Video Marketing Basics, by Nick Nichols, Video Marketing Expert

1. Why do I need a video marketing strategy?

In today’s fast-paced world, people are becoming less and less inclined to read sales information on websites or anywhere else. They want what they want, now, in a way they can absorb in a fast, easy and meaningful way. Short video clips allow a business or individual, such as a consultant, to address the problems their target market has in a way that positions that business or person as an industry expert.

After viewing a video clip, qualified prospects will be warmed up, so to speak, by the video content. They will be more interested in how and when they can buy, and less concerned with how much it will cost. In other words, properly produced video clips turn strangers into friends in a way that no other form of media can. And once people get to know, like and trust you, it’s natural that they will buy from you AND recommend you to their family, friends and business associates.

Right now, video clips can get indexed and ranked by the search engines quickly – sometimes within a few hours. And a properly syndicated video clip can get listed on the first or second page of Google for highly-competitive keywords in as soon as one or two days, and usually with a couple of weeks.

This is extremely important in highly competitive industries and for local businesses that want to rank for areas outside of their primary city. What I mean by this is, if you are a dentist located in Plano, Texas you won’t show up in the Google Places "7-pack" in a search for Dallas dentists.

The Google Places 7-pack listings have those red balloon markers that you see near the top of a local search results page. Many businesses don’t realize the critical importance of being in that 7-pack — but that is a topic for another discussion. However, at the moment, Google displays a couple of so-called "organic" search results ABOVE the 7-pack, and a few below as well, on the first page of results.

It’s very possible that a properly syndicated video clip listing can appear ABOVE the 7-pack, or as we say, in search engine "heaven." Or it could appear below the 7-pack, which is still highly desirable. Or, when the category is super-competitive, the video clip listing can appear on the second page of results near the top. This is still very desirable.

2. How do I get started with video marketing?

Consider why people watch video clips on the Internet: Either they want to be entertained or they want a solution to a problem they have. Since we’re not concerned with pure entertainment plays in this discussion, let’s talk about the second reason: people search for and watch video clips because they want a solution to a problem they have. And usually that problem is what I call a "front-burner" issue, meaning, the problem is causing them pain, frustration, aggravation or unhappiness right now or will in the near future — such as a contemplated divorce or bankruptcy.

So the best way to get started is to identify the front-burner issues your target market has that you solve and offer some solutions via video clips. Many businesses already have a good start on this if they have a Frequently Asked Questions page at their website. You know, FAQs. Another angle we use is what we call "Should-Ask Questions." These are the questions a business wishes people would ask. These are "SAQs."

The key is to make sure your video content is OUTER-focused, rather than INNER-focused. By that I mean, most of the time when people first encounter your business as potential buyers, they could care less about your staff bios, your mission statement, awards you may have won, and so forth. This is what I call inner-focused content because it’s all about the business.

What you should create is OUTER-focused content that addresses the front-burner issues that your target market has. You must do this in a way that demonstrates "what’s in it for me" if I watch your video, visit your website, and then contact you or visit your location. This is known as WII-FM, everybody’s favorite radio station, "What’s In It For Me?"

Once you have some outer-focused, front-burner content arranged in short bursts of 30 seconds to a couple of minutes, you’re ready to get started.

3. What equipment do I need?

That would depend somewhat on your target market and what else you might want to do with the video clips other than Internet syndication. If you’re selling to C-level executives, or if you plan to burn the content to DVDs or use it on conventional television, then you might want to use a broadcast-quality video camera in a studio or other controlled setting.

However, I’ve found that those instances are rare for the average business. So all you really need are a good-quality digital camcorder and a good microphone setup. My fast-start recommendation is the Kodak Zi10 PlayTouch HD camcorder, which I’ve seen starting at around $110, and a lavaliere microphone from Radio Shack, around 40 bucks. There are dozens of consumer and so-called "pro-sumer" camcorders you could buy, but the Kodak Zi10 has many features and is more than adequate for most applications. I use it all the time and I get great results.

The second component is not really equipment, per se. It’s the shooting environment. You want a quiet place to shoot that complements the message you want to convey. This could be a business owner sitting at a desk, or it could be someone demonstrating a product in a lab. In most cases you don’t need studio lighting. You just need adequate lighting so viewers of your video can see what you’re shooting.

The third component is editing, also known as post-production. You will either need to buy some basic video editing software or you will have to hire someone to do your post-production for you because I don’t recommend just putting up unedited clips unless you can shoot in sequence with no out takes or flubs. Since no one can do this, you need editing.

To get started, for the PC I recommend Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD at around 45 bucks. This is what I started with, although now I use Sony Vegas Pro, which is around $600. If you have a Mac, it’s going to cost you more. I recommend Final Cut Pro at around $300.

There is another way to create video clips for Internet syndication, though, that can also be effective and doesn’t require a camera or studio. These videos are known as screenshot or photo videos, where, instead of live footage, you use photos or Internet screen shots arranged in sequence that could be combined with graphical overlays, voiceovers and/or music.

A great free tool to use to try this is available at JingProject.com. Jing is a service of TechSmith and there is also low-priced paid version of Jing. TechSmith also offers a more powerful paid application called Camtasia Studio. A great feature of Camtasia Studio is that you can record a PowerPoint presentation while sitting at your computer, complete with your narration. You then can produce your video in a number for formats. I use Camtasia Studio all the time, especially to create training and "how-to" videos to use in webinars.

4. How do I get videos online?

The easiest way is to upload your video clip to YouTube and then use the YouTube embed code to place the video on your website or blog. This sounds more complicated that is really is and you can find free videos on how to do this on, you guessed it, YouTube!

If you already have a Google account or if you use Gmail, then you can access YouTube since Google owns YouTube. If not, get a Gmail account and you’re all set. Then just upload your clip to YouTube. The YouTube format is viewable across all platforms, meaning PC, Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and most tablets. The tradeoff with using YouTube is that once your video has played, you might see links to other videos that could belong to competitors or that display inappropriate content.

Another alternative is to use a service that converts videos to a universally-viewable format that you can place on your website. What this does it put your video in a player that can be seen by most browsers. What you don’t want to do is put a Windows Media File or Quick Time File on your website because when people click on it, a Windows Media Player or Quick Time Player will pop up, and this will usually be cumbersome for the user.

Also, and this is very important, you don’t want to convert your video to Flash. Flash used to be the de-facto video playback format — that is, until the iPhone and iPad came along. So far, Apple has refused to allow Flash to play on its devices, so if your target market uses Apple products (and millions do), you don’t want to use Flash on your website or for video playback.

5. How should I market my videos?

The best way is to announce your video clips to your existing permission database via email, SMS text messages, or via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Other ways to promote your video clips include placing them on your website; placing them on the websites of complementary but non-competing businesses that also serve your target market; advertising via pay-per-click or banners, and by letting people find your clips naturally as they search the Internet for solutions to problems.

In some cases, if your video is good enough, it could promote itself virally by word of mouth. This is video clip heaven. By "good enough" I mean interesting, compelling, controversial, informative and/or entertaining content, not high-production-value.

And that’s the real magic of an online video strategy: the production quality doesn’t have to be spectacular. It needs to be just good enough for your target market. In fact, in some cases, a lower-production-quality video clip can actually get great results because it appears to be more natural and less slick, if you know what I mean.

6. What SEO tactics will get my videos viewed?

You have to tag your clips with the keywords that relate both to what people might search for and the actual content of the clip. And then you have to promote your video by getting third-party text links to the video clip URL at, say, YouTube. And you have to motivate people to watch your clips. If you have a company with 100 employees, you should urge each person to watch your clips from their home computers to create unique viewing stats. This will increase the perceived popularity of your clips and will help with search engine rankings.

7. How can I make my videos stand out creatively?

For videos that the average company with a modest budget would produce, the best advice is to create content that is interesting, compelling, controversial, informative and/or entertaining. Notice that I said entertaining last. While you don’t want your clips to be boring, you do want them to be watched and acted upon, meaning, you want people to take positive action your behalf as a result of watching one or more of your video clips.

You could waste a lot of time and resources trying to be entertaining when what your target market really wants is solutions to the front-burner issues they have. If you CAN be entertaining, great. But don’t worry too much about it. Concentrate on delivering useful content and you really can’t go wrong.

8. How can I measure success?

The best way is if you can tie a specific offer or call to action to each video clip, you can measure the success of that clip. This is hard to do, though, because video clips can sometimes take on a life of their own and if your clip has a time-sensitive offer or other time-sensitive content, it might actually hurt you if people came to your website expecting to see that offer or content.

There are ways around this, though, if you can create what I call "evergreen" content or offers that have no expiration date or a date far in the future — at least a couple of years.

Another way to measure success is PR value. It’s possible that a media person could see one or more of your clips and contact you for an interview or story. It’s hard to put an absolute value on this, but the right article or story seen by the right person or people could be worth millions. It just depends.

Another factor is credibility value. All other things being equal, the company with the most video clips tied to problem-related keywords that their target market is searching for, wins. And you can literally become an "overnight expert" with enough video clips associated with your name or company.

For an example of a video strategy the worked exceptionally well, go to WillItBlend.com.

This company makes high-end, industrial-strength blenders for food-service companies and wanted to sell more to the consumer market. But who wants to buy a $400 blender in this economy? So they created a series of demo videos that showed people how strong and durable their blenders are. The videos combined — if you can pardon the pun — a perfect blend of practicality and entertainment. The videos went viral, and the company purportedly increased sales of their consumer blenders 700% in less than a year. Naturally, this is an exceptional example, but it shows the power of a properly conceived and executed online video marketing strategy.

9. When should I call in an expert/production company?

I say, give it a try yourself. Learn what’s involved. There are plenty of free videos on how to shoot videos. So if you have the time, go for it. Create a YouTube account and upload a few clips and see what happens. If you don’t get the results you wanted, especially in terms of getting your clips on the first or second page of Google, then hire an expert to help you with that.

When it comes to production, as I said, it’s not that hard to shoot a video with the Kodak Zi10 and a lavaliere mike. Editing can be a little tricky but your finished piece doesn’t need to be Hollywood-quality. If you want fancy scene transitions, audio cleanup or other enhancements, you should probably hire a pro.

And as I said, if your target market is C-level executives or a similar group, or if you plan to burn the content to DVDs or use it on conventional television, then you might want to hire a pro.

When I need broadcast quality video, I use a couple of guys that work for local television stations that freelance and do great work. They give me the digital footage and I do the rest. When I want the full monty — an on-camera spokesperson along with broadcast-quality footage and possibly some editing when I don’t have time, I have a highly professional team that I use when the client has the budget for it.

The important thing is to get started with a video strategy as soon as possible, before someone like me starts working with your biggest competitor!

Nick Nichols helps businesses and professional service providers get more customers, clients and patients using online video and other methods. Visit www.MySalesVideo.com and get Nick’s free video shooting guide for do-it-yourselfers.