You’ve already got a webpage to help draw customers to your business, but have you considered the impact video can make on your site?
There’s a reason eMarketer included online video among its seven Internet strategies for surviving a recession. Because it’s economical, because it builds customer loyalty and because it’s something any business, small or large, can do. Video makes a site sticky and improves the relationship between the company and the customer. From the biggest corporate giant to the shop around the corner, brands are using easy-to-access Web technology to create engaging video content for their sites – videos that drive purchase intent, customer acquisition, and long-term satisfaction.
But what should your videos look like? Should you bring existing video assets onto the Web or build new content? How should you manage it and where should it live — on your site or across the Web? How can you leverage consumer-created video with traditional advertising content?
That’s where I can help. As an online video and new media expert who has covered the business since its inception, I’ve reported on the most innovative brand video strategies and the ones that make you cringe. I can help small and large businesses develop a strategy that fits them. I offer boutique service to a small group of clients at affordable rates.
Branded video from you is the category that’s going to grow in 2009. Already we’ve seen a number of brands experiment with brand-driven series, such as Crocs’ Cities by Foot and Holiday Inn Express’ The Smart Show. Those are shows started by brands, funded by brands. We’ve also seen efforts from technology-centric companies such as Adobe TV and Embarq to create how-to videos about their products. Even book publishers are getting into the act. Little, Brown & Co, for instance, posts short videos on its Web site from its authors, including Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Tea maker Adagio Teas launched a weekly Web show about its different tea blends.