As you have no doubt already noticed…

…Online Video is becoming a very important tool for small business owners to use to effectively market and promote their products and services!

You've heard the buzz about online video – but do you know how it can be leveraged to increase the impact of your marketing initiatives?

Online Video can be used at every stage of the customer lifecycle to acquire, engage and convert site visitors.

Now that everyone has the power and tools to create and produce videos very inexpensively, it's as important as ever to have a few rules to follow.

Here are 10 tips and tricks for using online video to
effectively market your business…

1. Keep 'em short.

Whether you're loading videos on YouTube.com or you're using own private video server to pre-sell products or services on your Web2.0 site or blog, keep them short around five minutes or so… especially if your audience includes people who don't know you.  If needed, break a long video into multiple smaller videos.

2. Post videos on your landing pages and sales pages.

You can use video sales letters to highlight the main points of your regular landing page or sales letter. You can also use videos to demonstrate what the product is or to explain a service in more detail and how easy it is to use or get involved.  You may also get your satisfied customers to give you video testimonials.

3. Choose your keywords carefully.

If you're loading your videos onto YouTube (or other public video sharing site), choose keywords that your market is currently using to find information in your niche.  You may also choose keywords that match those being used alongside other popular videos in your niche.

4. Know your purpose before you start.

Before you film, choose one purpose for your video. Is it to get subscribers? Send traffic to your landing page?  Pre-sell a product?  Describe a service?  Educate a visitor?  Whatever the reason, base your entire video around that singular goal.  Don't confuse your viewer by giving more than one option.

5. Create a call to action.

You should create at least one call to action in your video, where you tell people exactly what you want them to do and why (e.g., "Go to www.yourdomain.com to grab Part 2 of this video – but hurry, you can only get it free for a limited time!")

6. Encourage comments.

If you're posting your video on YouTube, on your Web2.0 site, or other social sites, encourage comments (even controversial ones). The more people talk about your video, the more your visitors will return to your page to see what's new in the discussion.

7. Use other social sites to jump-start the viral effect.

If you want your video to go viral, you need to advertise it. One way to do that is to link to or embed your video on your other social media site pages, like Twitter or MySpace.  Syndicating your content across various Social Media Sites is crucial for achieving viral success.

8. Blog about your video.

Another way to advertise your video is to blog about it. If you embed your video on your blog, then encourage your visitors to bookmark it using Digg.com, StumbleUpon.com, Facebook, or other similar social networking sites.  You can also get them to Re-Tweet it on Twitter.

9. Ask your JV partners to share your video with their prospects and customers.

Yet another away to advertise your video is by asking your JV partners to mention it in their newsletters, blog about it and share it with their social media contacts.

10. Put a video on a CD/DVD and give it away for free.

You can build a physical mailing list by putting your video on a CD or DVD and giving it away for free to those who give you a mailing address. Be sure to include an upsell at the end of your video.

In summary:

You can use videos to pre-sell products, demonstrate products, teach and educate your prospects, drive traffic to your sites, brand your business, and ultimately grow your mailing list.

Start applying these tips today – you'll be amazed at what video marketing can do for you.

Video, audio, microblogging, social media, online social networking, blogging and user generated content are a few of the business applications examined in this guidebook.

This case study is the definitive reference for the use of social media as it applies to effective business promotion. (more…)

“Whether you voted for Barack Obama or not, and whether you agree with his policies or not, I’d say you should agree that he did a masterful job using the Web to develop relationships and cement his candidacy. In the 2004 election, everyone remarked how well Howard Dean leveraged the Web. Today Dean looks like a rank amateur compared to the level that President-elect Obama brought it to. Lots of lessons to be learned. And I agree, those lessons translate well for small businesses because the underlying principles are timeless and involve human nature. And after all, business is ultimately about relationships.” Anita Campbell, Editor www.SmallBizTrends.com

Q: What’s the Most Successful “Small Business” Internet Marketing Campaign of All Time?
 

A: The Election of Barack Obama

Here’s what your small business can learn from it…
 

Small Business…?
 
 
Barack Obama…? 

After being elected the most powerful man in the free world he may not be "Small Business" anymore. But the free social media tools his campaign used so adeptly to   energize his supporter – YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and many more – are 100% FREE tools that any small business – like yours – can use to win.  President Obama used them to outwit and outhustle his competition. And now you can use them to connect with your customers on a deeper, interactive, relational level at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing.

 
Intrigued by this quote, internet marketing veterans David Bullock and Brent Leary decided to analyze Obama’s use of social media from a small business perspective. What lessons could entrepreneurs like you could learn from the meteoric ascent of our 44th president?

Zero Political Rhetoric, 100% Business Insight

  
Through the use of podcasts, blog posts, screen shots, powerpoint presentations, and links to over 100 documents, David and Brent set all politics aside and pull apart Obama’s social media strategy, extracting the lessons, tools and insights your business needs to survive and thrive in “Web 2.0”.
 

• How to keep your customers engaged with you all the way to the “sale”…instead of losing them after the first call

• How to turn your best customers into enthusiastic sales people…who work for free!

• How to use social media tools to become the “authority” in your marketplace

• How to access a mountain of website traffic…without knowing a single thing about SEO or Pay Per Click

• Web 2.0 Etiquette.  Old advertising rules no longer apply…are you making these fatal mistakes in your marketing?

• How to get real-time customer satisfaction data without ever conducting a survey or expensive focus group.

• How companies like JetBlue use Twitter and other tools to “spy” on their prospects…and get the jump on their competition

• How social media can slash, or even eliminate, your marketing budget

• How to use 2-way communication to bond with your customers…even if you never meet them face to face.

• How to use social media to create a “Feeding Frenzy” for your next product launch

• How to set up your own “television station” …for free

• How to get your customers to create content for your website.

• How over-controlling your marketing message can kill you.

• How to use social media to form your own research and development team…who work for free

• Your ad in a video game? How to think creatively and reach your customers where they “hang out”.

• Transparency and authenticity…does your company passes the test? 

 
Walking the Walk 

Perhaps the best thing about “Barack 2.0” is that it is, in itself, a classic example of how to use social media to get your message in front of the right people, at the right time, in the right format…under budget.

Brent and David took an idea that was buzzing in their marketplace, (Obama’s use of social media), used the exact same social media tools that Obama was using to invite their community into a conversation. That conversation – free market research if you will – helped them develop a product they knew the market would love…this book. 

That’s what marketing through social media is all about. It helped make Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States, and if you read this book – and put the lessons to use – you can achieve your business goals as well.
 
 

Obviously, since you’re reading this article, you are interested in easily getting more new customers, clients, or patients for your business or practice.

And quite evidently, you already understand the value of using the Web to help you grow your business… otherwise, you wouldn’t be online looking for solutions… right?!

Apparently you recognize the Internet offers small businesses the opportunity to effectively increase your sales and profits while simultaneously cutting your normal ad budgets by more than 50%!

Think about it for a moment…

Clearly, if you could easily save 50% (or more) of what you are currently spending to advertise and promote your business… and still increase your bottom-line while also adding more new customers, clients, or patients to your books… it’s safe to assume that you’d be truly excited!

Well good, because that makes two of us!  *smile*

Right now, I’m so excited about an extremely powerful marketing tool that your small business can use immediately to gain more exposure, improve your company’s brand recognition and appearance, and help you sell more products, services, and get more new customers… PERIOD!

 
Certainly you realize that ONLINE VIDEO is a powerfully important tool that you MUST be using to help you advertise and promote your company. 

But, let’s face it… there are some pretty BIG hurdles to overcome in-order to use ONLINE VIDEO effectively.

The main one is creating a professional video ad that gets your business noticed and produces results.  Afterall, video production is not cheap…

Then there’s the "media buying" process that can be quite confusing for most business owners.  This basically involves the "negotiating of ad space on other people’s websites" so your ONLINE VIDEO AD gets seen.  This can be costly and challenging if you don’t know what you’re doing or where to start.

Here are a few resources that should help demonstrate to you just how important Online Video and Web Marketing is to the success of your business health and growth in today’s new "Web2.0 World!"

Please note: these article and case study links below will open in a new window
so you won’t lose your place on this page.
 

Reference Article #1: "Online Video Ads Leads Customers To Purchase More Often"

Case Study #1: "The Whole World Is Watching Online Video"

Reference Article #2: "SMBs Reduce Ad Dollars… But Spend It Online"

Case Study #2: "5 Steps for Combining SEO and Social Media To Generate Web Leads"
 

Get Really Excited Because I’m Going To Share With You A Way To Create A Professionally Designed Online Video Ad For Your Business For FREE! 

And, How You Can Get Your Online Video Ad Prominently Shown On Many of The Top and
Most Popular TV, Newspaper, Radio, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Sports Sites… 
And, ONLY To Targeted, Local Prospects… In Your Neighborhood!

 
You see, I’ve just finished creating a short 3-part video tutorial showing you how to… "Get More Local Customers Using Targeted Online Video Ads… for FREE!"

 
So, sit-back and relax… get comfortable, lock your door, and take the phone off the hook so you won’t be disturbed…

And I PROMISE you that 32 short minutes from now, you’ll be extremely excited about how you can INSTANTLY begin using Online Video Ads to help you grow your business, get more new customers, and dominate your local marketplace.
 

Video Tutorial Course:

…all videos open in a new window… 

	Video #1: Introduction for "How To Get More Local Customers Using Targeted Online Video Ads…for FREE!"  Discovering the Ultimate Marketing "Secret Weapon" for your business. This is a must see video that helps you understand why Online Video is So Effectively Powerful for getting more new customers.  (approx 5 mins)
	Video #2: Setting Up Your Account and Creating Your Own Professional Online Video Ad… For Free! This is a "behind the scenes, sneak-peek into the step-by-step system you can use FOR FREE to create Professional Online Video Ads that promote your business, products, and services. (approx 9 mins)
	Video #3: Choosing Your Local Target Audience and Getting Your Online Video Ad Placed On Popular Websites for Maximum Visibility. Finale video tutorial that shows you how easy it is to identify and target your local customers as well as track the results of your Online Video Ad. (approx 18 mins)
	Bonus Video: (coming soon)  "How To Turn Your Website Into A Lead Generating Machine For Your Business That Runs On Autopilot!"  This video reveals a few "extra pieces of the puzzle" so you have everything you need to achieve success when using the Web and Online Video to effectively grow your business and get more new customers.

Links You’ll Need For This Project:
 

	(1) Your Special Link for Setting Up Your Free Online Video Ad Creation Account. – http://www.budURL.com/JivoxFREE
	(2) Complete List of All Websites Where Your Online Video Ad Can Be Displayed. – download here
	(3) Your Powerful Automated Video Email Marketing System for your business. – http://www.AttainResponsePro.com

Enjoy and start taking advantage of new, clever, and innovative ways of connecting with new customers in your area TODAY now that you have this incredibly powerful online video advertising resources at your disposal.
 

If you run a local business… You now have a more profitable way to advertise directly to your local marketplace using professionally designed Video Ads!

 
 
Have a profitable day,

Marc Gamble
aka *the Marketing Guru*
650-515-4654
  

** If you’ve found this video tutorial helpful, please share your thoughts and feedback by leaving your comments below. 

** And if you have a blog, I "spread the love" and will auto-link your last blog post to your comment… helping send you more traffic. 

Thanks!

A total of 21.4 billion videos were viewed during the month.

The duration of the average online video was 3.7 minutes, while the average online video viewer watched about 500 minutes of video, or 8.3 hours, according to the research company.

In July, Google Sites continued to rank as the top U.S. video property with a record 8.9 billion videos viewed, making up 42% of all videos viewed online. YouTube.com accounted for more than 99% of all videos viewed at the property.

Viacom Digital ranked a distant second with 812 million — at 3.8 percent — followed by Microsoft Sites with 631 million videos viewed — at 3%.

More than 158 million viewers watched an average of 135 videos EACH… during the month of July.
 

Google Sites surpassed its all-time high with 121 million unique viewers during the month — 74.1 videos per viewer — followed by Microsoft Sites with 65 million viewers — 9.8 videos per viewer. Fox Interactive Media did the same with 52 million viewers — 10.8 videos per viewer.

 
The average Hulu viewer watched 12 videos, totaling 1 hour and 13 minutes of videos per viewer.

In July, ScanScout Network ranked as the Number 1 video ad network with a potential reach of 80.1 million viewers, or 50.6% of the total viewing audience.

Tremor Media ranked second with a potential reach of 71.1 million viewers — 44.9 percent penetration — followed by YuMe Video Network with 68.1 million viewers, at 43%.

Tremor Video Network ranked as the largest ad network in terms of actual delivered reach with 20% viewer penetration followed by Brightroll Video Network, at 17.4% and BBE, at 14.4%.

This article contributed by: by Gavin O’Malley, of MediaPost News – Online Media Daily.

Online Video in rich media ads can make or break a campaign.

The study, "The Brand Value of Rich Media and Video Ads," measures purchase intent, but not necessarily through the ad.

Findings suggest that people who see a video in a rich media ad are more likely to make the purchase. 

Google commissioned the study because of the lack of information on how creative ad formats correspond and produce results for brands.

The DoubleClick study tapped Dynamic Logic data — market data from thousands of campaigns — to determine the type of creative ad formats that produce the best results. Dynamic Logic serves up surveys to a consumer after they see a random ad, and correlates the results to whether or not they viewed the advertisement.
 

Rich media ads containing video on average appear to increase purchase intent by 1.16%, compared with a controlled group that did not see an ad. Compare that with simple Flash at 0.26%, and there’s a huge difference, says Ari Paparo, group product manager at Google.

 
Although Google does not create the ad for clients, it does help with video encoding and help to track the information in the ads. "We do the technical work, not the creative," he says.

Paparo points out that the study suggests that driving purchase requires advertisers to run more rich media with video and fewer simple Flash units. The fact that simple Flash ads dominate the Web ad content demonstrates "a misalignment" of ad formats when it comes to brands setting and reaching ad goals. Rich media with Online Video drives success more than four times that of Flash.  Interestingly, people who see rich media ads on average seem to favor the brand with the video, according to the study.

Exposing audiences to one rich media ad with video seem to result in a 2.30% increase in favoring a brand. In contrast, simple Flash shows the poorest results — 0.15% — at driving favor for the brand.

The study suggests delivering a rich media ad with video as the first ad exposure to the online audience, and when budgets are tight, switching to simple Flash or JPG/GIF formats to get positive results. Use DoubleClick DART for Advertisers to swap creative ads without having to send new ad tags to publishers. And don’t let arbitrary ad-serving budget allocations, such as 15% of media, prevent you from running the most effective ad formats. Instead, factor media fees and rich media fees in together and optimize from there.

Brand metrics were compared for more than 4,000 campaigns across a wide variety of industry verticals through 2008, as tracked via Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms marketing effectiveness database. Campaigns were included in the study if they met two criteria. The first: the assets included at least one of four ad formats: simple Flash, JPG/GIF, rich media with video, and rich media without video. The second: the questionnaire used standard MarketNorms branding questions.

 
This article contributed by: by Laurie Sullivan, of MediaPost News – Online Media Daily.

In the face of a tough economic climate, Stanford University’s Scott Jahnke started exploring ways to increase donations from alumni.

Jahnke is the Director of Student and Young Alumni Development, putting him in charge of generating donations from Stanford’s recent graduates — one of the harder demographics to reach. (Full disclosure: Stanford has been a client of my company.)

Historically, the university had sent fundraising letters and asked for contributions through phone calls. As expected, every year it has been getting more difficult to reach young alumni by snail mail or phone. So, moving to email marketing was an early opportunity to address costs and increase ROI. Recent grads are far more likely to give a valid email address than a number (93% of the captive population vs. 38%), meaning that email marketing gives Stanford a better and more widespread ability to connect.

At the very outset, Jahnke knew that it was crucial to optimize the presentation format of his department’s fundraising messages. In his mind, "video-plus-email" seemed to be the most engaging delivery mechanism for his campaigns.

In a recent blog post, Scott wrote: "Technology gives us the ability to do so much more than just text. How then, can we most effectively tell our story to thousands of people and inspire them to give? I believe that a combination of using email AND video to answer our three questions (why are we asking you for a gift, what is going to change if you give, and how will our organization make that change happen) is the so-called ’secret sauce."

Scott certainly isn’t alone in his view. The Obama presidential campaign, for instance, also heavily employed the combination of email and video marketing in the final weeks running up to the election. Obama for America used targeted and highly personalized emails to drive people to landing pages with compelling videos and video calls-to-action. This technique worked because Obama campaign strategists knew that we live in a world of overflowing inboxes and short-attention spans, where plain text just doesn’t have the same impact as well-made, short-form video.

At Stanford, the Young Alumni office produced several inspiring videos of students who had directly benefited from alumni contributions and attached a clear call-to-action to the end of each video, delivered via a Flash overlay that asked viewers to donate.

Calling out these videos, and providing a direct link to them in four out of five emails sent during Stanford’s fall campaign, helped increase gifts by 23% over the previous year’s fall campaign. 
 

This increase during a period of economic decline sold Scott on the power of using video marketing in tandem with Young Alumni’s emails. And he knows that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 
Here’s the final word from Scott’s recent blog post: "By tracking metrics, we can continuously improve our messaging and how many people are making gifts after viewing our videos; A/B testing of multiple variables allows me to try slight variations in content to hone in on what works best. Ultimately, we’re still learning, and my hope is that our future campaigns will be even more successful."

If the combination of email and video marketing can put a president in the White House, and bring change to the practices of one of the most respected universities in the United States, what could it do for your organization?

You can view Stanford’s Young Alumni campaign videos by visiting http://youngalumni.stanford.edu

contributing author: Tyler Willis of Media Post’s Video Insider Edition

Now, if you’re ready to schedule a complimentary consultation to chat about how you can leverage the clever new marketing strategies that will give your business an unfair competitive advantage in your marketplace, jump here now.