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Online Video Tips and Tricks .
John Cecil, June 2008
www.innovatemediagroup.com
Looking to add video content to your site? Or maybe you already use video and just want to learn how to make the most of this technology. Video is a great and innovative way to add to your website. It not only creates a personal experience for your users but it is proven to increase sales and conversion rates. But there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to use video. Go ahead and check the web yourself and see how video is changing the way websites look and communicate to viewers. Some do a fantastic job of getting your attention and others well. You can see for yourself. This technology may be new, but we have some first hand experience on what to do and what NOT to do when it comes to incorporating video to your site. Ready to learn more? Read on for some tips and tricks on using video for your website.
Keep It Simple
A long form video is great if that's what you are looking to do. But this is the web and you are not trying to win an Academy Award. Keep your video short and to the point. Anything longer than a minute and you are going to lose your audience! Don't lose their attention! Your video is online and on the web- a platform where users have notoriously short attention spans. Let them know the gist of your product or why they should fill out a lead form and that's it. Our clients usually always want to go longer but the results aren't always what they are looking for. So get it right the first time and keep it simple. Don't go overboard with the length of your video!
Video Quality is Key
Having a professional looking video on your site is important. If it's going to scream' "I did this in my mother's basement with her old Super 8," then what's the point? An amateur looking video makes you, your site, and your product look just that amateur. So go above the stuff you find on YouTube and invest in good quality cameras, great lighting equipment, and a decent editing program. And remember that professional isn't always synonymous with expensive. Yes, you can do this yourself for a price. But there are also companies who exclusively create professional quality online videos which will save you significant amounts of time, money and stress.
Who's Got Talent?
There are a lot of things you need to focus on when it comes to video. It's visual content that will keep the eyes of your consumers on whose speaking: your talent. Whether you choose to go with the CEO of your company or pick a professional actor as your video spokesperson, remember that all eyes will be on who you select. The message you intend to give to your viewers about your site is in the hands of this individual. No pressure or anything. Ask yourself, "What demographic are we trying to reach?" "Who would be the best fit to speak directly to them?" Keep in mind age, gender, and clothing and hair styles. Like it or not, this person is representing YOUR company so make sure they look and dress the part. In our experience it's definitely worth the money to go with hired talent. It may look like an easy job, talking to a camera, but trust us looks can be deceiving. These individuals are professionals- they know how to perform in front of a camera, in a studio with a large production crew. Can your CEO do that?
Location Location Location
Where on your site is your video going to be? On the homepage to greet your visitors or on a lead form? Are you having a video that is a part of your website itself or is it a walk on spokesperson? Keep in mind video placement and how you can best utilize this to your marketing advantage. The best place to put your video is where there will be some sort of conversion activity, either through a sale or a form to fill out. Can't place it there? Then do the next best thing and have the video send your visitors to a place where there is going to be a possible conversion, such as a shopping cart to complete a sale.
Let the Script Speak for Itself
A big problem we have noticed with our clients who write their own scripts for video productions is that they tend to go on and on and on. They repeat the same information over and over again, take pages to get to their agenda, or want to include everything about their company in a one minute long video. Don't underestimate your consumers! Give them just the information they need to know in the script. If you?re selling a product, give them information on that. If you want them to fill out a lead form tell them why. Continually repeating the same information, taking to long to get to your point, or overselling your product is a waste of time and definitely not going to get you the results you want. Put simply: it's boring. Let your product, and therefore your script, speak for itself.
Precise video= Precise message
Speaking of going on and on. I can't explain to you enough the importance of having a professional and precise video. A precise video means a precise message about your product. Got it? The more viewers who become interested in your product mean the more sales or conversions for you. Let's be honest here. People are online to get information. When they go to your site they are attempting to learn more about your company, product, etc. The video you have there should give these viewers exactly what they want- information. They aren't sitting there with a bag of popcorn waiting to be entertained. If you want to keep your audience, give them the information they need to become a consumer!
Give your users control
There's nothing worse than going to a site that suddenly takes over your computer as if it has a mind of its own. We?ve all been there- you click on a site you are interested in and out of nowhere comes the loud music or the annoying video that will just not stop playing. Give your users the freedom and options of controlling the video and sound on your site. This means having volume controls, play and pause buttons, and if your video warrants it, chapters or fast forward and rewind options. This isn't about losing video users on your site; it?s about creating an enjoyable user experience. Don't bombard your viewers with an unyielding video or you may just not have any.
Or Take Control Yourself
In some cases you may want to add non- user initiated video to your site instead of the user initiated video described above. It's really a matter of choice and what is going to work best for your specific website and industry. It's not a bad idea to run tests of your videos to gain some perspective on how your customers are reacting. Figure out if non user generated video causes your visitors to abandon your site or if user generated video is being viewed as much as you like. A little knowledge can give you a lot of insight on what video formats will be the best match for your site.
Green Screen
Start using some of the newest technology for videos on the web. Filming in front of a green screen can create borderless video designs for your website. Just check out some of our own Innovate Ads videos to see for yourself. Incorporate graphics, pictures of your products, all with a video spokesperson speaking to your viewer. With green screen technology for your video the options can literally be endless.
There is a right way and a wrong way to add video content to your website. When done correctly, it's a great way to attract more visitors and therefore more business to your site. More importantly it's going to increase your conversions. I can't say it enough- online video WILL increase your conversions when done correctly! And when done incorrectly? Well, it can leave you and your company looking less than reliable.
Interested in learning more?
For more information on creating Online Videos contact us: innovatemedia.com
Check out these blogs:
Traffic Floodgate- ?30 Tips For Increased Website Traffic Using Video? http://trafficfloodgate.com/blog/30-tips-for-increased-website-traffic-using-video-parts-1-10/
ClickZ- Going Green On Screen
http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3629463
About.com- ?Shooting Video For The Web?
http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/videoonyourwebsite/qt/compress.htm
Online Video Viewing Surges
http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1712 |
Millions of Advertising Impressions .
We were talking the other day about the fact that some companies will pay hundreds of thousands of dollars and run millions of advertising impressions to take people to a page that isn?t actually maximized for conversions.
Sure, some people may take efforts to ?a/b? test their landing pages to increase their lead yields. Some may actually pour through the response rate and make tweaks that will lift response by a few percentage points -Which by the way is respectable and to be commended.
Our customers have done all that and more.
They?ve taken it to the next level and incorporated the MOST EFFECTIVE SALES TOOL OF ALL TIME into their landing pages ? Video!
It?s not a matter of if you?ll use video on your landing pages and lead generation and e-commerce landing pages it?s when.
Some of our customers have doubled their post-click response rates. A select few have taken it farther than that. How? By staying committed and testing testing testing. By fastidiously monitoring response rates and making changes to build upon their success. These marketers aren?t afraid to makes changes to and update their video clips (change actors, change the offer, or change the copy) in an effort to find the right mix for their products and services.
Marketing is not an event. There are no media that ?don?t work?. Marketing is a process. Every campaign is an opportunity to learn and improve. |
Want to increase your online conversion rates? .
John Cecil May 22 - 2008
Want to increase your online conversion rates?
Use video.
We have seen how online video technology can take any websites conversion rates to the next level. In fact, we are building a business on it. This technology is still in the beginning stages, still finding its place on the web. There isn?t even a lot of information out there on how it specifically is going to raise your conversion activity. But you may just want to take my word on it.
Online video is the next step in online marketing and communication strategy. Companies and organizations worldwide are spending more and more advertising dollars on web based video than ever before in order to increase conversions. To attract customers and increase your conversions you need to stay relevant and up to date with what is occurring on the web. And what is occurring right now is video.
Video supplies your customers with a personal experience from your website; it can become more than just words and pictures on a screen. This interactive media allows the availability of a real, live person talking to your viewers. Via a video spokesperson, this relationship between the viewer and the video means the difference between a completed sale or lead form and just another potential customer abandoning your site.
Check this out. An article I found online by Ed Taylor supports exactly what I am saying. He even gives some real numbers on how video can increase your conversion rates. In the article, ?New Video Spokesperson Dramatically Improves Website Results,? Taylor writes, ?Over a 6 month testing period website visitors who viewed walk on videos showed 87% higher positive reactions than those who were not presented with the video.? Imagine that reaction on your site.
Taylor uses The Discovery Channel Store, one of the first e-commerce companies to use video as a sales strategy, as his main example. In an independent study conducted by the company itself, in a two week time period they saw an increase of sales to 78 percent in customers who viewed the video. ROI was believed to reach over 600 percent! And all of this occurred just from the addition of video to their site.
We are seeing the same type of data here at Innovate Ads with our own website spokesperson technology, iAds. Our iAds have produced some very compelling case studies.
Tandberg Video Systems, designers of video conferencing tools, had a conversion rate of just .75 to 1 percent. Not horrible, but we knew we could help their rates. Once our iAds played on their site their conversions increased to 1.5 to 3 percent. Add in a Google keywords search plus the video and conversions reached a phenomenal 3.5 to 7 percent!
iAd?s were produced to promote Country singer Trace Atkins newest CD using Trace himself on radio station websites across the country. Trace promoted station events and allowed fans to purchase his record by clicking on his image. Over 495,000 people played the Trace Atkins video on the radio station web sites, and more than 57,000 clicked to go to his "buy page."
All of these numbers are adding up: video increases your conversion rate. Video is still new to the web but its impact is already showing. We will really be able to see just how revolutionary this technology is once more websites use video to their marketing advantage. More videos mean more experts and more data to support and really explain the massive effect video has on increasing your conversions. The bottom line: online video is all about maximizing your media spend and conversions. |
Capitol Records .
 Capitol Records, as part of their promotional efforts with country music star Trace Adkins, contracted with Innovate to produce 25 unique Trace Adkins "iAds". Each unique video ran on a different country music radio station accross the country. Trace also used the iAd click feature promoting ussers to "click me to buy my new album". |
"Mini Mitt" .
Innovate Media Group, a company that specializes in online interactive video media, is helping Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney gain visibility and exposure with their revolutionary product - iAds Video Spokesperson. The former Republican Governor of Massachusetts is utilizing iAds technology to send a personal message for a strong America. Mitt Romney?s iAds (Video Spokesperson) can be found on: www.mittromney.com. The Romney iAd has already been dubbed ?mini mitt? by the press since it is a thumb size version of Romeny himself. |
Innovate Ads and Product Placement .
 Innovate Ads brings products out onto the surface! Visit the latest featured project to see how Innovate Ads can get your product out in front of your website. Large or small, Innovate Ads can make it happen. |
New Concepts .
 Coming to a web site near you! Innovate Ads is working on "Interactive Video Ads" A new way to get your message out. Enabling you to bring products and animation out onto the surface of your website by offering custom compositing of elements into your iAd.
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Innovate Ads Demo Tool .
 Check it out! Just add any url and away you go. Test your website with this handy tool for a quick look at how iAds can make your site come alive. Imagine the possibilities. When your ready! Innovate Ads is Ready! |
Online Videos Welcome Screen .
 Innovate Ads is not only making iAds, but creative online videos to welcome your visitors on your web site! Don't just settle for a flash banner that looks and feels like an advertisement. Go for the latest iAd technology by using Innovate Ads to create your own personal online video message which includes a video spokesperson as well as custom animation showcasing your products! |
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