Cantaloupe TV

Musical group OkGo has had a few web video hits.  The "Treadmill Video" has over 50 million views.  Their latest video (above) features one of the largest Rube Goldberg machines I have ever scene and one long tracking shot that would make Scorsese quiver.

The thing I am most impressed about is State Farm's sponsorship of this video.  (OK, not literally. I am video guy and it was a really impressive video) But still, kudos to State Farm for being brave enough to sponsor a web video that only shows their branding briefly at the end and almost unnoticeable at the beginning. That is one of the most effective ways to market yourself online.  Realize that you are an insurance company and piggyback on something cooler.

"Now I'm in the blogosphere, now I'm in the Twitterverse..."

     I remember my days as a kid, pre-cable, watching mostly PBS television programming.  One of the PBS stalwarts I watched often, was the unforgettable Bob Ross -- the gentle, nature-loving painter with the 'fro.  Not only did Mr. Ross (may he rest in peace) teach us how to paint, he also taught us a wonderful principle that is applicable to more than painting -- the principle of Improvisational Creation.

Bob Ross Web Video vs. Paint By Numbers Web Video

So many of us are used to doing the "Paint by Numbers" type of video.  What is that?  Well, it's the overly controlled, highly predictable video.  Before the cameras are turned on and the mics are checked, a script has been written, actors have been chosen, and a story board with pre-planned camera angles and blocking is created.  This is a very low-risk, very controllable style of video.  The downside of this type of video is that is not believable, relatable, or fresh.  Everyone sees "Paint by Numbers" video every day on TV and the internet.  People, however, are looking for a more candid and more fluid approach to the videos they watch.

If you've ever watched an episode of Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting you would know that Bob practices something called Improvisational Creation.  As suggested, this is free-form style of painting.  Instead of pulling out a canvas, knowing exactly what he's going to paint and where (like paint by numbers), Bob has a general idea of what he wants to paint, but allows himself to create integral parts of the painting on the fly, dependent upon how he feels at the moment (i.e. happy little trees).

Pretty much all of the great artists did this, and that is precisely why they are considered great.  Authentic, fluid video stories make a far greater impression than overly produced video.  Instead of relying on the rigid story boarding process of old, practice what is called skeletal story development.  List the things you wish to cover in your story, but then let the camera and the characters develop the details of that story as you go.  This makes for a far more interesting -- more engaging video story.  

If you don't listen to me, you'll surely hear what Bob Ross has to say.

Delivra, one of the original email software and services providers, today announced that it has integrated Cantaloupe.tv's new VideoHere(TM) online video platform with its own email marketing platform, giving marketers an easy way to add and manage videos within their email marketing campaigns. This platform also closely tracks which members viewed the videos and for how long.

VideoHere joins other video solutions in Delivra's suite of email marketing solutions but at a price point that makes it affordable for every marketer, according to Neil Berman, president of Delivra. "VideoHere is the kind of plug and play video integration tool that our clients have been asking for. The affordable system -- starting at just $50 a month -- is easy to use, feature rich, and provides insight into the success of each video.

The integration with VideoHere enables Delivra's clients to insert videos into their email campaigns with one-click, without the need for programming. Marketers can link video play buttons to a pre-built landing page developed by VideoHere or a marketer's custom-built landing page. Marketers measure video performance with detailed tracking of video impressions, views, times completed, times shared, days viewed and drop off rate. The video player allows advanced sharing of videos via email, Twitter, Facebook and by embedded links on websites or blogs.

To learn more and to get started watch our short video.

About Delivra
Delivra offers permission-based email marketing software and personalized services at an attractive price. Delivra has clients nationwide of all sizes and in all major industries. Clients include Del Monte, American Legion, National Geographic, Butler University, US Rowing, Harris Connect and Samsung. Founded in 1999, Delivra is a privately held company headquartered in Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.delivra.com.
 

I just received an article from Online VideoInsider discussing the ability to embed YouTube video directly into Gmail with the simple paste of a YouTube video URL. Here's the catch. You have to be inside of the Gmail application in your browser. Not a big deal for a lot of us, right? I think we are still the minority though!

I see this catching on quickly for B2C email marketing, but what about B2B? This functionality doesn't carry through into desktop email clients and I'm guessing most organizations are not going to have their employees logging into Gmail through web browsers anytime soon. We have used Gmail for our business email from Day 1, however, 95% of the office views their email through Mac Mail which means most will never even know this is happening if a friend shares a video with them.

I like the push forward as far as embedded video directly in email, but remember best practices at this point for video email marketing. To see video email best practices check out this previous post.

I'd love to hear any comments on what everyone thinks about this. Is this a game changer in the B2B video email marketing world at this point?

We're all aware that the internet is a large place, but what exactly does that mean? Take a peek at the video below to see some hard numbers and stats about what exactly is going on in the cyber world.

This presentation was created for a lecture at AIGA Baltimore in Feb 2010 and can be found at it's original source here.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.
 

Years ago, super savvy people decided that they their company needed a website to thrive.  The early adopters saw huge successes, and eventually everyone else (for the most part) followed along, some reluctantly and some still not at all.  So what's next? Video. Web Video. 

It seems like it is the obvious answer.  It seems like people would jump all over it.  Some people don't like change, they like doing things the way they've always been done and don't understand why web video and social media are important (I hope they wise up before it's too late!) Others just don't know where to start, well friends, I am going to tell you.

Let me be clear. You can start with 3 videos.  Now, they key word here is start.  The key to success is to continue these concepts into 3 individual series.

Video #1:  Our first video is about our industry, but not about us.  Let's use a fictional coffee company called "The Happy Pot"  For them, this first video could be about Tips on Using a French Press or short documentary on How beans get from the field to your Cup.

Why this works: This series proves you are savvy in your industry,  but isn't a sales pitch, so people are more likely to watch.  If a bike shop has a video on YouTube about how to change a flat tire, you will be more likely to go there next time you need a bike.  They video didn't try to sell you a bike, it just gave you information that you wanted/needed. If they then decide they want to learn more about you, then they can go to your website, where web video #3 is waiting.



Video #2: This video isn't about you or your industry.  Sounds weird doesn't it?  Think of "The Happy Pot"  They decide to do a video about bands and music.  However, these conversations take place in "The Happy Pot's" coffee shop, or any location and they are drinking from a "Happy Pot" coffee cup.

Why this works:  The audience that watches Video #1 really like coffee.  Why else would they be watching videos about coffee?!  However, Video #2 is targeted more to the casual coffee drinker. They like and drink coffee, but their loyalty is for sale because they aren't really serious about their coffee.  By targeting a broader topic, like music, you reach a broader audience of serious, semi-serious, and even non coffee drinkers.  Your web video is entertaining them, and the next time they want coffee (or want to buy a gift if they are a non-coffee drinker), they will probably remember the company that entertained them.


Video #3:  This is the transitional web video for the old school marketers.  It's a web video about your company, a good old fashioned "About Us" video.  There are many ways to produce this video in a more interesting way than "We here at Company X care about our customers blah blah..." approach.

Why this works:  Well, people that put forth the effort to come to your site want to know about you.  Volvo once did a survey and discovered that 88% of the people that bought a new Volvo had visited the website to research first.  This is where it's most important to be authentic and open. 

Ok, I have the videos...now what?

Get Videos #1 and #2 out there! Use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, email blasts, whatever it takes to get an audience. They are the fishing net that you throw out to start pulling people back to your website.  Get people interested and keep them engaged by continuing the series. Create a new web video every month (at least!) so people can keep consuming and spreading them around!

Put Video #3 on your homepage. Now the people that the other two web videos filter to your site have something to keep them engaged.  They decided to take the next step towards being your customer, so don't let them down by only having text on your site!

There you go, a simple blueprint to get you on your way to a serious web video presence.

Anyone remember speech class?

How many times did you hear your teacher instruct you to "eliminate the 'ums' and 'uhs'?"  I'd venture to say you heard it quit a bit, didn't you?

Naturally (because of speech class and other tid bits of instruction we've learned over the years) we strive to be perfect in all we do, or else we will fall short of accomplishing what we aim to accomplish.  But, I think it's time we step back and re-evaluate what we as marketers are ACTUALLY aiming to do, and then determine if "perfection" is actually necessary.

So many people try to make polished, over-produced video so that they can prop themselves up as the "perfect" company; because, after all, that's what we're trying to be right?  Companies are trying to glaze over their imperfections in order to "sell" themselves to prospects.

Here's the problem with that -- NO ONE GIVES A FLIP!

That's right, no one cares how polished and perfect you are; people would rather know who you are on a more intimate level, than see your smoke and mirrors presentation of yourself.  They want to relate to you in any way that they can.  

Every company out there is doing the dog and pony show to appear more than they actually are, and people still don't care.  In fact, people would rather a company embrace their human fallacies.  They'd rather do business with a company that is real and is on the same page as them, having a polished approach to your videos isn't the way to accomplish this.

Now, don't get me wrong, you still need to be professional -- be the best you can possibly be; but don't worry about trying the mask the "ums" and "uhs" if that's who you are.  Like the fortune cookie says, if you squeeze an orange, orange juice will come out - because that's what's inside.  You can't pretend to be a banana when you have orange juice inside -- in other words, you can't pretend to be perfect and polished when you're not. (And, yes, I'm well aware that this is a terrible illustration.  And, no, I don't necessarily consider bananas to be perfect and polished, nor do I see oranges as a less than perfect or unpolished fruit -- I hope you get the point though.)

Be candid.  Be real.  Tell your story, and quit worrying about covering up the dumb idiosyncrasies that make you . . . well . . . you.  That's what people want to see.  They don't want to swim through a bunch of bull to find it.

I originally wanted to interview Michael Davey, Cantaloupe's Project Manager, (and overall great guy) but he was using the restroom so I opted for the closest person in proximity to me, Stacy Billanti, our CEO.  I guess it's fitting that my first vlog would be an interview with our CEO.  We talked about the usuals.  Authentic Storytelling, our frustrations in getting people to tell good stories, what is a good story, etc. etc. 

Honestly, I just watched it and even though I caught her off guard and it wasn't rehearsed I still felt like she came off a bit "markety."  No offense to Stacy.  She's not your typical CEO and definitely not over "messagey" or "markety."  But, it's hard not to be when you're on camera and you know this video will, in some way be used for marketing.  That's the trick.  How can you plan and produce video for the web without it being the same old regurgitation of marketing messages?  It's hard enough when it really is candid. That is where Cantaloupe comes in.  

I'm not going to explain it all here but this vlog will hopefully give you a little insight into how Cantaloupe thinks about using video online to your best advantage.  Hopefully through some candid interviews around the office, unannounced and unedited we can cut through some of the marketing crap and get some real comments from the heart. 

You can expect some more difficult questions from myself as these vlogs keep going. This one was hopefully just a warm up.

Also, I mention in this vlog that software companies are generally boring and have the same marketing messages.  Please don't take offense:)  All software companies do cool stuff.  BUT, it's hard to talk about it without it being boring.  But have no fear, it's our job to make sure you don't get stuck in a rut when you market with video online. 

Last month I spoke at the Marketing Sherpa’s Email Summit.  It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed talking with folks in our booth and at my talk which was titled: “Demystifying the Use of Video in B2B Email Marketing.”  See this link for copies of the slides.   I thought I would share some of the most common questions I encountered when talking about online video at the conference so you all could see what is on marketers’ minds these days.

Top four questions that we received at the summit.

Question 1:
“Can I play video right within my email campaigns?”   Often asked this way too:   “Can I embed video directly in my emails?”
 
Answer:
What is the value here? The only answer I received when I asked folks "why?" they wanted to embed in the email was that it skipped a step (of having to go to a website and then click again to play). I challenged them to tell me why they wanted subscribers to stay in their email rather than going to their website which is usually where they want them to go. Also, with the auto-play feature, the video automatically starts playing when you click through to the website, so, we are really not skipping a step.

Also, you want to do all you can to ensure your email arrives in your subscriber’s inbox don’t you?   Embedding video directly into your message greatly decreases the chances that your email will be delivered to your subscribers, as most email servers will block large embedded files or flag the message as SPAM.  Even if your email does get through to the subscriber, it is very likely that your video will not render properly in their email.  For more details, see Dusty Koekenberg’s blog post below dated January 13, 2010.
 
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Question 2:
“What length of video is best?”
 
Answer:
Two to three minutes. However, it is about relevancy. My "BMW minded" brother wouldn't watch 5 seconds of a 25 second video on quilting. But.. would watch a full 15 minute video on the new 7-series.
 
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Question 3:
“Do you just put a link in the email or some type of graphic?”
 
Answer:
Pictures are worth a thousand words.   Our video management product Backlight allows you to output a graphical representation of the video with a awesome looking play button... So, the end user feels like they are clicking the video itself.
 
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Question 4 :
“How often should you send out a video to your database?”
 
Answer:
Generally, once a month.  However it is an evolutionary process to find out what works for each company. If you juggle paying for the production and doing some video yourself (less professionally done vlogging for instance) then perhaps you can get away with a more frequent delivery. Also, the audience plays into this decision.  Younger folks are probably are OK with more frequency while CEO's are not.

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Send me an email at getjon@cantaloupe.tv with other video email questions you want answered, or, visit our website at www.cantaloupe.tv.  Also, stay tuned because we will release a White Paper on this topic soon!

its about a great client experience.  Great video is important and effective, and we strive to create great online video for our clients.  But a lot of people can do great video.  Its important that we do great video AND create a great client experience.

I was recently at a spa for a quick weekend getaway.  Amazing place.  Saw Cesar Millan the dog whisperer, and some housewives of Orange County.. but I digress...  The spa was fantastic, the massage was amazing, the client experience was awful.  In a blissful world of self-indulgence and service they were a pain in the rear.  I wanted to move my appointment to attend one of THIER fitness classes, but I couldn't do that without a $35 change feel since it was under 24 hrs.  Well of course it was, I was only there for the weekend!  The spa was still getting my outrageous fee for the service, I just wanted it an hour later.  Can't.  When I did go to my service (missing the fitness class of course), they needed my ID to use my credit card.  Of course I didn't have it.  They knew who I was from causing such a stir earlier AND had entered the details from my ID for the reservation anyway....   I can go on, but its not important.  I  don't understand why a business (especially a pampering self indulgent branded business) would make it difficult for a client to deal with them.

It does not matter how great your productservice is, if you are a pain thats all your client will remember.  We will continue to strive to do great video AND remind ourselves to make it as easy as possible for our clients to work with us.

Even though a majority of web users now surf the web using high speed broadband connections there are still times that endusers struggle with video content. Google is launching an initiative that would allow US web users internet speeds up to 100 times faster than they ever have had access to. Watch the video to learn more or head on over to IndyGeek.net and sign a petition to get the ball rolling in the Indianapolis area.

I get a lot of people calling me asking about doing a single video to use on their website.  They want a good "About Us" video or bio video to be viewed once people come to their page.  Well, having one video purposed on your homepage gets you on the right track, but by using only one video, you're organization is missing out on some tremendous opportunities.  Using a multiple video approach within your web presence is a far superior way of engaging your target audiences.  There are many reasons why this is so, but I want to give you five big reasons why using multiple videos will pay off far more than just a single video on your website.





1) Gives a more intimate/ in depth look into your organization:

Ask any president, CEO, marketing gal or average Joe what separates their company from the competition.  What responses do you typically hear?  Our people.  Our customer service.  Our innovative products and services.  

Blah, blah, blah.

Everyone preaches this same message.  Even if it's true, how are you proving it?  

A video on your homepage?  Well that's a great start, but let me ask you this:

Can you adequately share your story with one video?

Of course you can't.  It's much like meeting someone for the first time at a networking event and chatting to them for 2 minutes.  You certainly get a general impression of that person, but you will never leave that conversation saying, "Wow, I can really identify that guy's distinguishing qualities."

Multiple videos help you have an intimate conversation with your audience, which will inevitably separate your organization from your competition.

RJE Knoll, a business furniture distributer in Indianapolis, greatly benefited from this approach.  After doing a video series on their people, their revenue increased 22% and their email open rates increased 50%

2) Makes your website dynamic:

More and more people are coming to your website to learn about you.  Your website is the hub of all of your marketing efforts.  If you're smart, you would constantly find new ways to keep people coming back to your site over and over again; to see your call to actions and to be perpetually impressed by your company.  Companies today pay big bucks to attract new people and existing clientele to their website.

What reason are you giving your audiences to keep coming back to your site? 

With multiple video stories, new and old audiences alike will continually peak their head in to see your fresh new content.

3) Ability to touch diverse audiences:

I bet your company has multiple products and/or services, doesn't it?  I'd also bet you have different audiences to speak to (clients, vendors, resellers, end users, employees, etc.), don't you?  Well, do you honestly think a single video will be applicable to all of your audiences and adequately highlight your products and services?  You're crazy if you do!

Multiple videos enable you to have the right conversations with the right people.  Why make a single video with a generic message, when you can have multiple videos that touch every possible angle in detail?

4)  Helps fill sales cycle gap:

Ever wonder what to do after you make a sales proposal, and you get the "This is exactly what we need, but we need to hold off for a year," response?  Do you call them every once in a while?  Do you send them emails?  Snail mail?  What's the best way to stay connected throughout their sales cycle?  

Answer:  Send them multiple video stories.

It's a great passive way of staying sticky, all while solidifying why your organization is the best.

5)  Enhances search engine optimization efforts:

Forrester recently reported that by having video on your website, your chances of showing up on the first page of a Google search increases 50x.  The more video content you have circulating on your website, the more it improves your SEO initiatives.

Social media is all around us and has fundamentally changed the way many of us communicate--both personally and professionally. Video can make your social media better, and ultimately get more leads to your website. But how best to post, measure, and use to drive traffic to your website?

Well Cantaloupe is here to help. Our new whitepaper: "How to leverage online video in your social media channels" will give you all the tips you need to get started and beyond

Learn all about:

• The role of video in your social media channels
• Practical tips on using video in FaceBook and Twitter
• How to use link tracking software like bit.ly
• How to best post and measure your videos

Download our newest whitpaper today!

To see how Cantaloupe utilizes video in social media follow them on Twitter and Facebook:

http://www.twitter.com/cantaloupe_tv

http://www.facebook.com/cantaloupe.tv

Cantaloupe.TV today launched its new breakthrough video platform, VideoHere(TM) to web application providers at the Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Summit. VideoHere is a turnkey online video management system that providers can embed in any web application, uses no APIs, and requires no IT investment.

"VideoHere gives the end user their own online video management platform all within the web application they already use," says Stacy Billanti, President of Cantaloupe.TV, "and this is all done using scalable and reliable cloud-based technology." This product is particularly relevant for marketing applications including email marketing software providers, blogging software providers, and website content management systems, as their customers are demanding the ability to use video in their marketing communications to create more compelling online content. Further, web marketing application companies need to focus on their own platform development, and they don't have the expertise, time, nor development resources to effectively build and maintain online video capabilities.

VideoHere allows end users to point and click to upload, customize, embed video and play buttons, and track video viewership. Email service provider Net Atlantic, Inc. has just announced the addition of VideoHere to their suite of email marketing solutions. This integration offers Net Atlantic email marketing users the ability to seamlessly utilize video in their email campaigns. "Adding video to email campaigns will improve lead quality and increase conversions for our customers," says Bill Reich, President of Net Atlantic. "Studies show that video email campaigns increase click-through rates by 2 to 3 times, shortening the sales cycle and increasing revenues." "As video becomes pervasive across online channels, web application providers will need to offer video management capabilities seamlessly to customers," shares Stacy Billanti. "VideoHere offers a powerful extension to their existing suite of services, provides them with a competitive advantage, as well as allows them to generate incremental value from this new offering."

The Cantaloupe video team specializes in producing authentic web video stories for one-to-one marketing. Cantaloupe also provides online video management platforms, Backlight(TM) and VideoHere(TM), which are easy-to-use and powerful tools allowing marketers to integrate video into email marketing, websites, blogs, and social media.

Learn more about VideoHere

 I think my favorite kind of web video to produce is a 'journey video'.  The stories tell themselves, they are entertaining, and everyone usually has a pretty good time shooting them. (They are also pretty easy to put together from a Guerilla Video Producer's perspective).

Today, I developed a story for a client that could have been pretty boring, until we decided to do it as a journey video.  They are going up to Detroit to receive an award. The original idea was to make the web video just about the award, but we decided to film the trip up (we are in Indy) and talk to them about why they are excited, what the award is, and just have fun.  All of the same information will be relayed, but everyone involved (including the viewer) will enjoy it much more.

Just about any subject can be jazzed up with a little journey thrown into the mix.  The payoff doesn't even have to be that great!  It's the ride there that makes the web videos watchable.

Here are a couple classics:

With video becoming a highly sought after internet currency, the questions around video and email are becoming more prevelant. How do I do it? What are best practices? Can I embed the video into my email directly?

Can you do it? Yes. Would I suggest it? No.

How would you even embed video in email?

HTML5 has added a <video> tag that allows advanced browsers to automatically recognize and play a video file without the use of a custom Flash, Quicktime, or WMV player resource. While there are some browsers that already support HTML5, email clients are another story!

Because email clients often use the HTML engines of browsers to render HTML emails there is an assumption that this video tag will allow you to embed your video directly into your emails allowing the enduser to view your video there. Think again! A study conducted by CampaignMonitor shows the real story.

In the image below you can take a look at the different email clients and which (1) actually allowed the different types of video files to be rendered:


I'm pretty sure that the number of red (X's) tells you right away to stay away from embedding video directly into email!

So how do you email your videos out?

There are three approaches to this that we have taken here at Cantaloupe. You can either embed a link to your video, a thumbnail from the video with a link included on the image, or an animated .gif that mimics the look of video in your email. With these methods the enduser would click on the image or link and would be directed back to your website where you have embedded your video.

There are multiple advantages to this approach. One, when the enduser is taken back to your website they are being surrounded by your brand and other call-to-actions. I realize that most email campaigns are heavily branded, but the amount of messaging and call-to-actions that can be included in an email do not equal that of your website.

Secondly, by bringing the enduser back to your website to view the video in your video content management system you are able to track the time of view and other interactions that the user may take on the video. If you are letting the user view the video directly in the email you would lose this tracking.

If you are not currently getting tracking on your video content find out how you can start using Cantaloupe's Backlight video management system.

What's the future?

I would say that in the next few years the ability to embed video directly into email will become more advanced, and once the email clients begin to allow this content to be rendered, there will quickly be solutions that allow you to track video within emails. Until then, your best bet is to use images and links.

Marketers tend to suffer from what I call, "The Wizard of Oz Complex."  They are standing behind the curtain trying to make you believe something that isn't exactly true.  Lots of bells, whistles, smoke and spins that try to hide their flaws and insecurities as a company.

What they don't seem to realize is that their customers are like Dorothy strolling down the yellow brick road to Transparency City singing "If I Only Had Some Truth." It's what they want, and they will get it from "Somewhere over the Internet" with the help of their "Google-slippers."

You may think your marketing mumbo jumbo is an Iron Curtain you can hide behind, but I promise that your web video curtain is just as flimsy and obvious as the Wizard's. And, just like Toto, viewers know that it's all just a show, and someone is behind the curtain.  Web video is about honest, transparent information that is entertaining.

If you are going to brave the world of web video (which you will have to sooner or later) be brave enough to follow the yellow brick road to Transparency City and avoid the Wicked Witch of Marketing Mumbo Jumbo.

With VideoHere, Net Atlanitc, Inc. offers users the ability to seamlessly utilize video in their email campaigns, creating a highly relevant and engaging marketing message.

“Adding video to email campaigns will improve lead quality and increase conversions for our customers,” says Bill Reich, President of Net Atlantic. “Studies show that video email campaigns increase click-through rates by 2 to 3 times, shortening the sales cycle and increasing revenues.”

An added advantage of VideoHere is that an online marketer is able to enhance their SEO efforts and increase their social media footprint with video content. The feature includes an out of the box tool that tags the video for search engines, and the video player has features to allow the viewer to easily share the videos with their network.

Read the full press release of Net Atlantic's integration with VideoHere.

Wondering how you can video enable your marketing software offering? Get started with VideoHere today!