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Friday, November 30, 2012

Exposed! 5 Myths of YouTube Success

Four billion videos are viewed on YouTube each and every day; 27 million videos are watched every 10 minutes and 2.7 million are viewed every minute!

So how come you haven't launched a YouTube channel for your business yet? Maybe you're holding yourself back because you believe one of these 5 myths.

Exposing these 5 myths should ease every entrepreneurs' worry and anxiety about diving into video marketing.

YouTube, Your Business and 5 Myths of Viral Video

Recently, YouTube's group product manager Baljeet Singh wrote an article entitled "YouTube, Your Business and 5 Myths of Viral Video".

Myth #1: Your Video Has to Go Viral or It's Worthless

Even if millions of people were watching your videos, it doesn't guarantee success. Millions are unnecessary. Having the right people watching is crucial!

Singh cites a toy company, Rokenbok, as a prime example.

At a time when specialty toy stores were closing down, Rokenbok started a YouTube channel showing entertaining and informative videos. These videos have led to the store flourishing when they otherwise would be out of business.

Because their toys are pricey, they don't expect people to buy anything the first time they learn about Rokenbok. The company recognizes that they need to build a relationship with the family first.

Sounds like a lot of entrepreneurs doesn't it?

Rokenbok now says, "YouTube is becoming our most important vehicle for advertising."

Lesson Learned: Don't worry about going viral! You can have great video marketing success without it.

Myth #2: Only Funny Videos are Popular

Can you think of anything more boring than ceiling tiles?

Ceilume, a 40-person company which produces decorative ceiling tiles has gathered more than a million video views on their YouTube channel and sales have increased by 15% as a result.

What's so fascinating about their videos? They instruct their audience in how to install, repair, and clean ceiling tiles, and they demonstrate the quality and price of their product.

This topic may not be engaging to you or me, but to their target audience it's helpful, instructional and obviously has made an impact.

Lesson Learned: Stop trying to be funny! Create videos that interest your target audience by providing them information they can use and benefit from.

Myth #3: Only Young People are on YouTube

Believe it or not, there are a lot of older people on YouTube!

Singh says that "55% of all women 18-54 use YouTube." And YouTube reaches 20 million females aged 35-54. (Oprah's website reaches 19 million!)

Be sure to optimize your videos with keywords that apply to your audience, and no matter what their age, you'll find them on YouTube.

Lesson Learned: Even if your target market is over the age of 18, you'll find them on YouTube. So you need to be there too, ready to provide them what they're looking for.

Myth #4: People Only Watch Entertaining Videos on YouTube

Uh, re-read Myth #2 above. A million views for a ceiling tile channel!

In fact, "how to" videos are searched three times more than "Music Videos. How-to videos rock!

A quick search of how to videos on YouTube reveals videos on how to:

Grill like a pro Apply makeup Plant a garden Sew Change the oil in your car Replace your pool filter Scoop dog poop

Yes - how to scoop doggy poop! One such video has over 2,500 views!

Lesson Learned: Even if you or your business is as dull as dishwater, a how-to video targeted to your market can boost your business and your sales.

Myth #5: Videos Must be Professionally Done to be Effective

Some of the "lower production value" videos that are shot while just playing around actually perform as well as the scripted "higher production value" videos.

In fact, when Usher first signed Justin Bieber (who initially gained his visibility via YouTube), the recording label made the intentional and strategic decision to continue building Justin up on YouTube with home-produced videos prior to launching his first album. They recognized the incredible power and authenticity of "unprofessionally produced" video distributed via YouTube.

Rokenbok Toys (from Myth #1 above), likewise found that some of their "lower production value" videos shot while just "playing around" perform as well as their scripted "higher production value" videos.

Lesson Learned: You don't need to look slick if you have good content targeted toward your market.

So there you have it. The 5 myths exposed!

Video is quickly becoming a "must do" for small business success. And it's quite clear. If you aren't taking advantage of video marketing for your business, you're leaving money on the table.

Business Blogging and Lead Generation How To Do Videos - For Local Business Owners 8 Ways To Socialize Your Video Marketing Strategy What Is Video Marketing? A Valuable Strategy

YouTube Blows Out 7 Candles

For the past few days, YouTube has been celebrating 7 years of bombarding the world with amazing - and not so amazing - videos. The video-sharing website created in 2005 by three former employees of PayPal has been growing ever since it was produced. Bet the people at PayPal are not happy to realize this precious website didn't stay in their premises.

YouTube changed the way we communicate and more importantly it allowed people to showcase their talent in an easy, user-friendly, and extremely interactive way, which offers unique possibilities to people all over the world. Needless to say, among these talented people, some stand out for the wrong reasons, but that's what makes YouTube so funny and still whimsical after almost a decade.

Along the way, the Google-owned website has reached important milestones which are the clear manifestation of its power and magnitude. To celebrate the seven year milestone, the video-sharing site announced that users now upload about 72 hours of video each minute, which means the amount of content fed into the service per minute has almost doubled in only one year. Moreover, YouTube said something like 4 billion videos are viewed every day on their site, which makes roughly over 3 billion hours of video watched each month by 800 million unique users. Pretty mind-blowing numbers right?

Some may say Facebook attracts more attention and traffic, however, YouTube's patterns clearly show the website is growing. Besides, 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, so they both boost each other, making the YouTube/Facebook combination one of the best couples that ever lived.

"Like many 7-year-olds around the world, we're growing up so fast," announced YouTube on its birthday, and indeed it is. The people at YouTube wants us to know that the three days worth of content people upload each minute is, according to them, equivalent to "61 Royal Wedding Ceremonies, 841 Bad Romances and 1,194 Nyan Cats". That's too many Pop Tart Cats.

To illustrate these jaw-dropping numbers, Google's YouTube also released a video broadcasting its history and most known episodes, such as the "Charlie bit my finger" kid and the infamous KONI. This timeline documents iconic moments and some of the funniest YouTube videos that will really go down in history. Try to see it without shedding a tear or two or even letting out a smile.

Founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen e Jawed Karim after an alleged dinner party and with its first headquarters above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant, it's hard to believe YouTube has come such a long way. The social impact is unprecedented and YouTube videos have led to a lot of discussions in the mainstream media. Plus, the site gave a new meaning to the word "viral".

For everything you have accomplished, Happy Birthday YouTube team and thank you for all the talented people you shed light on but please try to keep the bad singers in the darkness.

Business Blogging and Lead Generation How To Do Videos - For Local Business Owners 8 Ways To Socialize Your Video Marketing Strategy What Is Video Marketing? A Valuable Strategy The Six Steps to Start Making Online Video

Website Video Production - A Modern Way to Gain Business

Websites are no more a lump of texts; they are today filled up with photographs, animation, graphics, beautiful tunes and technologically advanced short videos. Earlier having a website used to be enough for a business to advertise and promote its products, but with the proliferation of all kinds of websites it became logical to take it a step further, that is, to make it more advanced and sophisticated.

Website videos are working as a necessary addition to a website these days. They have become a major attraction to a visitor to a website. The advantages associated with a website video production are:

Being a short video production they are quick to attract everyone's attention: Today a visitor to a website is not willing to go through all the texts existing there; instead he wants to gain all the information quickly and conveniently. This all inconvenience has actively been taken care of by web videos, adding them to websites makes the message and information flow in a faster and smoother way.

Can showcase a product from all angles: Texts clearly lack the ability to effectively portray a two or three-dimensional view of a product, whereas a web video production can make the sight of a product visually appealing.

Producing them is economical and time-saving: To have a website video production doesn't costs much. The reason is simple: these videos are animated, made with cartoon characters and not with real actors. They are produced from a single location with the help of software, which makes their cost of production remains low. This low production cost is passed onto customers who end up paying a much lesser sum. These videos can also be made within a short period of time.

They make the transfer of complex data easier: Texts on a website can also transfer complex data but not without taking too much space and putting a strain on viewers mind. A short video production, on the other hand, can not only make viewers understand a complex piece of information but can also do it quickly.

Gives a movie-like effect to viewers: Yes, a web video production with all its fun and informative elements gives a wholesome, movie-like effect to its viewers. Elements include moving texts, graphics, photographs, characters and several others. They sum up to play like a movie.

Today websites are identified more with their videos than with their texts: Hence it's important not to miss the opportunity of having one for your website.

Using Video in Internet Marketing

There's no question about it; video marketing works. The use of video in online marketing is on the rise, and for good reason, that is where the people are. A recent study showed that videos were 50 times more likely to receive an organic first page ranking than standard text submissions. Online video is the fastest growing medium in history. 52% of people took action as a result of watching video online. 77% of Americans who use the internet watched an online video last month.

1. Make Your Video Public. This obviously basic step allows your video to be searchable and is a step often missed.

2. Choose the appropriate category and tags for your video and use the description box to actually describe the video. Stuffing this area full of keywords may seem like a good idea, but trying to trick Google is risky.

3. Create at least one call to action including a link to your website. Activate your viewers by giving them the next step to learn more about your offer or the topic.

4. Publish transcripts on the same page as the video because it provides search engines with information and it provides users useful information. Search engines don't index video content very well.

5. Use tools other than YouTube. There are things you can do on other services that you can't do on YouTube.

6. Include unique URLs in the Video Description. The URL could be for a landing page, or even your homepage. The objective is to minimize obstacles which might prevent leads from being driven back to your website. In B2B marketing, generating leads is typically an important content objective. Links back to your site facilitate this lead generation process while simultaneously improving various page-ranking metrics with search engines.

7. In video, less is more. Your video needs to end, and it should probably end sooner than you think. Break your video content up into shorter sections, 2.5 minutes or less, if needed. Keep in mind, people have short attention spans and it is unlikely they'll sit through 10 minutes of video.

8. Use a sitemap to facilitate search. An XML Sitemap is a structured format that a user doesn't need to see, but it tells the search engine about the pages in your site, their relative importance to each other, and how often they are updated. HTML sitemaps are designed for the user to help them find content on the page, and don't need to include each and every subpage. This helps visitors and search engine bots find pages on the site. Besides video sitemaps, there are video microformats. Facebook and Yahoo (SearchMonkey). It makes content more easily discoverable. Microformats and structured data are becoming more common for supplying/formatting content to search engines.

9. Creating interesting and engaging video content isn't about featuring the smartest person in the company, it is about tone and manner. When selecting the talent to appear on-screen, consider who would be the best at presenting content and explaining things clearly and in a compelling way.

10. Remember branding. Besides blogs, YouTube and your own website, video can be embedded and shared almost anywhere. As you plan and produce your video, be sure to incorporate your brand identity and key messaging into the video content. Create a clear and consistent brand message that shines through regardless of the video platform you use. You can also watermark the video with your brand and website address, or you can go a step further and include intro and exit segments that ensure branding is clearly delivered alongside your website URL and other key messaging.

Business Blogging and Lead Generation How To Do Videos - For Local Business Owners 8 Ways To Socialize Your Video Marketing Strategy What Is Video Marketing? A Valuable Strategy

Guidelines for Web Video Victory

What constitutes a superior video? What are the elements that format a successful video? These are the questions that need to be answered to enhance a company and promote the product. Because video production has taken over the media world, it is essential to the distributor that the video contains these few key elements for a successful recall rate. Implementing these factors will draw in the crowd and will leave them wanting, even needing more of the company.

First and foremost, the company's site needs to add web video to all properties. Whether it a quick snip it or an informational piece, having a video will generate the "hook" that will engage the audience and keep them interested. The viewer wants to know it all upon entering the site and previewing them with a video will tell them what they want to know in a short period of time. With an increase of video usage to 81% (web video marketing.com), it is only logical to add videos to all properties of the site. The viewers want to see what is going on and visualize themselves with the company. By doing so, they can do just that.

Secondly, execute a video on the homepage. Videos offer entertainment and adding sights and sound to the website will increase the return and conversation rates. For example, Dallas video production companies welcomes the viewer with a pleasing, imaginative segment that previews examples of their work. The aesthetic appeal correlates with their passion about web video production and creates a personal connection that instills a lasting impression. The site "kills" the skepticism that often times comes with first entering a site.

Thirdly, make the company information available and known to the viewer. After viewing the video on homepage, the audience has an immediate "in" with what the company is selling. According to BIA/Kelsey, 1 in 5 people who watch the primary video will execute a call to the company. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the company's contact information and/or purchasing information is within site. With 72% of buyers more willing to purchase after viewing the video (web video marketing.com) and having the purchasing information present, it is easier for the consumer to take action. The consumer will respond more quickly to the call to action.

Using these simple tips for success has proven to be practical. With an 81% increase of marketers in the past year (web video marketing.com), how can a company not use these tactics? They are quick, easy, and most importantly keep the attention of the viewer on the page. No one wants to read pages upon pages of information, but would rather watch a two minute web video that gets right to the point. The audience is all about getting the information now, and video production gives it to them. So, why not create something short and sweet that is entertaining? Kill that immediate skepticism and stimulate the viewers' minds with a web video, but be sure to include the guidelines for success.

Web Video Production on the Rise

It has been published by Online Casale Media, a media business, that the growth of video ads purchased by marketers and online promoters will increase by as much as 25 percent within the next year. This ratio equals to about 23.9 percent of complete ad costs on the whole World Wide Web.

In the study, "Digital Video Ads: Removing Barriers," it questioned over 150 media professionals, planners and buyers at conventions from all over the United States. This specific study was aimed at gaining information about the ideals and principles that form the decision over a certain media choice.

In the day and age where information and media is at your fingertips, it is easy to be able to get your information in many different forms. It has been found that most people are more willing to watch a video clip than they are to read a short paragraph. When you use video, you are able to employ more elements into your advertisement than just the visual aspect. In a web video you are able to use visual, audio and entertainment value as a ways to reach your audience.

Most of the participants of the study believed that it was a more attractive and innovative way to showcase their merchandise to potential buyers or investors.

eMarketer performed their own analysis and found that 85% of the business's that purchase ads would do so if it meant that the deal would be not very complex and cost-effective. Over one-third of the cases believed that the complexity issue was not worth the investment deal.

Web videos can help your company expand their ranking on Google and other search engine results. When you upload a video, you have all the keywords that an article would have but since the way a product is presented for a customer, the content is put at an increased value. Your visitors can then rate the video, comment or share. When the video is shared it can be shared for free by anyone and you will see the benefit of free advertisement or even if it goes viral. When these videos are then regularly posted and linked back to a homepage for a business all this content is put in an algorithm by Google and then ratings are then boosted.

Financial Return

The reason some companies are wary when they go into this territory, is because there is a hard time when it comes to handling the Return on Investment (ROI-40 percent) and it can be hard to pinpoint just how effective they are. This could only be because it is under explored territory. Joe Casale, the CEO of Casale Media believes some media outlets in the web view web video production as the 'Untamable Wild.' This would be in reference to the fact that it is a frontier that will keep moving and changing no matter who believes they can get a foothold over it.

He went on to further add that this study helped gain material for other companies to make educated choices when it came to dealing with their online presence.