eTown Videos Blog

Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Creating better video content through focus on human-interest stories

Today, I’d like to highlight an area which is certainly nothing new but can sometimes be overlooked. I have observed that some of the most effective video productions focus on the people who create, produce, and use your products or services. In other words, videos which tell a compelling, heartwarming,  inspiring, or humorous story about the products or services being offered. The focus is on how the service has helped someone or made the lives of a group of people a little easier.

For example, we have done work with several non-profit organizations over the years and the most powerful way to convey the value of the featured organization are testimonials and interviews. It’s important to spend plenty of time with the employees of the organization and the individuals who have benefited from participating in a given organization’s service offerings. Get to know the staff and clients before even creating a script or storyboard and develop a real sense of who the people are that are behind the organization, find out what drives them to come to work every day. We have found over and over again, that most employees are contributing to their companies and organizations in ways that go above and beyond their job descriptions. The dedication and passion carries over to their interactions with clients, vendors, and colleagues which in turn results in a positive client experience.

Once you have developed an understanding for that sense of passionate commitment which your clients have expressed, then it is critical to translate that message  into your script and storyboard development. The emphasis on the stories of the people behind the products will lead to a higher level of video viewer engagement. People buy from people, and videos that emphasize relationships instead of costs and discounts will result in superior video content.

If you found this post interesting or useful, please click the “Like” button, thank you.

Social Media Examiner, an online guide to the social media industry just released their annual report entitled “State of Social Media Marketing Industry”. The report covered the most popular social media marketing channels, however, I will focus this blog post and my review on how online marketers will use online video in combination with social media in 2011. The analysis of the current state of social media included more than 3300 marketers.

The report highlights the increasing importance of online video for businesses, in fact, 77% of marketers have plans to increase their video marketing in 2011. This percentage increases to 82% for businesses with 1000 employees or more. Another top area of focus for businesses in 2011 in social media – a remarkable 92% of marketers use Facebook and 72% of them plan on increasing their activity. In a 2009 study, only 77% of businesses were using Facebook – the increase over the past two years is probably attributable to Facebook’s effort to becoming friendlier to business marketers. LinkedIn has also become an increasingly important marketing channel for business as well, 61% will increase their use of LinkedIn (71% of B2B vs. 51% of B2C). Incidentally, MySpace appears to be out of the race as 81% of respondents do not have any plans to use that social media platform for business marketing.
Read the rest of this entry »

eTown Videos Facebook Contest

We are launching our eTown Videos Facebook contest on February 19, 2011. Earlier in the year, eTown Videos reached it’s fifth business anniversary and we thought we would share this milestone by having a contest on our Facebook page. In fact, we are planning on having several contests over the next few months and we hope very much you will enjoy participating. The winner of our first contest will receive a $50.00 American Express Gift Card.

OK, here is how the contest works, three simple steps:

1. Go to our Facebook page and Like us (click the Like button on Facebook)

2. Enter to win a $50 gift card by answering the question: “What has been your funniest winter experience so far?” Post your answers on the eTown Videos Facebook page.

3. Contest ends February 28th, 2011. The individual with the funniest winter story will be the winner. The winner will be selected and announced on March 1st.

It’s that easy! Good Luck !

Corporate video and promotional video; marketing strategies for enhancing your corporate brand online

Developing a sound online corporate video and promotional video production is critical for almost any online marketing effort. Corporate web video productions have come a long way over the past few years from small grainy online business videos to high quality digital Internet videos. The types of corporate videos and promotional videos vary significantly from custom video productions and commercials to trade show videos and presentation videos. Deciding on the right mix of promotional, marketing, educational, instructional or how-to videos can be a daunting task for both novice and seasoned new-media marketing managers.  I didn’t even mention some of the sub categories for website videos such as motivational videos, video whitepapers, customer retention videos, or video blogs.

Where to begin with your corporate video production, corporate video promotion and marketing? With this blog post, I would like to outline five steps in developing your company’s video business communications strategy. Read the rest of this entry »

Using customer centric videos as effective internet marketing solutions for automotive dealers

Does web video lead to more customer conversions for automotive dealers?

According to Larry Pryg, National Marketing Manager for GM’s certified-used auto business “Video is exploding,” and that when it comes to used cars, dealer websites that have video are 2X more likely to generate phone calls or emails from prospective shoppers vs. websites without video.

The above quote is from an interview which Larry Pryg participated in a few years ago – and of course, video has exploded and web visitors will click away from your site if no videos are included to show them your cars. Online videos drive sales, and web visitors that consume video convert at a significantly higher rate than consumers that do not watch online video.

However, in the age of social media, as an automotive dealer you want your customers to tell the story about their cars and doing business with your dealership.  Here are some strategies: Read the rest of this entry »

How To Sell Professional Services In A Web Video World

The technology and the rules of marketing have changed – for good. However, the fundamental need for relationship building is as important as it ever was.

In 1958, McGraw Hill created a classic ad entitled “The Man In The Chair“. The ad delivered a powerful message which is as true today as it was then. In this ad, a stern looking old man in a suit and a bow tie, sits in a chair, leans slightly forward and says:

“I don’t know who you are.
I don’t know your company.
I don’t know your company’s product.
I don’t know what your company stands for.
I don’t know your company’s customers.
I don’t know your company’s records.
I don’t know your company’s reputation.
Now – what was it you wanted to sell me?”

What is the take away from this ad which still applies today? Read the rest of this entry »

Understanding what your business video audience wants from your web video commercial

Few business managers and decision makers will watch an 8-10 minute video about your company. How do we know? Well, we learned early on through slightly painful experiences that videos which are 5-10 minutes long will lose a large share of the viewing audience on the internet after a couple of minutes. Plenty of research confirms our own experience. The videos which have been most effective for our clients were generally 1-3 minutes in length. Secondly, your target audience requires relevant information which will quickly Read the rest of this entry »

Case Study: Fuel Services, Inc. uses web video to highlight customer service and technical support

From time to time, I thought it might be helpful to post case studies of customers who have hired eTown Videos to produce promotional web videos for them. The case studies highlight examples how these businesses use video to engage customers, generate sales leads, and retain customers. Read the rest of this entry »

Producing an attention-grabbing video to attract customers and sales leads at your next trade show

Preparing a trade show booth and a trade show video production can be a daunting task for many business representatives. To “wow” the trade show and convention visitors is of particular importance. Ideally, you’d like the video’s effect to last long after the trade show or convention is over. Here  are several key points to produce a captivating four-minute loop for your trade show video booth.

1. Filming and editing in high-definition is a must, and most visitors will probably expect the crisp hi-def video display. Here at eTown Videos we made the investment in high definition professional video equipment a few years ago. Obviously, be certain to arrange for a large screen HD TV for your booth, the size of the monitor will depend on the size of your booth.
2. Make sure the video production team creates a video that demonstrates an understanding of  your buyer personas (e.g. customers, donors, students, members, etc). The video needs to speak to your  customers. You want your customers’ interest in seeing how your product or services solve their problems and satisfy their needs. Many video producers overlook this critical marketing point and focus excessively on product features and benefits. While that is helpful to an extent, more importantly, the video must repeatedly show the customer how your product or service solves their problems or satisfies their needs at an affordable cost. Read the rest of this entry »

How could online video help my business?

It is 10pm on a Tuesday night. Your boss put you in charge of  researching new providers for that new phone system which your company needs in order improve their communications. So you begin your research for a phone system online by entering a few search terms into Google, Yahoo, and YouTube, or whatever your favorite search engine might be.  The search results display providers to choose from,  so you click on a few links which send you to websites with photos of the latest models, price comparisons, and charts; pages and pages of information to read! It appears slightly overwhelming as most sites appear similar in their marketing and sales approach, lots of text, some photos, part numbers, awards they have won, and more text descriptions. Most of the offerings are from companies you have never heard of.  You are almost ready to turn off your computer and forget about it until tomorrow…. Read the rest of this entry »