Small Business Guide to Online Video

FACT: Online video is the fastest growing media tool in the industry. FACT: Online video brings more traffic to your website. FACT: A video shown on your website puts a personal touch on your marketing, impacting your customers on a deeper level. Our strong opinion: including video in your website can be the smartest decision you’ve ever made.

Studies have shown that if you post it, they will watch. According to Nielsen Online, 137.4 million Americans watched Web video in December of 2009. That’s over a third of our entire population, and the numbers continue to grow! And if it’s site visitors you want, video is the way to go. Search engines such as Google give more importance to sites with videos than sites without video. This can increase chances of ranking higher than sites without video in any given search by 50%.

Now, we’ve all seen the viral videos. They’re often cute and funny, like the sneezing panda, Charlie bit my finger, or “kittens inspired by kittens.” But how about a viral video that works for you and helps your business? That’s where we come in. We can’t promise you’ll be featured on the next episode of Tosh.0, but we believe Your Best Sales Person can help your business take off!

Check out this great go-to restaurant in New Bern, The Flame. It is known for its incredible food, unique decor, and happening atmosphere. If we haven’t already sold you, watch the testimonials of these happy clients.

The Flame

Hey everyone! This is the highlights video from Bob, the Internet Marketing teacher.

Click the video below.

Below is the embedded code:

<object width=”640″ height=”385″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/r3ZTZAEio-A&hl=en_US&fs=1&”></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/r3ZTZAEio-A&hl=en_US&fs=1&” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”640″ height=”385″></embed></object>

Even though the Real Estate industry has taken quite some hard hits the past few years due to the dwindling economy, it is slowly and progressively on the rise once again. So what does this mean for Realtors? Time to get on the prowl again and show prospective customers what you (and your town) are made of! And video Real Estate promos are the best way to do it.

Just ask Nilesh Jethwa who recently created a video promo of his own. Nilesh uses his video to showcase the region that he is an expert in buying/selling homes. He also uses testimonials on his video to show others why they should choose him over thousands of other choices for Realtors.

Video promotions are extremely helpful, especially in the competitive field of Real Estate. This is because often times prospective clients do not currently live in the area in which they are looking to buy. So videos help to eliminate that problem by allowing customers to see virtual tours, view testimonials, and exhibit firsthand what their new location has to offer.

Still not convinced? Check out Nilesh’s video promo here and see for yourself!

Why is video such a strong addition to any website? While pictures and text can provide a snapshot of your products or services, video can actually show clients the whole sha-bang! Video is not just a fleeting trend to spice up their web presence. Video is “a tool to offer your visitors with an interactive introduction, navigation guideline or another effective method to promote your product or service.” You have the opportunity to offer visitors to your site an inside look at the practical applications of your product or service.

Let me give you an example; let’s say you have a website for your database system. No matter how much description you provide about your system, there are bound to be a number of people who may not be able to grasp the concept of it’s function. So then you add pictures and graphs to go along with your text. Still visitors to your website may not be able to comprehend what they are looking at in relation to the system. By providing a video element with clear and concise details of the database and your services, visitors will be able to easily grasp the potential and benefits of your system.

Vlog (n)-a video blog; a blog of mainly video content.

With the online video craze in full swing, it is only time until video bloggers (or vloggers) are the new phenomenon. While typical blogs are text and information made up by the blogger, video adds a whole new and more involved dimension to the blog world.

Now the question is why are vlogs useful? There are some vloggers who just ramble on or rant and rave into their web-cameras about useless topics. But a useful and beneficial vlog can really benefit a business. Most blogs are tagged, in which case they show up easier in search engines. Imagine what tagging an online video could do for your business. Sure, they bring in more traffic and more exposure but what else can they do?

The Dummies.com group (“Vlogging for Dummies”) does a great job of explaining different uses for vlogs:

1. Activism- Raising awareness through a more personal form of media.

2. Advertising-This is very straight forward, but you could do self-promotions. Realistically, you should only do this once your vlog is getting a LOT of traffic. Otherwise you are going to loose viewers. New viewers don’t want to waste their time viewing your advertisements, YET.

3. Announcements-Press, press and more press. Include links to articles and/or your press release while posting your announcement in video. Videos are a more interesting way to get people listening!

4. Behind the Scenes-Show off your business! This gives your customers a larger knowledge of your business and products and greater loyalty and feel of ownership in your products. Let the customer be a part of your business!

5. Educational-Training, instructions or even helping customers understand your product better.

6. Games and contests-Games and contests promote products and help get your name out there. Use a vlog to get the information out about the contest!

7. Media Delivery-Make it available, if it is on the Internet, it is easily viewed!

So, who really uses vlogs? Wilmington based film production crew, Southern Gothic Productions (who features Hilarie Burton from “One Tree Hill”), has a vlog to let their viewers get an insight on their projects. Check out this great article on how their vlog works! Presidents of universities are even vlogging. Dell computers have their vlog posted on YouTube for easy media delivery.

Vlogging could really help your business get more exposure and help your customers feel more connected to your product and company. Check out these “A-Z tips on Vlogging” from VLOG BLOG to help get you started!

Of the advertisements you see in a day, how many actually engage your attention? Three, two, maybe even none?

AdweekMedia asked members of LinkedIn the same question and a shocking 91% of people said they remembered a small minority or none of the advertisements they saw throughout the day. Are your advertisements working or being overlooked?

Cliché enough, but the current economic condition is playing a huge role in how potential customers are responding to advertisements. Instead of blaming everything on the economy, you can shift your advertising to fit what your consumers are looking for.

Your customer is KEY in recession proof advertising. Relationships are important now more than ever. Everyone is looking for a trustworthy, relationship during “hard times”. They want to be able to trust that they are not wasting their money on a useless product. In order to build this relationship, your advertising should tell your story and not only be focused on your product. Whether it is through a newsletter, your web content, a blog, videos or social networks, your customers want to get to know you!  Check out how KMI Photography used past client testimonials to not only showcase their work but also provide client perspective’s on how they stand out from the rest!

To learn more about the marketing shift check out this blog article. Also check out these staggering facts about the current social media move. Social media isn’t just for getting the word out anymore, BUILD THAT RELATIONSHIP!

Steve McKee of BusinessWeek lists the following reasons why your marketing is not working in today’s economic conditions:

1. It’s Boring. You have to inform, entertain and engage! Advertisements have to be interesting before your prospects will pay attention to them.

2. It’s boorish. Your advertising is an extension of your brand. “It’s not all about you.”

3. It’s safe. If you worry too much about not offending people, you won’t reach anybody.

4. It’s trying to do too much. Make your point simply. Audiences are not going to listen to more than that.

5. It hasn’t been given time. Don’t expect too much, too soon.

6. You like it. You are not the best judge of your own advertisements.

7. It’s not an advertising problem. Fix the foundation.

For further detail and more information about how to improve your marketing as well as expansions on the reasons above, click here to view Steve’s full article on “Why Your Advertising Isn’t Working.”

 Now more than ever, videos are an absolute must-have for any business and their website. Video is not only extremely powerful on your website, but popular too! Recent studies have PROVEN that videos have become the most Seach Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly feature online and are greatly impacting organic search engines. So what exactly does that mean? Well, for starters, it means that a video will show up ranked higher on Google than an article.

Still not convinced? Well what if you knew that approximately 39% of online viewers discover the videos they watch via search engines; would that entice you a little more?

Your Best Sales Person has already told you how significant and vital it is to have a inspiring and captivating video on your website. For instance, online videos are personal and interactive, which can increase consumer traffic. More so, vidoes are instantly accessible, therefore even the busiest of people can take a minute or two to view your video. Now,  the experts at ReelSEO are agreeing and even offering some powerful statistics to prove it.

For instance, did you know that 38% of users who searched Google were provided video options in universal search engine results pages? That means, if a video was on your website, you could be reaching almost 40% more of your potential customers!

The following are just a few more ways that online videos affect SEO:

• Generate interest and buzz
• Produce inbound links and website traffic
• Help a website achieve better rankings overall
• Increase universal search opportunities to drive traffic

To learn more about why videos are becoming so SEO-friendly, click here. Or better yet, allow Your Best Sales Person to help put an amazing testimonial video on your website and see for yourself!

We’ve already mentioned how great Facebook and its FREE fan pages are with helping to promote your business, reach your target audience, and  update current and future customers about your newest features or accomplishments. Now Your Best Sales Person, thanks to the brilliant minds of the Tech Crunchies, is here to enlighten your inquiring minds a little more be revealing 10 incredibly interesting facts about Facebook!

Not only is this information extremely fascinating, but it can also help with your business! For instance, the number 10 fact is that Facebook accounts for 17.9% of all time spent online. Upon knowing this valuable information, it should be obvious that if your business doesn’t have a Facebook fan page by now, you’re missing out on almost 20% of your prospective customers’ online browsing time!

Below is the rest of the top 10 interesting Facebook facts; read on to enjoy this wonderful opportunity! 

1. 83% of American female internet users have an account on Facebook
2. 29% of Fortune 100 companies have a Facebook Fan Page
3. 75% of social media marketers rely on Facebook for promotion
4. Links shares on Facebook is more than (email + twitter)
5. 8% of the facebook users are above the age of 55
6. John Smith is the most common name on Facebook
7. Facebook grew 999% in Spain in 2008
8. 33% of Facebook users have a family income greater than $100k annually

And the number 1 interesting Facebook fact is:

1. 260,000 videos are uploaded on Facebook every day

Interesting enough, Your Best Sales Person often notes the importance of web video. This fact only confirms it. So hopefully you’ve taken notice of everything and will start creating a fan page and uploading video immediately!

The 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found that 87% of home buyers used the internet to search for homes before they contacted a real estate agent this past year. As a real estate agent, are you prepared for the volume of people looking on your website? Home buyers are looking for a quick and easy way to see what you have to offer them as a realtor, and web video is a perfect way to do that.

There is a lot of focus these days on using video to market listings and to do “home tours.” Now that everybody is catching on to that fad (Century 21 even has their own channel on YouTube), realtors are starting to realize video can go further than just listings. Video blogs, past client testimonials, realtor profiles and even neighborhood tours are great ways to expand your website with video.

Ian Watt (one of the leading realtors in Vancouver) is a great example of a realtor successfully integrating video into his marketing mix via his website. Ian uses video blogging, or vlogging, to help his clients get to know him and his properties better. Check out Watt’s “vlog”.

Imagine what a simple realtor profile or past client testimonials on your website could do!! Join the viral web video phenomenon! Check out this blog article on using video in real estate marketing. Also, the National Association of Realtors has a great field guide to using digital video as marketing.