I had a really interesting and occasionally heated discussion with a client today about the purpose of video, and I thought it was worth a broader discussion.

The issue was the use of online video—specifically with YouTube in this instance—and how it’s intended purpose drives the SEO, link-building, and other various marketing efforts supporting the video.

The client had set aside a budget for creating some videos, and had ideas all over the map for what the content of those videos would be. They were pretty adamant about creating a viral campaign, involving Digg and Stumble Upon and links—clearly this client was a bit ahead of the curve in having read up and grasped the basic concepts of online marketing.

They wanted to leverage YouTube, primarily to avoid bandwidth costs and reach an audience that might not find them otherwise.

Everything was tracking pretty well and I thought I was headed for the smoothest consulting gig of my brief career… until we got to the topic of the actual videos themselves.

This client wanted to create a series of training videos, and not just any training videos—but videos specifically related to a proprietary piece of software that serves as one of their core products. And that’s when the red flags started going up.

From here the conversation went something like this:

For the remainder of this article go to: ReelSEO.com

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One thing we all in have in common is that we enjoy being entertained. While the main purpose of your video may be to inform more than to entertain, having an entertaining quality about it, will add to viewers experience and enhance their interest in sharing it with others in your target audience.

Today – The Fun Theory.

The first is the musical staircase video from Volkswagen. VW’s ad, called “The Fun Theory” was created by the DDB Stockholm ad agency. There will be several spots in the series, each focusing on “hidden camera” style clips that show how people can be motivated to change behavior when there’s a chance for fun to be had.

The Piano Staircase is the first in the series, where musical notes and asks, “Can we get more people to choose the stairs by making it fun to do?” You then see workers outfitting a public staircase so that it resembles a piano keyboard—complete with actual notes playing when you step on the “keys.”

The bigger push, behind just having fun, is responsible living. VW wants you to be healthy, and keep the planet healthy. So if they can get you to take the stairs instead of riding an escalator, you’ll be having fun while also being more active. They claim over 60% more people chose the piano stairs than had chosen the regular stairs the day before. Pretty powerful data, actually.

The second spot features a trash can with fun sound effects, which results in more people finding and throwing away trash where it belongs, thus decreasing litter. And VW hopes to harness this campaign to push their eco-friendly vehicles, which they hope you’ll find both fun to drive and better for the environment.

It’s brilliant, if you ask me. So many demographics will find something to like about this video. Those in the online marketing space, like us and most of our readers, will enjoy the simplistic beauty of a perfectly crafted viral campaign. The public will enjoy the Candid Camera feel of the masses reacting with quizzical looks.

I’d call it a home run, and this is only the beginning. A couple weeks after debuting, the first YouTube video already has well nearly 5 Million views. The second released about a week ago, nearly 1 Million views. Good work, VW (and DDB Stockholm).

Watch these for yourself:

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The video was published July 19, 2009, and it now has nearly 30 million views. It had nearly 19 million views in the first three weeks after posting.

That’s what you call a viral video. It’s the stuff marketers dream of — 19 million people reached with no money spent on distribution or production. Businesses that achieve that kind of reach profit enormously. If you have any doubts, checkout what it did to Forever’s iTunes sales.

Of course, the chances of your company creating a video that reaches 19 million people in three weeks are essentially zero. It’s not going to happen, so don’t bother.

Most marketers understand that truly viral videos are almost impossible to create — and they use this as a reason to abandon video altogether.

That’s a mistake.

Video doesn’t need to be viral to have an impact on your business. In fact, any robust inbound marketing content strategy should include a video component, designed with assumption that none of the videos will “go viral.” Instead, businesses should put time into video for at least six other reasons:

(1) Video Gives Your Business A Voice — It’s one thing to read a paragraph about a company, but it’s a completely different thing to spend two minutes listening to a business owner and staff share the story, vision, and purpose of their business. Video adds a personal dimension to company websites, which are typically heavy on impersonal text.

(2) Videos Are Marketing Annuities — Like a blog post, videos are annuities; once you’ve published your video and it passes its initial burst of traffic, you’ll continue to get traffic and banding value indefinitely.

(3) Videos Build Company Culture — Videos are fun and they show that your company can have fun. They serve as morale builders within the company, and recruiting tools outside the company.

(4) Video Is Another Channel for Your Content — Effective inbound marketing content strategies need to be executed in multiple media types. Some forms of information are best communicated in blog posts; some in photos or graphics; some in webinars; others in video. If you’re not using or even experimenting with a combination of these channels, you’re missing potential customers.

(5) Videos Are Not As Involved To Produce As You May Think — If your business has stories, and all do, videos will be easy to produce. Don’t get sucked into the traditional details of video production. To plan your video, define your stories, schedule time to shoot it – with outside help if you wish – and make sure the shooting doesn’t drag on. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it simply needs to be authentic, relevant, and a bit entertaining.

(6) More Video, More Likely to Have a Big Success — Just like venture capital or movie production, online marketing video is portfolio business. No successful movie studio bets their year on a single film. They spread their resources across multiple films, and hope they’ll get one money-maker out of their portfolio. You should approach your marketing videos the same way. Don’t stop telling your stories and those of your employees, customers, collaborative partners, neighborhood, etc. Ask yourself – would my customers find this story interesting? – if so, tell it.

Does your company / business currently use video for marketing? How? Why? What else should be on this list?

The post Six Reasons Videos That Don’t Go Viral Are Valuable appeared first on StoryFirst Media Website.

The videos on the list use various approaches to hold viewers’ attention – ranging from humor to education to building anticipation for real-world events and showcasing stunts. They also bring into clear perspective the international nature of viral video and how various companies are using these vehicles to build global brand awareness.

The top 10 picks for August, with links to view on YouTube:

1. Bensons
for Beds – Mattress Dominoes, agency: Wand
2. Johnnie
Walker – The Walk, agency: BHH London
3. Sony –
Twilight Football, agency: Dare/OMD/GoViral
4. Inspired
Bicycles – Danny MacAskill
5. Microsoft – Giant Waterslide, agency: MRM Worldwide
6. Red Bull – Times Square Pit Stop
7. MSI – Laptop Tricks
8. ABSOLUT – Differently, agency: TBWA/CHIAT/DAY New York
9. Nokia – Booklet 3G, agency: Wieden & Kennedy, JWT
10. HP – You on You Project, agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners

About the rankings: Goviral issues a monthly top-10 list of viral video rankings on its site, including additional commentary about the videos.

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More and more businesses are using video as part of their overall marketing strategies. Once a high barrier to entry due to the sheer expense of video creation, production and marketing, businesses can now launch effective video tactics with just a few thousand dollars.

This also creates a problem. Because it is now so easy to create a video, and the proliferation of video sharing sites such as YouTube (among others) is ever increasing, there are more bad videos available than ever before.

What’s happened is that businesses are continuing to focus on the “technology” and not the core reason why videos are successful – great content and storytelling targeted to a specific customer segment.

If you are considering video as part of your integrated marketing strategy, here are the success factors.

Tell the Story, Not Your Story
Like any valuable, relevant and compelling content you create, a video is not about you, it’s about your customers. This is the biggest challenge for a business to overcome. So many times businesses want to talk about their products and services, or position one of their executives as an expert. That’s all fine and good, but if the video does not meet the informational needs of the individual watching it, it won’t be watched.

The solution is simple. Develop a keen understanding of the customer or prospect group you are targeting. What are their key challenges? What do they need to know to be more productive at work, or live better lives? Why is your message important in the first place?

Once that is established, you can then weave in your marketing objectives into the video content without selling to them. Remember, your goal is not to sell them, but to help develop a conversation with them. Without valuable content, there is no possibility of a conversation.

Forget the One-Timers and Think “Series”
Like any other successful communications program, consistency is the key. Many businesses create video in hopes of that viral one-hit wonder. Really successful business videos build upon each other. Sites like willitblend.com or askaninja.com didn’t just produce one video and sit back. They planned for ongoing and consistent videos with a content plan focused on their target customers.

Share It, Don’t Own It
Just like your brand doesn’t belong to you anymore (it belongs to your customers), treat your videos the same way. Don’t just expect your customers and prospects to only go to your website to view the video. Populate it wherever your customers may be, whether YouTube, Facebook or probably most fitting, the industry media sites and portals in your particular niche. Your goal is for your video to be watched, so that you can change or maintain a behavior. Knowing where your customers are prone to “engage” in your content is key.

Focus on Content over Production Value
The days of six-figure videos are over. Today’s consumers are very accepting of “YouTube quality” video, which are sometimes viewed as more credible and “real” to certain consumer groups. What are your current customers viewing habits? That question will save you a ton in production expenses.

Get Outside Help
When a business owner or sales and marketing department produces video without outside help, there is an uncontrollable urge to actively sell in it. Hire a on-line video content specialist or journalist to give you a third-party view that will help remove the rose-colored glasses.

Video lets customers view, see and hear things not possible with other formats. The technology is great, but it’s the targeted storytelling that will define your success and bring out the “human” side of your company.

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Well clearly it appears I do after recognizing nearly all of the top 100 greatest hits of YouTube cleverly packed into 4 Minutes:

Which one puts the biggest smile on your face?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BudhFVnN2o0

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Shared via AddThis

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This Johnnie Walker example is a great example of what’s possible with web video, though rest assured web video is not just for big hitters like JW.  Web video can level the playing field, in fact when telling your story in a way that connects with your audience, it can give you an advantage over the your big hitter competitors. It’s affordable, fun engaging and dynamic just as you business is.

As reported in the MarketingSherpa 2009 Marketing with Video Report, “putting video on websites has been a huge success. That’s what our sample of marketers that put video on their own websites said about how it is working out for them. Their response was extremely positive. And these marketers gave us hundreds of great examples touching on dozens of ways in which adding video to their site has had a positive impact on sales, lead generation, use of site, and improved customer relations.

So if you haven’t added video to your website that tells your story, “keep walking” in that direction. Maybe walk fast. In the meantime enjoy the show … with a wee dram of JW if you wish!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnSIp76CvUI

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