The importance of video content to engage audiences online

Chris Lee, managing director, Planet Content

Agenda- Introducing online video- Examples of online video success - The business case for video- How to create, manage and optimise online video- Measuring success- Questions

About me- Run my own online PR consultancy- 12 years in technology PR and journalism- Write for New Media Knowledge- Won “Best Business Blog 2007” from Communicators in Business

Introducing online videoEngagement - video offers tremendous opportunity to engage audience groups online

Media thirst – traditional media sites are constantly trying to compete with the BBC’s extensive libraries of content

PR opportunity – creates opportunity for high-profile story placement

Creative extension – opportunity to add further depth to a story

It’s not just about YouTube...

Communities - embed and shareSyndicate video - use sites that syndicate and seed on other social networksRelevance - make sure video is accurately targetedMonitor - comments and reach

Examples

Old Spice (2010)Stats

Samsung LED TVs(2009)

Building communitiesSocial networks – more than just video postingShared interests – people connect to other users who like similar content, or post videos they like Channels – YouTube channels create audience bases that are informed when new content is uploadedComments – people post comments and views on videos. Star ratings are a powerful determination of ranking in YouTube and whether it achieves the all-important feature on the front-page

Business case for online videoReach new audiences – creating and seeding content offers new search traffic possibilitiesEngage - video offers tremendous opportunity to engage audience groups onlineCost effective – creating and seeding video need not be expensivePersonal touch – creating video adds a human face to your organisation and makes your own website that much more appealingMarket trends – people research online more before making a purchase. Let them see your product or service in actionGrowing trend – in 2009, 67 per cent of US marketing managers said video would be an important part of their digital marketing*

* www.btobonline.com

Getting started in online videoObjectives – what do you want to get out of your video marketing?Strategy – how are you going to position/integrate your video marketing within your wider marketing mix?Budget – how much time and money are you willing to spend on video creation and seeding?Content – what type of content are you going to create and how will you brand it?Seeding – aside from video sites, which other social platforms do you plan to use to push your video content?Measurement – how do you intend to measure the success of your video campaigns?

Potential contentTraining videosProduct reviewsContestsCustomer testimonialsVideo blogsPress announcementsCompany presentations

How to play Flamenco guitar (YouTube)

How to create online videoWhat you need:

IdeasVideo camera* Sound equipmentVideo editing suiteFile converterClue up on copyright law*Demo **iPhone 4

Video production

Affordable quality – the explosion of video consumption online has brought with it a reduction in the expectancy of video quality and resolution Script writer – finding a good script writer is a very valuable exercise. Substantially reduces expensive to and froProduction – hiring a video producers is extremely important – more often that not they will manage the whole project, including editingBudget – costs can be in the hundreds, depending on the scope of work Length – it is best if videos do not shoot past one minute in length online – further reducing production costs

Creating a channel

Create accountPersonalise your pageUpload videoOptimise contentShare contentManage comments

Optimise your videosWhat’s the objective: home or hosted?Think of your audienceMake title relevantUse keywords and tags: classic SEO best practiceBalancing video hosted both on your domain and third party sites

ModerationHugely active sites such as YouTube attract a large number of ‘spammers’ – people posting inappropriate links and content in comments to capture people’s attention

Popular videos can also attract abusive comment as a means to scandalise and shock

When it is your own video post, it is possible to control the following:- Removal of inappropriate comments- Complete removal of ability to comment

Measuring successWhat metrics to consider when measuring success:ViewsChannel subscribersEmbedsSocial media posting (e.g. Tweets)Inbound trafficLink backsUse analytics tools

In summary

Do:Agree objectivesKeep it short and compellingOptimise contentMake it socially sharable Moderate commentsMeasure, test and adjust accordingly

In summaryDon’t:Plagiarise Hard sellUse audio/video content you have no right to useUse same keywords on third party sites if hosting on your ownTake yourself too seriously

Small Business Case StudyEscape Studios (visual effects firm) - offers VFX coursesChannels - YouTube with Twitter and Facebook Campaign - Competition to win work placement and free courses

* Video watched 3,000+ times on YouTube* Overall site registration/conversion goals increased by 63.36% month on month* Contact requests increased by 35.16% * Purchases increased by 209.09% * e-Learning service subscriptions increased by 107.62%

Useful sites

YouTube Insights: http://www.youtube.com/t/advertising_insight YouTube blog: http://youtube-global.blogspot.com How to make a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_makevideo Xtranormal: http://www.xtranormal.com Flip Video: http://www.theflip.com/en-gb/ Royalty Free Music: http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com

Thank You

Any Questions...?

www.planetcontent.co.uk@cmrlee

www.runmarketing.co.uk @RunMarketing