Web Video Production for Business - A Simple Guide.
Written By Mark Griffin
Thursday 11th January 2009
It is now the beginning of 2009 and we, the ardent users of interactive technology are riding the crest of a Golden Wave of web video and corporate website video possibilities. I have no doubt that in a conceptually altered Chinese calendar this would be the 'Year of the WebVideo' in all its' various forms and methods of deployment. Anyhow, i've been reading up on the subject and this is the impression i'm getting from people in the know.
Technology has again moved forward and new encoding procedures coupled with a general awareness of narrative have brought the great and fantastic possibilities of video, online and into the hands of the common man.
His or her under £150,000 gross operation is obviously crying out for an effective means of one on one communication and somewhere along the line I read that potential customers are 4 times more likely to become actual customers if your web presence is graced with the luminance of video. People buy off people! CEO's everywhere have, for some time now been scrambling to put into place the most efficient systems and operations that will fully exploit this ardently touted paradigm shift in online visual expectancy.
The figures are all there. Findings in the American market have indicated that the number of consumers who actively engaged in the viewing of online video rose by 18% in the second half of 2006. A total of 3.7 billion streams having been watched. Male to female ratios stand close to even on a 52-48 percentage scale. Surprisingly in 2006 it was Yahoo Video that led the pack with around 21 million visitors a month.
MySpace came in a close second with around 20 million a month. So with the stats in mind I guess it wasn't that surprising to see Google swallow up YouTube which was getting around 16 million faces a month.
According to Jack Flanegan, executive vice president of ComScore Media Metrix who, amongst other things provide detailed analysis of online consumer activity is quoted as saying: "Consumers clearly view video as one of the most accessible, interesting and entertaining sources of content on the web". And, well...I completely agree. Video has an accessible grounding in reality, and... all things considered... there's a thirst for it. We are all obsessed with peeping through the crack in the doorway, watching without 'being watched'.
Video was built for this kind of mentality. There's no way I would be writing this blog about some useless, defective communication format sent to the archives of history to hang out with smoke signals. Oh no, not me! I am here and now and so is online video, and in this here and now if you want to make some money through your online presence, WebVideos are the progressive medium you should employ.
Ditch the expensive call centers and put your customer service rep on your site in an interactive video display for first hand guidance. Why have a static image of your product when a WebVideo can shift more units. Go ahead, make that play for a full grasp of socially relevant media deployment, move forward, gain the edge. This is the 21st Century in the history of the fine beast that is man. What? You don't have video on your website?
How to do you maintain peoples interest? Things must be so tough for you. How are you coping? Anyhow that's what people were saying about websites and that soon caught on. Now look where we are. If the internet is just another room to peer into then it stands to reason that it's gotta have a TV in the corner.
So how do you go about employing video on your website? What is the right format? More importantly, what should it look like? Obviously with the advent of new encoding procedures it has become incredibly easy for web deployment of video. At the forefront of this new wave of encoding is the On2 VP6 codec which is used primarily by Macromedia Flash 8 and up. The 'flash player' is freely available for download and is reportedly on 96% of all internet configured Windows & Macintosh computers. Which is pretty high as far as stats go. Java (84%), Windows Media Player (87%) and Apple Quicktime (59%) all trail behind.
Flash enables anyone to stream videos from their browsers cache at a fraction of the size of other formats thanks to the On2 VP6 compression. Also it has a whole different level of options for interactivity that none of the others have. With flash you can play a hundred videos through the same file without leaving the page and tag a form on the end of the video asking for comments. This is sure to keep people immersed in an interactive video experience. WARNING - Ideas not supplied. Well... not for free that's for sure. Flash was built for the active medium of the internet and it's flourishing.
Micro-sites or the huge rise of .tv sites are the high end of video usage for a lot of companies, but high end means high prices, maybe six grand upwards is not in your budget. The average business will probably find use for a handful of videos for an initial outlay of a couple of grand. Obviously there will be niche markets out there where the businesses will have to have video on their site and cannot function without it. Soon enough though it will all be like that. As prophetic as that sounds, I can only image this sort of thing snowballing. Remember the Golden Wave. Ride it and flourish. For if you don't, it will drown you.
Anyhow, there are companies out there that will put together a 1 minute video for you for around £500, but i've seen these videos and from a professional standpoint I know they are operating on a second rate level. The obvious lack of perfectionist ideals and aspirations belongs only to the guy who amazes himself too easily. Another form of online video is the 30 second slot on the homepage. This is fast becoming the successor to the animated header.
The web has for the most part been a silent affair, with users choosing to listen to their favorite band whilst surfing away. Video is changing that and users are becoming used to a little noise. Over time the expectancy values will change and sound on every website will no doubt become a normal affair. This is why a 30 second, dynamic montage based intro will succeed.
Next up is the talking head which can run anywhere from between 20 seconds to 3 minutes long. The talking head can offer a much subtler welcome message and when combined with the use of graphic elements and transparent backgrounds it can still retain an element of entertainment. It has a keen simplicity that doesn't overload the user and can be acquired for around a grand a minute and upwards, depending on your demands for graphics or titles.
Product or service explanations are very popular uses of the talking head by many companies from insurance to mobile phones. A sort of very subtle advert or showcase to watch at the users discretion. I mean why have bunch of still photographs taken from every conceivable angle when for a little extra cash you can have a 30 second video of someone showcasing the product.
No doubt the usual link to 'enlarge image' will change to something like 'view product video'. A handful of these could be produced for around £500 a pop and considering the 'click through' rate you're bound to make your money back shifting extra units.
All this of course is small change in comparison to what the majority of people are responding to. That my less than inebriated readers is of course, entertainment! By far the single most popular use of video ever. Billions of people, like fragmented herds of hedonistic swine, completely alienated from police state politics are lining up with baited breath for the latest 'close shave' video or some pair of seventeen year old girls trying their hand at singing Whitney Houstens' "I Will Always Love You'. This is bedroom theatre at its' greatest. This is where the mainstay of WebVideo opportunity lies.
Well... where does this leave the average website I hear you bleat? Simple. Format popularity has very specific impacts on everyday habit and culture. Just look at how far the viewing screen itself has come in all its' varying forms. The impact entertainment video has on the web is perfectly aligned with a certain expectancy. Users grow through saturation of an idea to expect an element of it in all aspects their everyday lives.
The majority of the world still have boring day jobs and they still yearn for excitement and entertainment. The more saturated we become with online video entertainment as it stands the more demanding we will become. Static websites will always be around because some things need to be static, but hey... if it can be brought to life it better be, cause otherwise i'm outta yer. Boring!!!
The web may well be conceptually as a whole a fascinating work of art, but individual sites are but a mere brush stroke on a gigantic canvas of information. There are a lot of people in the world, maybe 7 billion in all and a few billion of these have internet ready computers, a thirst for entertainment, short attention span and a pocket full of cash to spend on anything that can hold their interest long enough to get their bank card out. If you haven't got video on your website in one form or another, well... what have you got?
WebVideos and BiGDUG Shelving launch New BDTV Application
WebVideos & BiGDUG get together to develop a multimedia video player and a range of corporate web videos for their incredibly successful shelving and storage website business: www.bigdug.co.uk. BiGDUG didn't become the UK's best value online shelving, racking and storage company without understanding who really matters to their business - the customer!
They have been corporate innovators in their marketplace and have utilised the Internet as their primary route to market. This has kept them way stay ahead of their competition with customer service having been put at the forefront of their consumer considerations.
Shelving, racking and storage is not something we ordinarily think about and buying decisions usually come out of neccesity. So having to make decision about the right shelving units or proper storage to buy can be difficult and time-consuming.
BiGDUG wanted to show customers just how easy and straight forward it could be to make these buying decisions. After much consideration and a bit of shopping around they turned to WebVideos to produce and implement a series of helpful customer service corporate website videos.
After a lengthy consultation and a bunch of mock ups and proposals we agreed to provide BiGDUG with a series of corporate web videos that would help introduce new and existing customers to the different sections, product ranges and servies across the BiGDUG website. We also then went on to build and implement a multi-player flash video application from which all the videos could be watched.
Webvideos team up BT / Sony on Go! Messenger project.
Written By Andy Woodruff
Thuesday 11th March 2008
When British Telecommunications and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe joined forces to launch Go!Messenger - they turned to WebVideos to povide a series of online video tutorials for customer service to support their customers.
Go!Messenger is a free downloadable application to the PSP (PlayStation®Portable) that allows connected users to stay in touch with FREE voice and video calls on their PSP.
WebVideos provided consultancy and video production to create a series of 15 'how to' videos that guide their viewers through the setting up process and how to use the various services and features.
BT had two objectives:
- To provide outstanding customer service.
- To show users how to enjoy all the services available and so encourage their usage and commitment to Go!Messenger.
BT and Webvideos worked together to devise the structure and content of each web based tutorial video. There were two considerations that guided this thinking.
- The customer journey. How would users arrive at the videos? The videos had to be considered as a collective whole to be accessed from one web page as well as standalone pieces.
- The customer experience. Go!Messenger is intuitive and easy to use and the final outcome of the web based videos had to reflect this.
The result was a custom built webpage and web based flash video player where all the videos can be selected and watched. The menu has a short description and below each video there is accompanying text that the viewer can print off if that suits them. It's all about good customer service.
Since launch Go!Messenger has been a phenomenal success and exceeded all targets. The online videos have met all expectations. Customer queries received through the online help facility (which was also provided by WebVideos) have been negligible.
Web Video Productions Significantly Increase Your Chances Of Web Conversions
Written By Andy Woodruff
Thuesday 20th March 2008
Online video productions are proven to significantly increase the stickiness and effectiveness of websites. We have success stories showing 100%, 200% and, in one case, a 300% increase in enquiries - directly as a result of putting a corporate web video production in place on their website.
Web Video productions work because they are short, straightforward and get to the point. They grab the attention of customers with simple well-crafted messages that talk to the viewer about what they are interested in.
We're not exaggerating when we say the possibilities are endless. On this website you can see how our web videos have been used to increase enquiry rates and reduce costs, e.g.,
- Marketing Messages with clear calls to action
- Presentational videos to educate the viewer about the company to reinforce brand values
- Video Help FAQs - providing 24/7 help and assistance to assist the customer care effort that typically consumes too much time, effort and COST.
At a time of recession, investing in a web video production has never made more business sense.
Like all good things on the Internet they are easily measurable which means you can work out the real return on investment.And they won't cost as much as you might think. The videos once made would typically cost £0.01 (one pence) per view and payback should be in a matter of months and probably much less.
For example, if you were getting say 10 or perhaps 50 first-time enquiries a day through your website then we would be confident of increasing that number. Without knowing your business we cant say by how much, but in most cases uplift of 20%, 50% or more should be feasible.
However, when most companies are struggling to get to grips with some of the basics of Internet marketing it may seem that video is a step to far.
At WebVideos we can help you work your way through the issues that will make sure your video achieves the objectives set for it.
Please either call us on 08456 34 34 89 or use the form above for a completely free, no-obligation discussion and exploration about how WebVideos can help your business.
Northwood Productions & WebVideos Hook Up.
Written By Andy Woodruff
Thursday 19th December 2008
Northwood Film Productions & WebVideos Hook Up.
Camberwell Studios is a joining of forces between Northwood Film Productions and Webvideos Limited. Northwood Film Productions has been operating a small film studio in Deptford London since 2003. This film studio will be closed down and customers moved to the new film studios. WebVideos has been pioeneering onlne video into the corporate London marketplace since 2005.
Del Wilson, Director and Studio Manager said "Camberwell Film Studios is what my customers have been clamouring after for years. There is a scarcity of genuinely soundproof film studio facilities in London that are affordable for the independent and budget film-maker. We've taken a lot of the hassle out of their filming day by providing facilities that are ready to go."
Andy Woodruff, Director commented that "In our research we learnt that comfortable facilities and space for crew are also an important part of what producers and directors look for when using studios. Camberwell Studios and in particular Studio 1 has been set up with the corporate marketing sector in mind. it's big enough for shooting and comfortable too."
For more information about Camberwell Film Studios visit www.camberwellstudios.co.uk or call on 020 77377 0007.
Top Tips On How To Generate More Sales Using Online Video.
Written By Andy Woodruff
Thursday 17th July 2009
In the first part of this article I talked about why video is increasingly a must for business websites and took a look at the latest stats from the US that for me prove beyond doubt that:
- video content represents the future for business websites and
- video content online is compelling, attracts more customers and drives more sales
OK you say, of course we all want more sales and more customers online and if video content online will do that then hooray! But where do we start?
Does it mean a TV ad is needed... we know those cost a fortune! Or do we mean a kind of remake of ‘The Office' with my colleagues playing star roles? Should the video content be hilarious like the Cadburys gorilla video and if so where do I get my gorilla suit? Thank goodness for small to mid sized businesses it's none of the above!
As always it starts with the basics - what is the objective? We all want to sell more products and services! How do we achieve that? Well, primarily by attracting and converting more customers! This is done by catching their attention and explaining clearly the benefits.
In essence that is all you are doing - incorporating video into your website allows you to retain consumers attention with a human and compelling story. But even so it's not easy for non-professionals to conceive and produce an effective piece of video for your own site. Here are a few principles we think are key ...
- Keep it short - i.e., a maximum 2 minutes and usually shorter. As mentioned above people consume snack-sized chunks of content online so your videos should be easily digestible!
- Quality - it's not surprising that the quality of video content reflects on your business. So it's worth spending time to get it right - you don't want to look like an episode of ‘You've been Framed.' It's like making a very short film but quicker and much much cheaper.
- A professional with commercial writing experience should write a storyline with you to communicate your product benefits in a lively and relevant way.
- Always use a professional presenter - it's surprising how difficult it is for the average person to appear comfortable and natural onscreen.
- Get the video professionally shot. This rarely takes more than a day. Your video is then edited to highlight product benefits and at this point you can add headlines e.g., SPECIAL OFFER, BEST EVER etc. The film is then uploaded to your website often within a few days! Job done - then stand back and watch the conversions arrive!
How Does Online Video Work For Business?
Written By Andy Woodruff
Friday 17th December 2008
If you, like me, are the kind of person who hides away when the video cameras come out, you might well ask, why on earth would you want video content on your company website?
The reason why I'm recommending that you think differently today is because I believe that 1. video content is the future for business websites and that 2. business websites with video content attract more customers and drive higher sales.
On what basis do I make such claims? On a simple level think about when you go into a shop see the queue and realise you have a long wait for any service. If you're like me you'll leave thinking you'll pop in on the way back - but of course that rarely happens.
Its exactly the same when customers visit your website. If they cant see what they want in the first few moments they can easily get distracted and leave never to return! Customers need the human touch and that's what video content allows you to add to your website.
Now lets look at the hard facts - here are the latest stats from the US which leads business website development.
In a recent study more than 75 percent of U.S. Internet users watched an online video during November 2007! We can conclude that when people are on the web, watching videos is a natural part of what they do - and we're not talking pornography anymore! Why is that? People respond best to different senses - visual, oral or a combination - and only rich content like video can provide this online.
In the same report online viewers were found to have watched on average 3.25 hours of video per person per month - growing 30% year on year. This may not sound like a lot but in fact that's around 25% of the time spent by the average punter watching TV.
We learn that 138 million Americans viewed 9.5 billion online videos in Nov07 alone, that the average online video duration was 2.8 minutes and the average viewer consumed 69 videos! That's 46% of the US population and shows that online videos are increasingly mainstream
Online video, which has only really been easily accessible in the last 2 years, is winning a significant share of people's attention vs the box in the corner. And don't forget that as an average this hides the fact that some age groups watch a lot more than this and others less - possibly because they haven't found video relevant to them.
However the mode of consumption is very different from TV. People at their computers lean forwards intensely focused on their screen. They are surfing the web, snacking on bite size chunks of content.
Business websites should reflect this and break down their content into easily digested chunks.
As for stats about the sales impact of video content, I have seen recent case studies showing up to 300% increases in enquiries and sales through using online videos to support the sales process.
Why does this work? The reason is simple: a video is more compelling, more immediate, and less demanding than traditional web pages. A video presents your key proposition in seconds, saving the user precious time. It stands to reason that this format gets better results. It's short. It's sharp. It's simple. As the Internet Advertising Bureau says "Web videos are... the catalyst for keeping customers online for longer."
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Help! My website looks dull - how can I bring it to life?
Written By Mark Griffin
Monday 19th January 2009
We have been discussing the surge in video content online and how that can be harnessed to drive more customers and sales to your website.
However, many of us have spent sizable sums building our existing websites, first in the ‘dot com' era and now again as we upgrade for broadband web. Unsurprisingly we're reluctant to change everything again to incorporate a load of video content.
You'll be relieved to hear that rebuilding your website is not necessary. The modern systems for playing videos in different parts of your website integrate easily to most existing website management systems. In fact in the best case all you need to do is paste some HTML code provided by your video supplier wherever you want the video to appear and the video immediately starts playing!
That allows you to focus on where could your website be improved by video content and how should that video content include. I believe most small to mid sized business websites can use video content highly effectively in several ways.
- Add a human touch to your home page - the majority of traffic online bounces straight off your homepage - a video presenter there grabs and retains attention and immediately delivers compelling sales messages.
- Support your customer services - people hate trawling through endless text FAQs struggling to understand the answers they're getting. Many companies find its much more effective to offer a video FAQ for the top questions (80% of consumers ask the same 20% of the questions) which also greatly reduces call centre load and costs.
- Sales process videos - people bounce out of online transactions up to 60% of the time, so adding short videos along this process to reassure and support has to lead to higher sales and fewer dropped shopping carts - often its just a case of reassuring the buyer regarding things like returns policy which in fact rarely used afterwards.
The best systems today are based on what's called open source software that is free, so you don't need to pay license fees, which greatly reduces costs. What's more there are thousands of software developers throughout the world who work to improve this type of software so you get constant free upgrades and improvements.
The video management system then enables you to post your video content wherever you need it, using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that will be familiar to anyone using Microsoft Word.
Because its so easy to use it means you get more time to focus on the content instead and can spend the time creating different sales videos to appeal to different consumers. This system then functions as effectively as a fully featured website system, comparable to those costing tens of thousands from the industry giants. And no more dull and dreary business websites!
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How can I find new customers using video content online?
Written By Andy Woodruff
Tuesday 3rd February 2009
In the paragraphs above we've been discussing why video is the future for business websites and how incorporating video into your website is remarkably easy and efficient at driving new sales.
Ok, so suppose you've bitten the bullet, quickly and effectively filmed some great new video content and easily added it to your website which looks fresh and dynamic.
But isn't there a problem? As a typical small to mid sized B2B website your website traffic figures probably aren't as high as you'd like - maybe hundreds per month for example and hardly the hundreds of thousands that flock to sites like youtube every day.
So how can you and your company cut yourself a piece of this action? Well let's think sensibly about it - when you want to meet a lot of people you don't go a desert island do you? No you go to the centre of the nearest big city because that's where everybody is! Well, we need to do exactly the same with our video website content i.e. take it beyond the website and into online communities where your consumers spending time surfing, chatting and buying.
So how is this done and how do you cut through the noise of everyone shouting for attention - especially without big budget advertising?
We call this seeding your content across the web and its all about planting links to your video content in high traffic relevant areas communities online where potential customers are likely to find it! Where are these places? Well think about your consumer's lifestyles and areas of interest and you'll find them in online communities around these topics - whether its youngsters chatting each other up on My Space or Global Grannies planning their next backpacking holiday on Trip Advisor. Also to maximise the power of your video content there are certain tactics you can use which are outlined below. Please note, all tactics MUST be ethical and follow the policy guidelines of the communities your are approaching ... so when you are posting links to your videos in online communities:
- Use teaser videos of up to 30-60 seconds or less to draw people in i.e., less is more in this case as people's attention spans are extremely short!
- Use every hook you can, e.g., catchy titles (NB also make sure the exact middle frame of your video is interesting as sites like YouTube use this as a thumbnail to grab attention!)
- Get onto recommended pages e.g., with YouTube by getting mentions on blogs and in forums (e.g., Linkedin or Ecademy) and even formenting controversial debate which attracts attention!
- Don't forget to share - send to all your contacts and incentivise them to pass on and recommend
- Use Calls to Action to direct the viewer to what they need to do next
- Always keep things simple. Unless we're reading a novel most of us like plain and simple English
- Yse unique tag words to keep your videos together i.e., this way they appear all together on key sites like YouTube.
These are just a few initial suggestions that will get your video content going with a bang and attract lots of new traffic to your site - so tell you sales team to stand by.
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