Deciding on an advertising budget and determining how to spend it can be among your most challenging decisions. Advertising options have changed and expanded considerably over the past few years, and updating your strategy definitely means taking advantage of the new, digital marketplace.
So how can you create a dynamic?advertising?campaign with a limited budget? Video.
Video gives you the opportunity to interact with your customers by allowing them to get to know you and your business, and feel comfortable with you. This is especially important for small, local businesses.?Forrester Research Group says ?video is 53 times more likely than text pages to appear on the first page of a search engine.? Read: video drives search results. On the OurTown website, articles that include a photo array or a video are more easily searched on the Web and receive three times as many clicks as articles without these features.
Adding video to e-mail marketing boosts customers' interaction?such as opening the email or clicking on any of the content?by as much as 200 percent to 300 percent, says Marc Fleishhacker, managing director at WPP's Ogilvy Consulting.
You can, of course, hire a production company and have them make a video for you. But if that option doesn?t fit into your?budget, you can make a very effective video yourself using simple software or an online video service. You should be able to put together a great video for less than $50. Here are some tips to keep in mind when making your advertising video:
- Keep it short.?Studies show that we have an attention span of about 30 seconds. So if you are making an advertising or?branding?video, say what you have to say and then save the rest for follow up videos.
- Combine video and still images.?Mixing videos and stills of your product, employees, location and anything that you believe will interest your potential customers will add variety to your video ad.
- Add a personal message.?The message can be from you or one of your employees, or it can be a testimonial or recommendation from one of your customers.
- A little humor never hurts.?Sometimes your own gaffes in making the video make it even more appealing.
- Give your videos a call to action.?Make it clear what the viewer should do after watching the video. Add a coupon or special offer.
- Make sure your customer knows how to find you.?Don?t forget to include your phone number, address, website address and e-mail. If you have a brick and mortar location, you might even want to include a map.
- Distribute your video in every way possible.?Promote your video through an online ad campaign, e-mail, social media, YouTube and even your own website. There are online video services that will provide all of these services for a price if you don't want to do it yourself.
?more at?Why Your Small Business Needs Video Marketing
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Video as a Marketing Tool
The number of people watching videos online grows each year due, in large part to the proliferation of Web-enabled phones and tablets. Video is a great medium for getting product and service information to a customer; what might take hundreds of words to explain is easily conveyed in a few frames of video. Today, almost anyone with a few hours to spare and a bit of technical expertise can make a reasonable quality video. And there are plenty of places to host the video online that make it easy to find and view.
How Can Your Small Business Use Video?
Small businesses can harness video in a number of ways. It's a very visual way to show your products in use or how you perform a service. For example, a plumber could make a short video showing how he or she performs a common plumbing service. It provides the opportunity to display professionalism and expertise and answer questions customers may have about the process or how long the repair will take.
?more at?The Small Business Video Marketing Advantage
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The key to quality web video is the content more than the technology. Here are some of the best video marketing methods to promote your business online:
PRODUCT, SERVICE OR CAPABILITIES DEMO
Whatever it is that makes your company unique and worth talking about, you can video it and with some simple editing to introduce it, post it on your site, and distribute to your YouTube Video channel (if you don?t have one, get one, it?s free). Many firms will have physical products they can show in action. Think auto manufacturers websites showing videos of the new line. As a small business, yours doesn?t have to be that sophisticated, just show what your widget does and how it provides value to those who would buy it.
Most small businesses out there are service businesses. If you have a dog grooming business, show the pooches getting cleaned up with their happy canine smiles. Cleaning business? Pan in on the crummy before shot of the ___, show the cleanup process, and finish it off with the much improved after view.
Often the unique advantage of a business is a process that means they?re faster or better than the competition. This works really well when showcasing that new MRI machine that doc just bought, or the fully programmable laser cutter at the sheet metal house that shows how it can make parts faster, cleaner, and at better quality than metal shops without one.
HOW-TO VIDEO
This falls into the category of value-add or training for your web viewers. It can be an instructional video on using the topsy-turvy planters you sell at your greenhouse or simply how to do something better around the house. The main purpose of how-to is some way to make life easier or better for your readers, and for you it creates site stickiness, where prospects and customers will want to come back often.
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH
This can take the form of a product demo with a little extra. New product launches tend to be time sensitive, hyped and require sufficient explanation as to what the product does that sets it apart from prior versions or other current market offerings. Ideas are to show interviews with customers requesting, ?I wish we could get?? statements that provided you with the original market pull to create the product or service, your CEO or top Exec enthusiastically explaining the launch (see next section), stats or data cleverly shown that show it?s the next big thing, and of course sufficient product demo components. These same elements might comprise a new product launch press release, simply meaning that this video can double as a video PR. There can be a lot of editing and cost involved if you bring in all of these ideas, but how much are you spending to develop your new product or service?
EXECUTIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW
Here?s one that is not often seen that provides you with a presentation of 3rd party credibility for your small business. The Executive Video Interview is an affordable way to promote small business, both on your site and virally. The return on investment can be disproportionate to the cost.
All you need as a small business owner is a Skype account and a webcam. That?s it! Your webcam quality is more than enough to make quality video. The real magic is in the interview process. Picture Larry King or Matt Lauer interviewing you as CEO of your business about your business as if it?s the national news, asking your probing questions that get at the value your business brings to the marketplace in an informative way. If you?re going to pursue it, look for a provider that has experienced interviewers and a sample portfolio before you pull the trigger.
?more at?Effective Internet Video Marketing for Small Business
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Category: Video Marketing for Small Business, Web Video Marketing
Source: http://www.powerfulvideomarketing.com/video-marketing-for-small-business/
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