Glad I asked.

Let’s start by clarifying this.  When referring to “video,” I’m referring to well thought-out, relevant, results-driven video. Marketing video.  I’ve seen in my years of experience with video marketing Austin businesses:  video that accomplishes nothing is art…. and most of us don’t have room in the marketing budget for art.

Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way…  here we go.

Usually we evaluate all line items in the budget by the return it can bring.  And returns are made possible by opportunities.  So, what’s the opportunity for video production in Austin?

Here’s a couple of fun stats from Forbes to get us started:

• 80% of Senior Executives are watching more video than they did last year.
• 59% of Senior Executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text.

Ok, Execs are looking for video.  They’re clicking the “play” button.  This is good news for B2B companies for sure.

More stats about those of us who don’t wear suits every day:

• 80% of us make online video part of their daily internet regimen.
• The average internet user watches more than 186 videos a month.

So, all of this begs the question… Are you using video?  Actually it’s too late for that question.  The real question?  HOW are you using video?

Here are some use scenarios for online marketing video:

Website conversion–when it comes to ROI, this is usually the easiest to justify.  Its purpose is to convert web traffic into real business.  It’s trackable.  This is almost a no-brainer.  The catch?  You need to have incoming web traffic to capitalize.  If you do have a decent amount of incoming web traffic, just think what a 5% bump would mean to the bottom line.

Here’s an example from an attorney’s website.  This video helped drive the conversion rate to 17% in a special pay-per-click landing page campaign.

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Resource video–this is more of a soft sell.  The call-to-action isn’t overt.  The resource video’s role is two-fold.  1)  build the website’s profile as a place that your targeted prospects or demo can come to find answers to their problems.  2)  cut down on overhead by answering those “FAQ’s” that your staff spends time on every day.  If you spend 2 hours/week on a certain reoccurring client issue, what would it mean to your bottom line to have it handled by website video?  2hours/week = 96 hours/year.  Here’s an example from a Austin Telecommunications company that sells phone systems.

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Proof of Performance–this is what it sounds like.  After a trade show, public event, charity race, etc., this video will serve to inform and engage targets with the message behind the event.  Not all of us can go out to every event we want.  Like me.  I just had a baby, so I’m not leaving the house for about 5 years.  It’d be great to see how it went.  This video will take me there.  Plus, the video can also serve to stroke the egos of sponsors and partners.  This video concept works best when incorporating it into your eNewsletter and Social Media tactics.  Also, people who attended will LOVE to see themselves on the video.  This is where sharing online will be key.

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Hopefully you now know more about online video marketing that you did before you started reading this.  If not, drop me a line and let the criticism rip.  In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting the 2nd in this series.  It will cover what makes for effective online video.  This will include format, length, web page placement, etc.

Cheers.

This is the 1st in a series of 3 blog posts on the general benefit and applications of quality online video.

2013 : Infected Wars

Many games released for the iphone, ipad, and ipod touch have been more casual in nature but recently there has been an uptick in the number of higher end production games. We are excited to add this level of technology, production, and creativity to our portfolio and wish Action Mobile Games much success. You can stay up to date on the latest progress of 2013 : Infected Wars by joining them on their facebook fan page and view the trailer which will be released on http://www.nuartisan.net/tips/?p=566 Everyone at NuArtisan had a wonderful Easter holiday and we hope all our friends and clients did as well!

According to the article, ads in the “top 3” section that use proper sentence structure will get a longer headline. And, if they use a sentence for each line of their ads, the second line will jump up and join the first, separated by a hyphen. Finally, the third line will occupy the second line’s original place. Given the new guidelines, showing in the top three places can give you an even bigger boost over your competition.

However, the more the author looked into Google’s new guidelines, the more he questioned what they define as a “sentence.” According to their guidelines, “we’re changing the placement of the first description line for certain ads that appear above the search results on Google. For some ads where each line appears to be a distinct sentence and ends in the proper punctuation, description line 1 will be moved to the headline and separated by a hyphen.”

This poses the question – is Google looking for a sentence or a sentence fragment?

According to the article, many people experience what the author calls the “Princess Syndrome.” Bloggers want their work to be perfect – appealing, beautiful, and error-free. When writers get too consumed with the need to be perfect, they realize there isn’t enough time in the day to work, spend time with family, and spend time writing great blog posts.

So what do you do if you’re suffering from “Princess Syndrome?”

• Write from the heart – Writing from the heart is one of the best ways to show your true personality. Even when you think something is quirky or weird, write it anyway. It will help you connect emotionally with your readers.
• Ignore your 8th grade grammar teacher – Blogging should be casual and conversational, so it sounds similar the way you talk. Don’t be afraid to start a sentence with “and.”
• Give it a day – If you have the time, let the post sit for 24 hours and go back to it later. You may catch a few things you want to change when you’re looking at it with a fresh set of eyes.
• Read once for clarity – Reading your blog post out loud can help you determine if there are any awkward transitions or clunky spots that could be re-worded.

For more information and tips about overcoming the Princess Syndrome, check out, Why Most People Quit Blogging: The Princess Syndrome.

image via travelinlibrarian

Which CMS do you use?
Find out which CMS package the designer uses – open source or proprietary? Open source means the software is widely available (like Joomla or WordPress), while proprietary is usually something the designer wrote themselves. It’s to your benefit to use a CMS that’s open source so you can make edits and updates as needed instead of relying on your designer.

What are your project deliverables?
Some designers will solely provide you with the design, while others will set up hosting, SEO, plugins, Google Analytics, and more. If you’re not very web savvy and would benefit from having someone set up these services for you, go with someone who can offer the whole package.

Do you understand my marketing message?
This is especially important if you’re a small business owner, because it’s likely you don’t have an in-house marketing team. Make sure the graphic designer has a good grasp of your key products and services, marketing message, target market, etc. It’s essential that this is reflected on your website so your customers “get it” right away too.

For even more questions to ask your web designer, read Web Savvy Marketing’s article called, ”15 Questions to Ask Your Future Web Designer.”

This is being seen in more and more businesses, even if they’re not fraudulent. Even if 99% of customers are happy, there are still a few that are dissatisfied with the business and want to make it known to the public. Unfortunately, those few customers contribute to the “scam” result.

After doing some research, the SEOMoz team hypothesized that only a few customers typed in “client brand name + scam,” but it was enough to become a suggestion. Afterward, it’s likely anyone searching for the term was interested in the result and clicked on it. The more people that clicked on it, the higher it moved in the list of suggested terms.

If this has happened in your business, the good news is – there’s a way to fix it. The team at SEOMoz has compiled a list of the best ways to approach the problem, which can be found in their article called, Our Online Reputation Management Playbook.

Turn your sales page into a giant YES button with the help of a few conversion rate tips. A recent article by Unbounce compiled a list of 2010’s best conversion rate optimization blog posts that you can use to take your sales page from ordinary to “Wow!”

Here are just a few of the highlights:

Conversion Optimization Case Studies

Best A/B Case Studies of 2010 - This blog post is filled with an array of great case studies that will give you ideas you can implement into your own business. The article studied several small- and medium-sized businesses to learn about their A/B testing and learn what worked and what didn’t.

How I Set Up and Sold a Product Using Unbounce, Wufoo, and Chargify – This blog post talks about some of the great tools available that can help you optimize your website – and encourage your customers to buy like crazy.

Landing Page Examples

7 New Landing Pages for Your Inspiration – This blog post gives some great examples of excellent landing pages, designed to inspire the reader. The author gives commentary on each example; discusses why he likes it and lists a few ideas for improvement.

Webtrends Lead-Gen: A Lesson in Cool Simplicity – The article uses a landing page example to do a walk-through of the elements and what’s great about it. It’s a great way to get inspired before creating or revamping your site.

To learn more, check out ”52 Ways to be a Conversion Badass.” The article is filled with tons more resources that can help you improve your businesses’ conversion rate.

To start off, the lack of usage is occurring primarily in the younger demographic. Nearly 100% of this age group completely ignores the yellow pages, while the older demographic still occasionally uses them.

At the same time, the industry is experiencing a lower sales volume because of search localization. This opens up many doors for the SEO industry, as budgets are transitioning from yellow pages to online marketing.

Two recent filings of public companies were especially helpful in getting an inside look at what’s happening in the industry:

Super Pages – Known as one of the largest yellow page companies, Super Pages experienced a 61.3% decrease in revenue from 2009 to 2010. Additionally, their net profit/loss went from breakeven in 2009 to a loss of $16.83 million in 2010.

Dex One – Producer of dex and dex plus yellow pages, the company experienced a 63% drop in revenue from 2009 to 2010. Additionally, their net loss increased from $435 million in 2009 to $903 million in 2010; they defaulted on $6.9 billion in loans, and they have $6.3 billion in debt.

For more details about the decline of the yellow pages, take a look at 406strategies’ article titled, ”State of the Yellow Pages Industry.”

image via silver tusk