm sure you see the trend: video solves all kinds of communication problems. No matter which business you're in, you've got specific communication challenges for which video is the best solution.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Nov 18, 2009 @ 08:14 AM
Company X makes complicated and expensive software. Company X is having a tough time communicating what their product does because it's so very complicated. So they decided they'd make a three-minute video - to explain exactly what Software X does, and to talk about its benefits. They plan to use this video on their website home page, at trade shows, in presentations to end users, and in presentations to upper management.
What's wrong with this picture?
Simple - one video is not what Company X needs. If they go ahead with their plan, that one video will be packed with many different messages for all its different audiences. And none of those audiences will be able to absorb their message, because the background noise - everybody else's message - will be too distracting. Making that one video will be a complete waste of Company X's money and time.
What's the lesson for your company?
If you sell a complex product or service, and you want to use video to explain its benefits, think about who you're trying to connect with.
- Is it upper management? They'll need a clear statement of the problem you solve from their perspective and in language they understand. This usually means information on how your product will save them money. Add animated charts and graphs - because this is the language they speak. And don't show product details, because they don't care about details, and they really don't care about the product. What they care about is how much money your product can save them.
- The end users, on the other hand, don't care about ROI. They want to know how the software makes their jobs easier. And they'd also like to see cool features they'll have fun using. Skip the analysis, skip the charts and graphs. Show the product in action, and focus on aspects that will get them excited.
- For a trade show, where audio is a bad idea, you'll need to produce a looping dvd with visuals only. The primary audience at your trade show will tell you what to emphasize - ROI, features and benefits, or a combination of both.
- Plant managers? Engineers? The accounting department? The nurses? They all need a different message, delivered in a different way.
Whatever you do, don't start with how to jam as many messages as possible into one single video. That's a recipe for creating junk. Instead, use your video assets like arrows - aim one video at one single target. This way you'll hit your targets, because you'll be telling each one of your audiences the exact story they need to hear about your product - so they can understand what it will do for them and how it will help them.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 @ 10:19 AM
(This is a true story. Names and other details have been changed, but the story is real.)
Company A is an office supply company. One day, Company A's owner - let's call him Bob - had a great idea. "We'll make a video to promote the company," Bob said. "And we'll make it a funny video! We'll put it on a dvd, we'll make a bunch of copies, and we'll hand them out to potential customers. People will love it! We'll put it on YouTube and it'll go viral!"
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So Bob found a video producer named Tony. Bob had a general idea of what he wanted, and he and Tony wrote a script. The video would be a funny little play about a business that buys all their supplies at the local office supply store, only they always get inferior products. The shredder dumps paper all over a worker's desk. The ink doesn't work in the printers. The furniture is too hard to put together, or else it breaks. |
The punch line is that if that company had bought its office supplies at Company A, none of that bad stuff would have happened. And Bob, because he's the owner, gets to be the one who says the punch line at the end of the video. He knows how to give just the right sympathetic smile to make the point.
It's a complex play, so Bob rents a vacant set of offices for a week, for the shoot. As actors they use Bob's people, so his company stops doing business for the week of the shoot. They need many, many takes to make sure they get the right shot. And there are technical challenges - how do you have a chair break when someone sits on it? How do you rig a pen so it spills ink all over someone's hands? It takes time, but they work these challenges out.
They shoot the video, it takes three months to edit, and it looks great. Bob is thrilled. He orders 500 dvds. He pays a design firm to make a beautiful dvd label and insert. The project is costing a boatload of money, but Bob isn't worried - he just knows that three or four or five times the money he spends will come back to him in profit on increased sales.
The dvds are made, and Bob gives them to his three salespeople. "Hand them out to everyone," he says. So the sales people do. Bob posts the video on YouTube. And then... nothing happens. Bob waits, and waits, but the phone doesn't ring. People don't call to tell Bob how great his video is. Sales don't go up. There are only 27 views on YouTube, and that number doesn't budge. But that's OK - obviously the word hasn't gotten out yet. Bob tells his salespeople to hand out more dvds. Bob instructs his salespeople to tell prospects to go to YouTube and watch the video. Again, Bob waits. Again, nothing happens.
Two years later, Bob is still talking about what a great video he made. How much fun the process was, how ingenious he and Tony were to figure out how to get that chair to break when Sue sat on it. How the design firm nailed the dvd insert. How the whole experience really helped him understand video production.
What Bob doesn't talk about, or let himself think about, is the video's complete lack of impact. Except, of course, for the impact to his bottom line, which was a doozy.
There are many things you can learn from Bob's adventure, but I'm going to mention just one: if you have an idea for a video and you're in love with it, if you're dreaming about how it's going to go viral and your sales are going to shoot through the roof, then you should ask someone to dump a bucket of cold water on your head. Because you don't understand how to use video to market your business and you're about to make a very big and very expensive mistake.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Mon, Sep 28, 2009 @ 07:56 AM
Sometimes businesses have complex ideas they need to explain clearly in order to sell their products and services. This can present a challenge, as website visitors may not stick around long enough to read and understand a lengthy text description of a product or service. Luckily, people love to click on video. Here's one example of a video that clearly communicates a complex concept in a fun and upbeat way:
One option, of course, is a ‘talking head,' or a head and shoulders shot of a person explaining the idea. You could also use a person's full body, which would give a more dynamic feel, though you'd sacrifice the viewer's ability to clearly see the speaker's face. Remember, website video is generally small, so a full body means a very small face. Why is this important? Quite simply, because we feel more comfortable if we can see someone's face. Of course, you can supplement video of a talking person with illustrations of what the person is talking about - photos, graphics, text, etc.
But in this case, the people at Successimo felt (and we agreed) that something that was more lively and less ordinary would keep viewers' attention longer, which would enable the whole concept to be understood and absorbed.
A video of this type is called 'kinetic typography' (KT) because it's primarily moving type. Sometimes KT videos are made without a voice-over, but in this case we felt that the narration added another layer of understanding. And, hiring a voice artist who does a great job conveying enthusiasm was key.
If you've got a complex idea to explain, consider using a KT video. They're easy to make, relatively inexpensive (depending on length), and they do a good job of keeping your viewers' attention until your concept is explained.
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Fri, Sep 18, 2009 @ 09:05 AM
One spring, several years ago, I had an impulse to plant blueberry bushes. I went to the garden center and bought six big, healthy bushes. I was thrilled at the thought of fresh blueberries just a few feet from my back door. I planted them, gave them lots of water, and waited for the blueberry bounty.
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The first year there was some new growth and a few berries, which the birds got before I did. The second year there was little new growth and so few berries that the birds just laughed. In subsequent years, the bushes got smaller, not larger, and stopped producing berries altogether. The leaves started to come in yellow and sick-looking. A few bushes died; the others were dying. |
Then I happened to complain about them to John Nourse of Nourse Farm in Westborough MA. He mentioned the importance of acid soil for growing blueberries. I remembered something about soil pH, but I had been in a hurry to get the bushes in the ground and just trusted that everything would work out. Which it didn't, of course. Blueberries won't do well in neutral or alkaline soil, and no amount of hoping and believing will change that. If you want blueberries, you need acid soil.
Which brings me to video. Specifically, to the video content businesses make for their websites, and the performance they expect. Some businesses are like impulsive blueberry-bush-buyers. They want the results, but they don't take the time to develop a plan. They don't ask important questions, like these:
- What kind of goals do we have for our videos?
- What specific kind of videos should we make to meet those goals?
- What will we measure to know if we're meeting our goals?
- How will we get the right eyeballs to watch our videos?
- How will we get our videos to spread?
They just rush into making video, they pop it up there on the website and on YouTube, or maybe just on YouTube, and then they wait. And wait. They're confused when nothing happens, when nobody says to them, "Great job with the video!" And when nobody says, "I bought your software (or dog jackets or accounting services or you-name-the-product) because of your videos!" So they conclude that while video works for some, it obviously doesn't work for their kind of business.
If you make the decision to invest in video for your business, congratulations. There's no better way to engage people on your website, tell your story, and begin a relationship. But video content isn't enough - just like blueberry bushes aren't enough. You also need to understand what your video content needs in order to bear fruit.
For blueberries - you need acid soil. For video content - you need to start with important questions, and then you need a plan.
(...and fyi, I am in the process of moving my just-barely-alive blueberry bushes to a different part of my garden, where the soil is plenty acid. I've also bought some new bushes, just in case my old ones are too far gone to make it. I have a plan in place to keep the soil as acid as it needs to be, AND I have a plan to keep the birds from gobbling next year's blueberries.)