I have been traveling to Burlington Vermont and the Lake Champlain region for about 20 years, and it is one of my favorite travel destinations in New England. If you have never been to Burlington, Vermont or if you just haven’t been there for a while, consider spending your next get-a-way weekend in Burlington – I know you’ll love it.
If you like a mix of cosmopolitan flair, country living, and stunning views , then Burlington, Vermont and Lake Champlain might just be the place for you.

Take a look at my latest video travel blog which I put together for you during a recent client visit. Enjoy.

If you enjoyed this travel video blog please click the “Like” button. Thank you.

If you enjoyed this travel video blog please click the “Like” button. Thank you.

How to plan a multimedia video production:

1. As I have stated in several previous posts, focus on your customers. What do they want to buy? Do you have a clear understanding of the buyer persona of your primary clientele? Typically clients don’t care about long lists of features and benefits, but they do care if you can solve their problems and fill a business need. Therefore, get clear on who you are selling to.
2. Now that you understand your customers’ perceptions and needs, you may move on to allocating the necessary resources to create your multimedia production. Your resources will include a professional video production company with experienced videographers (you may require some live action shots), graphic designer, computer animator, voice over talent, and script writer, and any existing PowerPoint presentations. You may not require all production elements but it’s good to be clear on all available creative resources. Next, let your production team create and develop a multimedia video presentation.
3. In most cases you will require some sort of script development as well as storyboard development when creating a compelling message, which means an experienced script writer will need to be involved at this stage. A well written script will drive the multimedia video presentation and is a critical element in most productions. Typically, storyboard development follows the completion and approval of the script.
4. If your presentation includes narration then a professional voice over talent can bring just the right amount of persuasion and authoritative tone to match your corporate image.
5. Most multimedia presentations which we have developed are being delivered via web video. Some video productions incorporate interactivity so that the viewer can quickly move to the section which is of most interest to them. Many productions also include live video with graphic and animation overlays. The professional video shoot in combination with animation and graphic effects will set you apart from your competitors’ presentation slides. (Feel free to contact eTown Videos if you wish to view animation and multimedia samples).
6. The completed project may be distributed via a company website, YouTube, Facebook etc. You may want to review my recent post entitled “Post Your Video On Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube; Your Online Marketing Depends On It”
7. Finally, make sure the entire team is on board with the production process, you will need 100% buy-in from the client and your creative team -  clear vision and agreement among all players will prevent potential headaches down the road.

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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.

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As I commented in previous posts, blogging is similar to other social media activities in regards to choosing a non-sales approach. Most people who read blogs and participate in social media activities do NOT like being sold, therefore, I would not use the blogosphere for direct sales presentations. Instead provide your readers with valuable and useful content – nothing new for the folks that have been blogging for some time.

How can video help your blog?

1. How-to videos

Some of the most watched videos are how-to videos. Tips on how to use your services and products are very helpful to customers and prospects. 30-60 second video clips of how to assemble a furniture piece or how to navigate your company website would be very useful content. In the event your customer needs to contact your support staff, a brief video which explains how to engage your company’s service department would result in a positive customer experience . If you are an IT company, you could have a technician demonstrate how to reboot computer hardware after a power failure. If you are a social media consultant then you could provide your audience with a visual tour of how to best use the privacy settings on your Facebook or LinkedIn account. Obviously, the topics are of endless variety depending on your business. Readers of your blog will become familiar with your experience and knowledge which could of course lead to business opportunities down the road.

2. Expressing your passion with video

From time to time you may find that a topic is of particular interest to you and a text based blog just doesn’t convey the passion you have for the subject matter. In those moments, you want to capture your enthusiasm on camera. As a video production company we could use our film-making equipment, but for the video blog I tend to use my iPhone 4 which is sufficient for a one to two minute video blog segment. The video connects with your community and audience on a level which a text based blog simply cannot do. Your audience gets a chance to see you and gain a sense of your style and personality. It’s really the next best thing to actually being in the room with you.
Getting over the initial nervousness when recording yourself may take a little practice, but I can assure you the comfort level increases quickly.

3. Develop a transcript for your video

Incorporating a script in terms of closed captions for your YouTube video will give web visitors who can’t watch your video an opportunity to enjoy your content. Secondly, adding closed captions to your videos will help your Video SEO as search engine will index the text of your videos, helping your video content rank higher and draw more traffic to your blog.

Finally, I am not advocating focusing primarily on video but video blogs will provide your audience with an effective and entertaining mix of how they can connect with you. Give it a try and test it for yourself.

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People spent most of their time on social media sites more than on any other area on the Internet. With over 500 million Facebook users, Facebook is leading the social media activity.  A recent Webtrends research report states that social media has become the number one activity on the Internet. Major brands such a Starbucks and Coca Cola have 10 times the number of fans than they receive in monthly visitors to their corporate website – this is a significant shift of where people spend their time. For example: Starbucks has 19,800,000 fans on Facebook and 1,800,000 monthly visitors to their website. The study also shows that 76% of  “Fans” visit Facebook daily.

While the average small business may not have more than a few hundred or a few thousand fans, your online marketing strategy certainly should include acquiring Facebook fans and exploring ways to engage those fans with your company and your brand.

Video and video links are among the most effective marketing strategies to engage your fan base. If you post your video blog, footage of a company event, customer testimonials, or a product introduction, you will find that users generally share or comment on your video content with much higher frequency than other content. However, as I mentioned is previous posts, Facebook users typically do not like being sold when they engage with your fan page. They might expect it at  a corporate website such as a car manufacturer or clothing store – but it is a big “turn-off” on a company Facebook fan page. Therefore, you must offer something of value to your fan base and avoid direct sales pitches. Nevertheless, use video and Facebook to help accomplish your business goals.

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On the other hand, have you ever found yourself laboring for endless hours on a proposal for a small project with relatively modest potential sales revenue? You traveled to the potential client’s business location, spent much time on follow up communication via email and phone, and even offered the prospect a discount; only to watch the client choose a competitive bid? I intuit you experienced this business situation also; that experience was probably accompanied by some frustration.

After almost 20 years of entrepreneurial sales and marketing experience, I can most certainly relate to both scenarios. However, the emotional pendulum does not swing quite as widely between joyous disbelief and frustration any longer, although a sales or marketing situations may still baffle me from time to time.

Let me offer some thoughts and a brief hypothesis as to why you might experience the above sales and business situations. Here we go…

You do not control your customers’ behavior!

If you think you have any control over your customers’ actions and experiences then you are laboring under a misapprehension. The customers’ choices, behaviors, and experiences of your products and services are solely in their hands. Therefore, surrender any further attempts at control and shift your perspective, and you will find much more fulfillment and joy in your business dealings.

The primary reason a customer chooses you as a business partner, is as the consequence of what you have become. In other words, a client chooses to work with you because of what your and your organization’s principles, values, and belief systems are. Is profit your primary criteria for success? Or do you ask yourself  ‘how can I serve my customers and our community?’ The answer to those questions will determine the particulars of every business action you take such as your next sales call, your marketing strategy, how you treat your colleagues and business partners, and it affects the sense of fulfillment you have about your job and business in general. Clarification of your values and purpose can be a great predictor of success. The more one shifts the perspective from profit-centric to customer-centric, the higher the likelihood of business success. This last statement is nothing new to many of you but still foreign to many others.

Profit matters but it’s only a gauge of how much value you have added to your customers’ business, it’s nothing more. Your business sort of becomes what your customers need, which means being a tenacious student of your industry, products, and services.

On the other hand, only focusing on the latest marketing techniques, or collecting LinkedIn connections or Twitter followers, or using slightly outdated marketing interruption techniques (TV advertising, radio, cold calling) is probably a waste of your time and money.

The only area of influence (not control), is the foundation you have built for your organization. You still use all the tools at your your disposal e.g. social media, some traditional marketing strategies, but they grow out of a different paradigm. A paradigm that is not based on controlling the customers’ behaviors through a clever marketing and advertising campaign.  Instead, your actions grow out of a paradigm which focuses on values and purpose clarification. It’s this shift in perspective which “attracts” prospects and clients to you, and choose you as a business partner. Your positive and customer-centric intentions will spread like ripples in a pond with consequences beyond your control.

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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.

For those of you who have been involved in social media over the past 2-3 years, it is no surprise that social media has infiltrated much of online marketing. At the same time, I would suggest, that if you or your clients are still uncertain about the use of online video in combination with social media then you may want to take another look at the effectiveness of video. Businesses clearly see a need for allocating more of their marketing budget to video production and video marketing.

Facebook is an excellent place to upload videos, however, be mindful of your EdgeRank which determines if or where your video will be displayed in users’ newsfeeds. In other words, your video does require some newsfeed optimization, (To find out more about EdgeRank you may want to watch this video). The good news is that video generally ranks higher in the newsfeed than general status updates and the video consumption on Facebook in growing rapidly. At the same time it is worth mentioning that Facebook users do not like being sold to in an aggressive manner but they do seek out businesses on Facebook to learn more about certain products and services.

You may also want to consider adding your company video to your LinkedIn profile. I think this is a good opportunity to provide your profile viewers with a video introduction to your products and services. If you are a job seeker, you may want to engage potential employers with a video resume.

What is the marketing take away?

Marketers (B2B and B2C) are clearly eager to engage their customers on social media platforms and they are doing so with significantly increased attention to online video.

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As I observe the video marketing landscape, I have come across some very talented web marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) companies. My chats and meetings with them have been filled with thought provoking ideas and strategies. However,  most do not offer video marketing or video SEO.

Video SEO and marketing can be quite beneficial to clients who just invested in an online video production. When video SEO is applied, even on a basic level, and the videos begin to show up in Google search results, these videos tend to get a much better CTR (click through rate) then text search results with higher rankings. Once people see a video icon in their search results their behavior changes and the cursor moves to the video thumb, provided of course the video is in fact related to their search query. Some studies suggest that the CTR for video thumbs  is 40% better than text based search results. That’s a huge and big opportunity.

Simply uploading a video to YouTube or to your company website is unfortunately not enough if you want to rank your video for specific search terms or phrases. While eTown Videos is not an SEO company we do provide clients with Video SEO assistance and we have found that traffic and conversion rates have increased for our clients, in some cases, quite significantly.

Therefore, if your company uses web videos and you are about to hire a marketing agency, you may want to inquire about their experience with Video SEO.

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Consumers are passionate about their mobile devices, in fact, Google’s Jason Spero, Head of Mobile Advertising, reports that 15% of all Google searches are now done on mobile devices. Hubspot, a software marketing firm in Boston, did a study which shows that 80% of business people browse the web and check email from their mobile devices.

What does this mean? It means that consumers are looking for your products and services (cars, restaurants, video production services, clothing, computers, etc) on their mobile devices and the number of consumers doing so quadruples every year. If your website or web video is not mobile ready then you might be missing out on sales opportunities because mobile web visitors will find your site difficult to view and move on to the next search result.  Interestingly enough, Google says, that 79% of its largest ad customers do not have their websites optimized for mobile viewing. In my view, that’s not necessarily surprising but it is an opportunity for small and mid-sized companies.

While large companies may have much bigger budgets for web development, they are slow to adapt to change  with respect to optimizing their websites and their videos to meet the growing demand for mobile Internet consumption.  Small and midsized companies tend to be more flexible when adding a mobile version of their website.

As I am the person primarily responsible for our website, I am investing much time on learning how to ditch Abobe Flash which Apple, on their iPhones, iPods and iPads, does not support. I have been using Adobe Flash for a long time and generally find it very valuable but Apple’s resistance to Flash on iOS devices forces me to look at alternatives. Fortunately, several of the web video hosting companies we use, e.g. YouTube, Vimeo and Blip.tv have optimized their sites for mobile viewing. In other words, videos that are hosted and then embedded in our clients’ websites can be viewed on mobile devices. But many website administrators are still using Flash based video playback which will not play on iOS devices but will do fine on Android phones and Android tablets – ideally though, you want your videos to be seen on every device by everyone.

Additionally, you may also want to investigate the possibility of a mobile app with which your customers and prospects can easily view your product offerings, product videos, and blog entries. App development costs can be as low as a few hundred dollars and your clients will appreciate the ease and convenience of staying informed of your company’s offerings with a free or low cost app.

2011 has already become the year during which businesses are focusing more and more on making sure that their websites and videos are mobile ready, and in the coming years mobile optimized sites and videos will become the norm.

Are you working on a mobile marketing strategy?

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