Video Matters

Posted by Rahna on May 28, 2009 under Digital Branding, Social Media, Strategy | Be the First to Comment

I’ve been focusing on on-line videos this week and thought I should share some of what I’ve discovered. 

Here’s the bottom line:  VIDEO MATTERS.

Whether you are a small business wanting to add a little mini-documentary video to your website or you are a large advertiser looking for new uncluttered channels on which to convey your message, on-line video is a rich area to explore. 

If you’re a skeptic about the power of video, I have two words for you: Susan Boyle.

In case you missed it, Susan Boyle exploded onto the worldwide web in April as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent.  In the past two months, she has racked up over 100 million views — remember, the Super Bowl is viewed by something like 93 million!  Suffice it to say, her life has been permanently altered by YouTube.  And as we move forward, yours will be too.

In fact, it very likely already has been (especially if you are 18-34 years old).  How many of you have seen amazing videos where men are bonding with lions or cats are hanging from ceiling fans?  I’d bet a lot of money that the majority of you have.  See my previous blog post for more quantitative info on trends and growth in on-line video.

Want another concrete example?  Okay, a friend of mine is in charge of Digital Media & Marketing for Hyperion Books and spends her days leveraging the power of the internet to let people know about the wonderful books Hyperion publishes.  Does she use video?  You bet.

She recently worked with author Kelly Corrigan to develop a short but moving video on Transcending to promote the paperback release of her book The Middle Place.  Upon posting the video, she and her team started to spread the word by sending an email to 50 of their interested friends.  To date, the video has enjoyed over 4.4MM views and, more importantly, the book sat at #2 on the The New York Times Bestsellers List  for many weeks.  That’s low-cost, high-impact marketing.

So what does this mean for you?  As I said at the start of this article, video matters.  Consider advertising on-line as a viable alternative, and develop a video strategy for your digital efforts.   Do you have any video on your website and/or on other websites?  You should consider what the benefits could be for you. 

Video allows you to:

·         Discuss your topic with passion

·         Take advantage of sight, sound, and motion

·         Engage with your audience more thoroughly

·         Show your thought-leadership

·         Develop your brand more distinctly

·         Entertain, inform and delight your consumers

·         Improve your SEO rankings

Here are a few tips:

·         Be really compelling: make sure the topic is relevant to your business

·         Be succinct: most people will willingly sit through an engaging one- or two-minute video

·         Be proprietary: embed the video on your own site

·         Optimize: pay attention to meta data and Google Video map details

·         Market your video: there are tons of video-sharing sites out there to post on

·         Spread the word: use other media (both digital and non-digital) to spread the word

Video On-line

Posted by Rahna on May 26, 2009 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

Interesting to see the figures about how on-line video is growing.  How much video are you watching?  Some recent Nielsen numbers show that on average, people are watching just over 200 minutes of video, with males representing slightly more inclination to do so than women.  However, the 35-49 year old segment is the fastest growing (over the past six months).

While YouTube, with its short-form, typically less-than-four-minute format, is certainly the 100-lb gorilla in this space, there are other providers growing rapidly.  According to Nielsen, the top online brands (as of May 2009) are:

YouTube

Hulu

Yahoo!

Fox Interactive Media

Nickelodeon

MSN/Windows Live

ABC.com

MTV Networks Music

Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network

CNN Digital Network

Other reports corroborate that full-length video is growing in popularity.  Forrester Research wrote an interesting  report about “What it Really Means to Watch TV Online,” that discusses the bright future for on-line video.

 What are you watching, and how are you leveraging this phenomenon in your business?

Best Of Social Media

Posted by Rahna on May 21, 2009 under Consumer Engagement, Digital Branding, Social Media | 2 Comments to Read

So today’s project is trying to find some great (current) examples of social media done right.  I teach businesses about the necessary mindset for using Web 2.0 tools, and I have found that specific examples help them wrap their brains around a concept in a much more tangible manner. 

So, who’s done a good job in engaging their consumer base in meaningful interaction that builds relationships and company value at the same time? 

I’ll put this out there as a list to get some conversation started, but if you have others, I’m all ears:

·         Entertainment industry

·         Charity Tie-ins

·         Viral campaigns

·         Blogs

·         Video

·         iPhone Apps

·         kids campaigns

·         Mobile marketing

Tell me:

·         What did they do that was so interesting?

·         Why do you think it was so great ?

·         How did they do it (what elements did they use)?

You can post something here as a comment or send a tweet to @Rahna.

Thanks!

Interesting Article on Text Messages

Posted by Rahna on May 4, 2009 under General | Be the First to Comment

The LA Times ran a fabulous article yesterday about why text messages only allow 160 characters for their messages. 

The short answer is that the guy working on SMS (short message service) technology in the mid-80’s had to figure out a succinct way to communicate due to limited available bandwidth at the time.  This had to be standardized across multiple cellular phone systems.  They settled on 160 characters  after reviewing postcard notes and Telex messages (popular “back in the day”).

The reason Twitter is only 140 characters is that they leave 20 characters for someone’s name to be added to the message.

Very interesting article.  Check out the whole thing here.