Monthly Archives: May 2011

What I Did Today

Behind The Scenes, Who Uses Video, ,

At 7:30 this morning, I was sitting in front of the DMV waiting for them to open so I could renew my car’s registration. Yes, I was first in line! Amazing.  Also in front of the door: the latest edition or other of a yellow page book. After I had been there ten minutes, others started to arrive. One woman, bent on ingratiating herself with the state employees, picked up the book as if she was ready to present it when the doors opened.

“Does anyone still use those things?” I asked.

The woman looked down and said, “Well, I don’t anymore. I was on the web to see what time the office opened this morning.”

Exactly what I’ve been trying to tell people.

My wife doesn’t even let the Yellow Pages, or similar tomes in the house anymore. They go straight to the recycle bin.  We find out the stuff we need to know about businesses on the web.

Later in the day, I discovered I needed a new thingamabob. I went online to do my research and find out which stores had what. I found one manufacturer with a video about his product. I watched the whole thing. Then I wrote down the model number to see if I can find one in the store.

Towards the end of the evening, a friend sent me a link to a company he wanted me to check out.  The site was only a logo, and a list of what they sell.  There.Were.No.Other.Pages.  So basically, it was an internet business card.  I would have loved to have found out more about this business, but they had no content.

I look at a phone book, and wonder how much money is being wasted there. Those ads are expensive. And no one is reading them!   There are companies on the web who have nothing but their name on their website.   How many of these folks are YOUR competitors?  Now you know something they don’t.

Videos are not cutting edge. They are accepted, searched for, and watched thousands of times every minute.

Imagine your business having more customers, staying longer and becoming more engaged with your brand.

-That’s a wrap.

 

How To Know When Long Is Too Long

DIY ?, Uncategorized, ,

Ok, so I’m watching a webinar about how to use video to better engage with customers – pretty appropriate for me, right? The presenters hit a lot of topics, and one of them was how long should your video be?  The consensus was two to three minutes, which I totally agree with.  They talked about the “drop-off rate” that’s the point at which your video stops being interesting to whoever it is watching it.

The webinar was an hour long.  I stopped watching at about 20 minutes. Why?

Reason #1:
Camera movement for the sake of movement.  There was one camera and two people. The camera would zoom in to one of the presenters, then pan over to the other presenter before zooming back out again. There was no purpose to the movement. And it didn’t keep me from getting bored.

Reason #2:
The presenters didn’t plan out what they were going to say. There were a lot of Ums and You Knows, and when the host asked a direct question, the guest could not give a direct answer.

Isn’t it funny that when people like this talk about the need for video to be compelling, that they fail to be compelling themselves.

I once had a jewelry store owner tell me why she started her business. She was not only compelling, she was spellbinding. That kind of story edited to the right images will keep people watching.

How long should YOUR video be? When Blendtec did the “Will It Blend Iphone 4” video, it ran almost 4 minutes, and has grabbed over 3 million views.  But after 60 seconds of a talking head, some folks can’t click away fast enough.

How do you want to tell your story? Consulting with a professional may be one way to make that story something your visitors will want to watch.

That’s a wrap.

 

5 Lines From Field Of Dreams That Explain How To Use Video

Uncategorized, Who Uses Video, , ,

Yeah, it’s a classic baseball movie. Ray Kinsella learns a great lesson. But if you listen closely, the Voice may also be telling you how to increase your sales and your expertise in the minds of your customers with video.

1. Voice: “If you build it, he will come”

Especially now, after the Google Panda update, content will get you noticed. Using videos makes websites more likely to show up on top of organic searches. Not only that, but when a visitor lands on a small business’ page with video, the 2nd most popular behavior is to click the video.

2. Ray: “Don’t we need a catcher?”
Shoeless Joe: “Not if you get it near the plate, we don’t”

You know that when a website has a video, the conversion rate is higher than a website with no video.  But that video doesn’t even need to be watched. Just the fact that it’s there makes a difference in the conversion rate.

3. “This is my corn. You people are guests in my corn”

In the movie, it’s Ray speaking.  For this instance, it’s your website visitor. Your video is a guest in his browser. So, get rid of the auto-start, and make sure your message isn’t sales-y. Most likely the visitor got to your site because he is trying to solve a problem.  It makes no sense to show your latest TV commercial.

4. Mark: It is true. You don’t know the first thing about farming.
 Ray: Yes I do. I know a lot about farming. I know more than you think I know.

Show off what you know. The more your show your expertise, the more your visitors will consider you the authority in your field. Studies show that websites with at least three videos are considered authorities.

5. Voice: “Go The Distance”

See above. And don’t stop. Keep updating and upgrading your videos.

 

That’s a wrap.