Web Video. 5 Things you should be doing with video on your website.

Web video. It’s been “on the brink” since the inception of the Internet, but languished for years due to slow and unreliable Internet connections and computers that lacked the CPU power to handle the requirements of video. Always viewed as one of the silver bullets of content delivery, web video has finally landed.

Over the last 2-3 years many of your customers have upgraded their old 56k modem with a high speed DSL or Cable connection that delivers content to their home at speeds of up to 20mbps. Sites like YouTube™, Vimeo™ and Fancast™ have grown exponentially over that same 2-3 year timeframe based in large part on the fact that so many users now have the adequate bandwidth to watch video without the drawbacks of the early 2000’s.

It’s time to ask yourself, “Is my business using video to effectively communicate to my customers?”

Here are 5 things you could (and probably should) be doing with video on your company’s website. If you’re already doing some or all of these things you’re one (very big) step ahead of your competition and should be commended. If you’re not doing any of these 5, read this. Then pick one…just one of these 5 things and do it! Once that one thing is done, pick another and do that too.

Product Demonstration – One of the great social scientists of our time, Albert Bandura, spoke about learning through “vicarious observation.” In layman’s terms, this just means that we learn by watching other people do something. For instance, a great way to learn how to hit a baseball is by watching old footage of Ted Williams. Take that same idea and apply it to your product. If you’re selling a product or service there should be, somewhere on your site, a video that clearly shows your user (through vicarious observation) how to use the product or service. These videos should be simple and straightforward. Think of them as instructional videos.

Viral Video – If you haven’t seen the Gatorade “Ballgirl” or the “Why every guy should buy his girlfriend a Wii Fit” video you should. They’re funny, quirky and they show off their respective brands in a covert and subversive way. The videos build interest in the brand without the sometimes garish “buy this now” mentality of a traditional advertisement. Virals are not so much meant to entice you to buy the moment the clips run out, but rather to build a buzz around a product or brand. Another great example can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsO6D1rwr  . At almost 27 million views, this video has performed as well (if not better) than any broadcast commercial Nike produced that year.

Company Bio – Looking for a way to tell the story of your company in a concise, easy to follow and entertaining way? Having trouble doing that with copy? Try a video. A company bio is a mini-documentary about your business. It tells the story of who you are, the culture at your company, the people that make up your company. It may feature products and services but it’s more than that. It exists to build brand awareness and goodwill about you and your business. Are you embarking on a green initiative this year? Do your company’s employees want to tell the world what a great company they work for? Is your CEO a wannabe actor who can’t miss on screen? Company bios are great at communicating your company’s core message in a way that’s captivating and impressive.

Employee Education/Enrichment – Does your company have ongoing employee development, all hands meetings, product rollouts? If so, they need to be video recorded, encoded and put on the company site or intranet. These are invaluable assets that the company invest heavily in and should not be viewed as one-time events. Capture these events on video and save them to show those employees that couldn’t make it, or who were hired on just after the event. Hosting an event as a web video can also cut travel costs dramatically. Imagine that you could produce a web training video for $5000 - $10,000. This video would be on the company site in perpetuity, available for your entire staff to view. Factor in plane tickets, hotel accommodations, per diem and lost productivity and the cost savings are obvious.

Testimonials – Nothing speaks louder than the voice of a happy client. And that client’s voice can’t be heard any more clearly than through a video testimonial. You can always have them write a testimonial and post that on your site, but a video is much more personal and gives the end user a face to the name. This goes a long way in adding credibility to the testimonial. Hearing it (and seeing it) from the horse’s mouth has much more impact than reading a quote. Salesforce™ is doing this to great effect right now. Check out what they’re doing here: http://www.salesforce.com/smallbusinesscenter/

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