How Online Video Marketing can help get new leads and close more deals

By Videyah!

The falling cost of technology, the growth of Internet usage and the rise of social networking sites have created great conditions for increased consumption of Online Video. The Interactive Advertising Bureau reports that online video advertising shot up by 42% in 2011, while the overall advertising industry grew by 23%. (Source: IAB, Sept 2011). Emarketer.com says it will double in 2014. Big brands are adding Online Video to their marketing mix. They already know the benefits. But what about small businesses? Are they savvy enough to leverage the opportunities that online video has to offer?

85.8% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.

The Power of Online Video

The combination of text, audio, music, charts, diagrams and color brings presentations to life in ways that are unattainable through other mediums. Emarketer.com reports that businesses add video on their websites to keep customers longer and enhance their experience with the brand. When you add web video on your homepage, it quickly explains your products, shows their benefits and persuades. Sonya Hamlin in her book How to talk so people listen explains that people need to visualize your ideas to bring clarity, interest and credibility to them. Therefore, you must visually tell your story and motivate viewers to take action.  Online video can help build trust, communicate in any language and reach within different time zones and borders. Most importantly web video is the most effective online format to positively influence purchase decisions. In fact, the early video adopters noticed that increased sales outweighed production costs and brought a higher return on investment.

Viral Video Potential

Online video has a great potential to become viral and be seen by the masses, creating an online word of mouth effect.  Viral video became popular through the process of Internet sharing, usually through video sharing websites, social media and email. Web videos tend to be passed on because of the shared interest or a sense of trust between the sender and recipient. They start conversations either one-on-one or one-on-many and can expand to numerous comments and interactions. The ultimate goal of marketers – create successful viral marketing programs. Online Video needs to appeal to individuals who will spread it within their network in a short time. According to Jonah Berger, the author of a new study published in Psychological Science, evoking more positive emotions in the communication proved to be more viral. Negative emotions like anxiety and anger actually increased transmission while sadness decreased it. Viral videos often contain humorous content. However, humor has to be used carefully in advertising. Sometimes it can do more harm than help. Despite that, some business were able to use it successfully - like Blendtec. It successfully sells its $400 blenders after introducing its campaign, “Will it blend”. The most recent – “blending Ipad” - earned over 12 million views.

Video Search Optimization 

Online Video can boost your organic search optimization results otherwise known as PageRank. Websites that contain video, pictures, audio, maps or other engaging material are being ranked higher in Google. Make sure to upload your video on your website and the second largest search engine – Youtube, along with Metacafe and Dailymotion.  In less than 24 hours your video will show up under video search in all 3 search engines – Google, Yahoo and Bing. Combined with web sharing websites, you will enable more ways for your customers to find you.

When you upload your video on Youtube, make sure you add a compelling title, description of the video and keywords. Use that space to advertise your business, add your web address, phone number and always list your most important keywords first.