Marketing with Video Pt VI Other Ways... too numerous...

Other Uses of Video

Too many to categorize...

Recruitment Videos – Use video of your own employees to find other employees. They’ll relate best to the new recruits you’re searching for. Videos with company employees should highlight corporate culture and promote the direction of the company.

Video Blog (VLOG) As long as you’re blogging, turn on a camera! The VLOG can include what your printed diatribe can’t: emotion and personality. But don’t just use video – post a text version as well to take advantage of tags and search engine optimization.

In Store Video - Video works in stores as well online. Product promotions and how-it-works videos, played next to the products they promote, increase sales.

Company Lobby / Waiting Room Video – Tell visitors what you do on an impressive HD display – in your lobby or reception area. First impressions are lasting – so jumpstart your chances as soon as your guests walk in the door.

Mobile Video – It’s here and it’s going to get nothing but bigger. Watch for short 10-20 second messages that will be highly targeted and extremely effective. Look for mobile video to be the biggest category outside of broadcast. Coming soon to a phone near you.

Market research, focus groups and polling - Marketing companies are using video to record interviews with customers and target demographics. They not only get the survey data, they pick up the emotional likes and dislikes as well. The information these videos reveal can be invaluable.

Website FAQ Video - Use a video to take folks through the basics in an FAQ format. Simplicity, clarity, brevity are key, along with suitable visual support materials. A list of FAQ’s answered by a company expert is an example of such a video.

Video White Paper – These can be valuable when well done. Someone reading his/her paper on camera isn’t well done. The video should be as interesting as a good marketing video. After all, you are selling something, aren’t you? Information?

Video Magazine – You can deliver serialized content to customers and others via video. You must do it on a regular basis, with information the customer wants and is willing to view through a subscription service.

Dennis Dean is an Emmy-winning video producer, communications consultant and Managing Partner of Dean Group Media. Email him at dennis@deangroup.com

Marketing with Video Pt V PR Support, Community Relations

PR Support and Community Relations

Nothing promotes a cause better than video!

Video News Releases (VNRs) – News releases can be pretty dry. Stock your news release room with video and you’ll tell a far more compelling story. Use video to support important company announcements – and start focusing on the customer, not the company.

PR Support Materials - Successful PR practitioners make it easy for networks, bloggers, reporters, trade pubs and others to promote their industry by providing video of company and industry-related b-roll, cover video and sound bites. Offer the video that will make their stories more interesting and they’ll be more likely to use.

Community Relations Video – If you’re a responsible corporate citizen, show it off. Capture your efforts on video for the world to see. If you don’t toot your own horn – who will? Blend coverage of your efforts and your not-for-profit partner dedicated to an issue (charity, agency, etc.) and you substantially increase the odds of your video being used.

Event Presentation video – Events are a great opportunity for picking up video of your corporate execs, sales leaders and product experts in action. Presentations based on these events are useful and valuable for internal and external audiences.

Round Tables - Put your best customers and other industry experts around a table and let them talk – about industry trends, issues and the future of your industry. It’s highly valuable content and, again, beneficial to internal and external audiences.

Q&A Expert sessions. Trade shows and other industry events present great opportunities for flattering industry experts with offers to interview them. Informal question and answer sessions on topics of concern to your customers will present high caliber video that draws viewers and prospects.

Dennis Dean is an Emmy-winning video expert, communications consultant and Managing Partner of Dean Group Media. Email him at dennis@deangroup.com

Marketing with Video Pt II Corporate Video

Corporate Video

In this segment - the Corporate video and its iterations...

Corporate Overview – The video equivalent of a corporate brochure, but with motion, sound, music, graphics and effects. The videos are intended to give new visitors to a website a better idea of the company. Corporate overviews can easily become too long. For best results, divide and conquer. Produce more targeted segments. Total viewership will increase because more people will be watching shorter videos that mean more to them.

Executive Presentations – Puts an executive “face” on your industry. Regular presentations, quarterly updates, responding to a major event... all are good uses and good reasons to face your constituents and stakeholders. Don’t try this without a speaking and media training coach unless you are already a professional presenter.

Staff Presentations - Social media and other Web 2.0 trends have caused companies to rethink the ways they communicate with external audiences. Senior leaders are fine, but rank-and-file staff members offer considerable credibility. Your customer service reps, technical experts and legacy workers are all valuable considerations for this new type of corporate video. There is more trust associated with the folks in the trenches than senior C-levels in the executive tower. The difference with staff presentations is that you’re selling to the influencers in your target market, not necessarily the decision-makers. So it’s important to represent your company with the people your customers and prospects relate to.

Corporate Tour – See Our Gear! – Once popular, now not so hot. Your customers want to know what you can do for them, not how much equipment and plant space you lease. Equipment is better showcased in a video about what you do well, not what you use to do it. The moment they see your facilities and equipment, the experienced viewers will know your capacities, without you mentioning it. Still want to show off equipment? Show off the people who are using it instead. These are your most valuable assetts.

Dennis Dean is an Emmy-winning producer, communications consultant and Managing Partner at Dean Group Media. He may be reached at dennis@deangroup.com