a definitive guide to video marketing

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DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO VIDEO MARKETING 2014 | 1

Definitive Guide to Video Marketing 2014

The Growth of Online Video................................................................

Why Video Matters..................................................................................

Video Styles That Drive Results...........................................................

How to Integrate Video Into Your Marketing Strategy...............

Video Landing Page Best Practices...................................................

Video Marketing, Analytics and ROI...................................................

Video Production Challenges and Solutions.................................

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Definitive Guide to Video Marketing 2014

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Table of Contents

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Online video is one of the fastest growing forms of content marketing.

93% of marketing professionals are already using online video for marketing and communications purposes, a rise of 12% from the previous year 1.

This popularity in video is mirrored in consumer trends, with users dedicating up to 40 minutes each day to online video consumption 2. In the US alone, the average person spends around 19 hours a month consuming videos, with 60% of this time spent watching product videos 3.

The reason behind this lies in video’s inherent capacity to engage audiences. Video has the ability to tell a story, to

show a business’ personality and values, and to connect with viewers on a level above and beyond a text document.

Never before has video content been so accessible and in demand. Companies that are incorporating video content into their marketing plans are increasing traffic, gaining higher-quality leads, and receiving more customer conversions.

The Growth of Online

Why Video MattersVideo Increases Conversions

Shoppers who view video are 174% more likely to purchase a product than non-video viewers 4, and 52% say that watching a product video makes them more confident in their purchases 5.

A well-placed video on a website or landing page can increase conversion by as much as 90% 6. Online vendor of fashion accessories, Forzieri.com, can attest to this; they saw a 100-300% increase in sales on products that were featured in online videos 7.

Video Improves SEO Video content is given a high ranking by most search engines. In fact, video is 53 times more likely to appear on the front page of a Google search than a text document 8.

Video search results also garner far more attention from consumers than text results, receiving a 41% higher click-through-rate 9.

Video Increases EngagementVideo significantly increases engagement, with consumers staying two minutes longer on websites with video than on those without 10.

Online video is also more engaging than TV. Almost six in 10 marketers said that for the same investment, they could get a better share of engagement with online video rather than TV 11.

Video Communicates a Story in a Personal WayVideo enables you to communicate your story in a way that is engaging, personal

and unobtrusive. It provides you with a platform to talk about your business, products, services or location in a way that makes potential customers feel at ease.

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Scripted Ads When consumers view an online video advertisement, 40% visit a website mentioned in the ad, and 15% request product information13. A scripted ad uses a professionally recorded narrator to introduce a company and highlight its main features, making it the perfect choice for camera-shy business owners.

Transform Your Press Releases A video news release acquires 55% more views than a regular text release 14, making it a very useful PR tool. Scripted videos that showcase company news and announcements are very effective at generating buzz on social media.

Promote Your BusinessCreate on-location profile videos to showcase your business to potential consumers. These unscripted videos usually involve the owner or an employee talking about the business in a genuine and relatable way.

Showcase Testimonials Traditional text testimonials have always been effective at adding credibility to a company, and video testimonials take this to a new level. It has been shown that visitors spend 10 times longer on websites with testimonial videos12 .

Video Styles That Drive Results

Shoppers who view video are 174% more likely to purchase a product than non-video viewers.

EXAMPLE

EXAMPLE EXAMPLE

EXAMPLE

http://production.somedia.net/whiteroom?nid=19663







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Websites and Landing Pages Web pages containing professionally produced videos generate 4-7 times more engagement and response rates from consumers, while also rating higher in search engine results 16.

Placing a video on your website landing page has also been found to increase conversion by 80% 17. Today, over 8 in 10 marketers are employing this technique, making it the most common form of online video marketing.

YouTube Channel Uploading your videos to YouTube is essential, as YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Hosting a video on YouTube makes it instantly searchable for consumers and having your own channel means that all your videos are stored neatly together. These videos can also lead viewers back to your website for more content.

Currently, 65% of marketers say that they post videos to YouTube as part of their marketing and communications strategies 18.

Email Campaigns Video in email communications can increase email click-through-rates by over 96%19.

6 in 10 marketers are currently using video in their email marketing efforts, and the same amount believe it improves conversions, saying that consumers are far more likely to make a purchase after watching a video email message 20.

Furthermore, 44% of marketers saw an increase in the amount of time subscribers spent with a video email, and 41% experienced an increase in the sharing and forwarding of emails21.

Newsletters Videos can easily be embedded into online newsletters to make announcements and stories more interactive. Including video in your newsletters can even increase conversions by 50% 22.

How to Integrate Video Into Your Marketing Strategy

Video is 53 times more likely to appear on the front-page of a Google search than a text document.

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Keep the video 30-60 seconds.

Mention the video length in the landing page copy.

Use simple and concise page copy and let the video deliver the core marketing message.

Use a video produced specifically for the landing page marketing program.

Create a clear eye path for visitors to the video player.

Keep the video player above the page fold.

Use a custom design thumbnail for your video and test your play rates.

Don’t use the video player “auto-play” feature.

Use video as a key element for landing page A/B testing.

Continuously test your landing pages. Try different videos and video placements to maximize your conversion rates.

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82% of marketers said that video marketing made a positive impact on their business this year.

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Video Players Combining a professionally produced video with an interactive video player will greatly enhance your ability to measure and deliver results. Video players host your video content, while offering marketing plug-ins that enable you to optimize videos for SEO, share video content over social networks, and generate leads.

Video Analytics Tracking the analytics of your videos is crucial to meeting your goals. Use video analytics tools to monitor, track, and analyze any video’s performance.

Video analytics allow you to identify drop off points in your videos, play rates, completion rates, behavior by geography, device breakdown and much more.

Video Marketing, Analytics and ROIMonitor, measure and optimize your video marketing efforts.

Video Production Challenges and Solutions

Businesses looking to generate video content face two significant challenges - cost and difficulty.

Option #1: Do-it-yourself video production.

Some businesses are opting for do-it-yourself videos. Though this may be a low cost solution, you run the risk of creating a low quality video that fails to engage your target audience.

Your company video represents you and your brand, so it’s important that it looks polished and professional. Consumers are accustomed to seeing high quality videos on a daily basis, so they can quickly recognize a video with poor content, lighting, sound, and editing.

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Conclusion Despite the high demand for video content, challenges like cost and complexity have prevented some businesses from deploying full-scale video marketing campaigns.

SoMedia Networks has responded to this need by providing affordable video production that is delivered in just 14 days. With SoMedia Networks, now you too can tap into the power of video, simply and affordably.

Option #2: Hire a local videographer or video production company. There are many skilled video production and video marketing companies across North America. However, producing even a simple 60 second company video for your website could cost $5,000 or more. Small to medium sized businesses that are operating with lean marketing budgets can’t afford to allocate these dollars to video production.

This option is also very time-consuming. Just to shoot, edit and produce a high quality video can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on video length.

Option #3: Find an affordable video production provider that delivers content in a timely manner. SoMedia Networks makes it quick, easy and affordable to create high-quality videos for your business. By producing video content through SoMedia, businesses get access to user-friendly video analytics tools and video content delivery in 14 days or less.

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SoMedia Video SuiteProduce, share, analyze and optimize video content from a single platform.

SoMedia’s cloud-based platform has transformed video content creation, moving production away from being an expensive and time-consuming process into something that is simple, reliable, affordable, and quality-controlled.

Video production anywhere in North America, in unlimited volume, at the lowest costs

Real-time video analytics to measure performance

somedia

somedia

scalablevideo

SoMedia provides real-time video analytics that track video engagement rates and lead-generation metrics. Easily track, analyze, and report on a video’s performance, such as its impressions, play rates, viewer behavior, device breakdown and more.

Only from SoMedia Networks

videoanalytics

Video content management & intelligent video players

somedia

videoplayer

SoMedia provides robust video content management and intelligent video players equipped with built-in geo-targeting, lead generation, campaign management, and SEO capabilities.

Contact Us

http://somedia.net/company/contact-us

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[1] Web Video Marketing Council, ReelSEO and FlimpMedia Inc., 2013 Online Video Marketing Survey and Business Video Trends Report, http://www.reelseo.com/2013-video-marketing-business-survey-trends-report/#download

[2] Brafton, Data makes a case for live, long-form video content, http://www.brafton.com/news/data-makes-a-case-for-live-long-form-video-content

[3] Invodo, Video Statistics: The Marketer’s Summary [Infographic], http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2013/11188/video-statistics-the-marketers-summary-infographic

[4] Retail TouchPoints, Channel Innovation Awards 2012, http://c3318102.r2.cf0.rackcdn.com/Channel_Innovation_Awards_2012_Final.pdf

[5] Internet Retailer, Online videos help build confidence in purchases, http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/04/05/online-videos-help-build-confidence-purchases

[6] Adobe, The Adobe 2013 video conversion playbook, http://success.adobe.com/en/na/programs/products/digitalmarketing/aem/1303-30260-scene7-best-practices-guide.html?s_cid=701a0000000mfeaAAA&s_iid=701a0000000lS0cAAE

[7] Treepodia, What impact will Video have on your sales and marketing? http://blog.treepodia.com/tag/video-for-conversions/#ixzz2m2Dz1bI9

[8] Forrester, The easiest way to a first-page ranking on Google, http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html

[9] ReelSEO, How To Get Your Videos Ranking In Universal Search Results: A Video SEO Study, http://www.reelseo.com/videos-ranking-universal-search-results-video-seo-study/

[10] ComScore, http://www.invodo.com/resources/statistics/

[11] eMarketer, For Driving Engagement, Digital Video Ads Beat TV by a Wide Margin, http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Driving-Engagement-Digital-Video-Ads-Beat-TV-by-Wide-Margin/1009992

[12] ReelSEO, Video, http://www.slice-works.com/services/video/

[13] AffiliatePLY, Video Content Monetization for Affiliates and Advertisers, http://www.slideshare.net/affsum/video-content-monetization-for-affiliates-and-advertisers

[14] ReelSEO, Press Release With Video Gets 55.4% More Views Than One Without [Case Study], http://www.reelseo.com/video-news-release-554-views-press-release-multimedia/

[15] ComScore, http://www.seovod.com/benefits-of-video-marketing/

[16] SearchEngineWatch, Video Statistics, http://www.fuseiq.com/video-statistics

[17] EyeView Digital, Making Video Accountable, http://www.eyeviewdigital.com/documents/EyeView-White-Paper-Making-Video-Accountable.pdf

[18] Web Video Marketing Council, ReelSEO and FlimpMedia Inc., 2013 Online Video Marketing Survey and Business Video Trends Report, http://www.reelseo.com/2013-video-marketing-business-survey-trends-report/#download

[19] Implix, 2010 Email Marketing Trends Survey, http://www.seovod.com/benefits-of-video-marketing/

[20] ReelSEO, 82% Marketers Say Video Email Marketing is Effective [Survey], http://www.reelseo.com/video-email-effective-survey/

[21] eMarketer, Video is the next frontier for email marketers, http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Video-Next-Frontier-Email-Marketers/1009980

[22] Studio2Media, Promotional Media, http://www.studio2media.com/promotional-videos

[23] Magnetvideo.com, http://www.magnetvideo.com/content/video+landing+pages/25494

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