For B2B marketers, the complaint with most digital ad formats has always been…
IMPACT.
Many major studies of online and digital ad spends predict continued growth in online video advertising spends. The consumer space we will see a distorted adoption, as they are already comfortable with use of video in TV broadcast and on-demand advertising. They also benefit from existing video content and production channels.
What about us – why now?
The biggest barrier has always been audience vs. cost of production. With the cost to produce traditional video advertising campaigns ranging from six to seven figures, the cost-to-impression number has never made sense, but with increasingly affordable recording media, post-production tools, and editing software respectable content is now within the reach of desktop producers.
Couple this with strong bandwidth, mature distribution sites with existing audiences and all of sudden video is a viable marketing activity.
We are already seeing increasingly sophisticated video content being developed by our larger clients. As the barrier to entry becomes smaller and smaller with standardized production tools – marketers within the embedded and high performance computing industry now count video among their strongest weapons in the online marketing battle.
Don’t make these four common mistakes:
- Don’t get too complex. This universal rule of marketing applies to video as well. Don’t try and do too much in one activity. Break things up into digestible pieces that can be repackaged and used in creative and integrated ways. Make sure you know your goal with each presentation. Is this a product piece, an interview, educational, or a prestige builder? All are valuable tools when used effectively.
- Don’t throw it together without a plan. Make sure you handle the basics. Storyboard your idea. Even though most effective videos range from 15 seconds to three minutes, you need to outline what and how you are going to communicate your message. Allow for the time necessary to produce quality audio and video. Include time for concentrated post-production work. Its amazing how a message can be transformed from raw footage to polished marketing piece with the right creative blueprint.
- Don’t let your intern do it in-house. Unless you have a large and capable creative team with video experience, doing it yourself can actually hurt your brand. Even though the ability of the average thirteen year-old to post “selfie” videos on their Facebook pages has eager marketers certain they can do better. The reality is that video content makes a strong statement about your organization and its products. Make sure that the strong statement is a positive one.
- Don’t post on YouTube and forget. It’s easy to forget that video is only as effective as the people that see it. Common online video channels provide good hosting and reporting abilities, but you need to get your video where your clients will view it. Industry websites, e-newsletters, kiosks at live events, and webinar add-ons all provide opportunities to shamelessly and professionally plug your organization. Would you leave your white paper in the company lobby hoping for foot traffic?
My shameless plug
Our advertisers often forget that they can use video or links to video in most of our advertising positions online. We also offer opportunities for contributing editors to add video content as supplemental material to their submissions. If you haven’t thought about video options for your online advertising, please ask us how you can amplify your video viewership.
New in 2014 – The RTC Group is also offering video production as a marketing service. Our creative team has both the video experience and industry knowledge to help any size organization create video material that will amplify your marketing message. And we know how to do it to meet our industry’s specific demands.
We hope to see more video advertising from our clients in 2014, as we believe this will be one of the best breakout mediums for digital advertisers this year and into the future.