Online Marketing

Net Atlantic, Inc. makes email campaigns more dynamic and effective with VideoHere™

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Dusty Koekenberg

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!

How are people going to find the videos I share through Twitter?

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 by Dusty Koekenberg

Twitmatic, is a real-time, online video search engine that looks exclusively for tweets that contain videos. This isn't just another video hosting service, Twitmatic actually allows users to scan the Twitter public timeline in real-time and find videos that were tweeted about even seconds before. Why should you care? Because this represents yet another way to distribute your videos to a receptive audience in yet another case of permission marketing.

A few of Twitmatic's features:

Search functionality whereby you can search up to 3 terms
In the sidebar, you can now perform a number of different functions, including:
- Choosing list view vs. video view (seen above)
- View twitter trends and can click on these to see video results that match.
- View all videos being shared on Twitter in a real-time timeline
Follow or unfollow twitter users, reply to tweets, view tweets from the associated user, and bookmark favorite videos
If you sign in as a user, your searches will be saved automatically.
If you perform a search that returns no matches, once they are found, they will appear on your saved searches

How does Twitmatic know your tweet contains a video?
It's not just searching for the word video. It's actually more sophisticated than that. Below is a answer given by Greg, one of the co-founders of Twitmatic.

"Some of the technology I can’t get into but basically we are able to take a tweet, find an http url in it, and then process the web content at the other end of the url. The process then pulls out likely videos and pushes them into our system. There are current limitations to our technology due to certain sites disabling embedding or utilizing advanced flash techniques. We parse the public timeline as well as do specific general searches to find many of the videos. We also depend on user searches to bring in other videos."

This is good to know because we can continue to use link shortening software like bit.ly to continue and track the number of clicks on our links.

What does this mean for you?
Along with the video SEO that you are currently targeting for Google, Twitmatic is another channel for users to find your video without you really having to do anything other than share your videos through Twitter.

Does this really work?
Here is a look at the Twitmatic interface after I searched for Vontoo who is a current Cantaloupe client that had a couple of people share their video via Twitter.

Best results?
If you already have a Twitter account, make it a habit of tweeting links to your online marketing videos. If you already have a whole library of videos ready to share, it mike make sense to start dripping out tweets to links to those videos.

You'll also want to give a lot of consideration to what "keywords" you put in the tweet. Twitmatic is so new that we can't give you definitive advice here, but we'll continue to experiment and let you know.

Video synched with a personal phone call

Thursday, May 28, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

Vontoo is an Indianapolis-based provider of automated voice messaging solutions and a useful tool not only for marketing, but for many other communications as well. Recently Vontoo launched a new product called Vontoo V2. The V2 stands for "Video + Voice" and it's an interactive online video that synchs up with a personal phone call distributed through Vontoo's voice messaging system.

Cantaloupe got involved when Vontoo came to us to help with the video production portion of the project. You should check out a couple of their examples. I think you'll be amazed at how the phone call synchs up perfectly with the video. Check it out here and see even more examples here.

I have no idea how they do this. Maybe this is a feature we should consider for our online video platform Backlight? I'll have to ask our developers if this can be integrated into our online video player, ha.

It's great to see trends in internet video marketing originating right here in Indianapolis, IN. It's cooler yet to see how different online marketing technologies are coming together to create truly unique products whether it's video + voice, video + email, voice + email, email + blog, etc. the list goes on and on.

Great work Vontoo and thanks for letting Cantaloupe participate in your new product!

In less than a week

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

It took less than a week for two of our videos from our video newsletter to rise to #2 and #3 in Google's video search for "Indianapolis video production"

Check it out for yourself.

I have to find out if our clients are having the same results or if they're even getting the full use out of Backlight and it's video SEO capabilities. As a video management system, it's such an easy tool to use and it's the perfect answer for so many internet marketers who are trying to figure out how to use video online.

("Backlight Tip" and "Clarian" are ours and the cool thing is if you click through to the actual video, it leads you to our blog)

A new most watched viral video of all time?

Friday, April 24, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

The video below is set to become the greatest online viral video of all time.

DON'T JUST SKIP TO THE VIDEO If you do, I think you'll miss a valuable point that might just benefit you're own online marketing strategy.

As you watch the video below, think about how this story isn't even a story if the only way to present it is in text. The "punchline" requires a visual image as well as audio.

Is the "story" on your website really a story if it's presented in text? Are you missing out on the potential effect video can have on the impact of your sales and marketing because for so long video wasn't an option?

(Update 5/26/09: Susan Boyle is now the 5th most watched viral video of all-time. Ahead of her are 3 music videos and 1 movie trailer)

(The video owner disabled embedding so you have to click through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk)

Susan Boyle - Britain's Got Talent Video

Indianapolis as the internet marketing software capital of the world

Monday, April 20, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

So for the moment it's a self-described accomplishment, but it's an exciting topic to rally around which is why I think so many high-profile people from the Indianapolis tech community have contributed comments to this blog thread. (Internet marketing software city? by Norm Heikens)

Cantaloupe's own contribution to the Indianapolis online marketing community includes Backlight, a Saas video solution for helping marketers utilize video online to strengthen their businesses, engage prospects, and sell more stuff.

Scripted vs. Non-scripted

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by Jason Drake

Yes, we talk about this a lot. The fact that non-scripted video is easier and more powerful than scripted video. Well, now I have a story to tell that illustrates the point.

I had a client about two months ago that when we first met with them, they were already talking about scripts for a narrator. As you would imagine, I went into my spiel about scripts: we don't do scripts, they make things difficult, it's not authentic, and so on. I went on to present my idea to accomplish what they wanted, without scripts. The idea seemed to go over well. I was excited to produce the story, and truly believed it would turn out to be a great web video.

The next week, they called, worried about the direction of the video. They wanted a script. I continually told them that we don't do scripts, and explained the reasons why again. They wouldn't have it. They insisted they needed a script, and would provide one for the video. Okay...

It has now been two months, and they are not done with the script yet. The entire web video would be done and would be much better if we were not using a script.

To contrast this, I just had a meeting today with a client in the same general field, trying to accomplish the same thing with their first video. We just had our first meeting with them, and now we are scheduled to shoot next week in time to get the video done by the end of the month. They understand the benefits of the authentic style for web videos.

Here at Cantaloupe, we are an Indianapolis online marketing company that specializes in authentic style internet video. If you are still wondering why this is better, or how to go about creating a strong online video marketing campaign, then give us a ring and we can help you out. We also provide an online video platform called Backlight that will help you use your videos more effectively.

Hey Business People, Do you Watch Online Video at Work? Ever?

Tuesday, March 31, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

I think you do. And if I'm wrong, tell me in the comments section. I'll approve it.

The reason I ask is because eMarketer says "Most of their (B2B Marketers') targets—businesspeople—don’t have audio turned on in the office. Talking heads or voiceovers that no one hears are not very effective."

I wish they had evidence to support that most businesspeople don't have audio turned on, but I think they assume it's an unquestionable fact. Of course company-issued computers don't come with speakers or have audio that can be turned on. Why would they let you have such a distraction?

I don't have evidence to the contrary, but does anyone else find that hard to believe? I would expect most SMB's to not bother regulating audio, and even if most people thought it prudent to regulate themselves and turn off audio, they'd still have the option to turn it on to watch an online video.

SMB's make up a larger part of the market, but I even wonder how many large companies don't allow audio. Can anyone speak from experience?

In any case, the feature discussed in the article - online video subtitles - is actually quite useful, but I think more so for video search engine optimization (Video SEO) than for accomodating users without audio. (although the statistics they present about increase in average video completion rates are quite convincing)

We haven't yet added captions to Backlight, Cantaloupe.tv's own online video platform, but it's high on our list. We may preach about using streaming video instead of text on your website, but we can't deny that the two play together well.

So Your Audience Found You, Now What?

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

Per usual, Chris Baggott and our friends at Compendium Blogware have hit on a marketing message that strikes very close to Cantaloupe.tv home.

In his post "People want Stories not Advertisements" Chris sings our authentic web video storytelling mantra, and even brings more numbers-based evidence to the cause.

I want to focus on Chris' statement that "After search, the goal is engagement." He's absolutely right and this is the very reason why you need video on your website and everywhere you're marketing online.

Video, if done right and not just a re-purposed commercial, can tell your story, or even better, the story of your clients' success with your product or service, in a more powerful way than just text can.

There's plenty of evidence to support the idea that people on the internet want video. Take for example that YouTube is the #2 search engine, ahead of both Microsoft's and Yahoo's search properties (and behind it's corporate parent Google). This means that there is a huge audience of people looking specifically for online video media.

Everyone can have video on websites when you're focused on storytelling and use authentic web video. Just check out the approach Cantaloupe.tv takes and see how it fits with your online marketing strategy. Doing multiple video stories just might be more reachable than you think.

Why advertising will fail and why you need authentic web video

Monday, March 23, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

There's a great post about why advertising will fail over at Techcrunch (of all places). At Cantaloupe.tv, we've often given three reasons ourselves why unscripted, serendipitous, non-commercial like online video production makes sense for the web.

It's what viewers want. People don't want to watch commercials on the internet
People use the internet to seek the truth. Being unscripted and sincere, authentic web video helps people get at the truth.
The internet is about long-term conversations. Interview-style shooting is more practical and cost effective and allows for producing multiple videos.

Compare ours to what business professor Eric Clemons from Wharton has to say about advertising (which very obviously includes online video advertising)

There are three problems with advertising in any form, whether broadcast or online:

Consumers do not trust advertising. Dan Ariely has demonstrated that messages attributed to a commercial source have much lower credibility and much lower impact on the perception of product quality than the same message attributed to a rating service. Forrester Research has completed studies that show that advertising and company sponsored blogs are the least-trusted source of information on products and services, while recommendations from friends and online reviews from customers are the highest.
Consumers do not want to view advertising. Think of watching network TV news and remember that the commercials on all the major networks are as closely synchronized as possible. Why? If network executives believed we all wanted to see the ads they would be staggered, so that users could channel surf to view the ads; ads are synchronized so that users cannot channel surf to avoid the ads.
And mostly consumers do not need advertising. My own research suggests that consumers behave as if they get much of their information about product offerings from the internet, through independent professional rating sites like dpreview.com or community content rating services like Ratebeer.com or TripAdvisor

It's great to see that our indianapolis-based online marketing firm has gotten this message right from day one. We've always been about storytelling and authentic web video, and now we have an online video management software piece to make it that much easier to execute your video strategies.

Marketing is different from advertising says a reputable source

Friday, February 6, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

Marketing is not the same as advertising. Advertising is a tiny slice of what marketing is today, and in fact, it's pretty clear that the marketing has to come before the product, not after. - Seth Godin

So there you have it. Online video marketing is different from online video advertising.

Why do you need to know the difference? For the same reason that it was important to know the ugly duckling was actually a goose. As a duckling he was a failure, as a goose he was a great success.

Don't call your online marketing a failure just because you thought it was online advertising.

C'mon Stacy - Make fun of yourself. Bill Gates did it.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

We've just finished the first cut of a video that gives an overview of our new online video management system, Backlight 2.0. In this video we poke fun at Cantaloupe's President Stacy Billanti, who thought it would be funny during her confessional interview to fake like she was picking her nose. (crude humor isn't really my thing, ha). She specifically said "Don't use this or you're fired."

Well we used it anyway and she wants us to cut it out, but it's such a great ending to our latest online marketing video that I'm putting up a small fight.

To build my case, I'm embedding a video shown at Bill Gates' retirement party. You'll see that throughout the video he makes fun of himself, and it comes off quite well.

A couple web video production takeaways...

Unscripted would have been better. They obviously decided to script some of this. I think it's bearable, but I also think they easily could have captured the comments they needed without scripting and it would have been a lot better.
Repurposing this digital video works here. I'm pretty sure this video wasn't produced specifically for the web. I think it was originally shown in a big room with a lot of people. It works for the web for a number of reasons but a couple are 1) It's not a commercial. It's entertaining so people watch it. 2) If a video is shot in high enough quality for off-internet, that means it's usually high enough quality for the internet.
Authenticity and vulnerability make for great content. Bill isn't afraid to make fun of himself, which is refreshing.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how to get your video to show up in Google's video search

Thursday, January 22, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

In case you missed it, Cantaloupe sent another installment of its Cantaseries Video Magazine earlier this week. (Cantaseries is our ongoing web video marketing series where we feature an interesting, heartfelt, inspiring or just otherwise entertaining story. We use it to keep in touch with clients and other Cantaloupe fans.)

This latest web video story was called "Laughter Yoga." I won't waste any time telling what that is, because the video itself is worth a million...laughs?.

I have to say, it's a behemoth at over 7 minutes. Sounds crazy considering how often we preach shorter content for the internet, but more of the results on that in another post.

Basically, I wanted to share with you something else cool we saw yesterday. We sent "Laughter Yoga" out through our latest release of our online video management system Backlight 2.0.

One feature we've been very focused on is video search engine optimization. Our goal is for our clients to know that when they upload a video and embed it using our system, that they're taking advantage of the best practices in Video SEO.

Yesterday, we saw a small part of that in action with Laughter Yoga. It's a small confirmation, but if you go to Google's video search and type in "Cantaloupe Yoga" you get the following result:

We're probably not going to convert a lot of people with the search term "Cantaloupe Yoga" but it's a start. Another cool thing is that our ads, or calls to actions" if you well, stay within the video (check out the 0:56 mark and the 5:35 mark) so if people find us there we can direct them what to do next.

This is all very exciting for us here at Cantaloupe. We're looking forward to bringing this online marketing practice to all current and future clients.

Think you can't embed video in Linkedin? Think again. A step-by-step guide.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 by Brennan Knotts

I never even thought about embedding video in my Linkedin profile and if you had asked me if it were possible, I would have answered from a state of complete ignorance and said "No."

But now that I know it's possible, and it's not that straightforward, I'm excited to have it on my profile and I'm excited to share it with you.

So how is it done? Well it involves YouTube, Google Docs, and the new Linkedin application for Google Presentations.

(*Before we start I have to admit that I was NOT at all excited to be using YouTube to distribute my online video. It has it's place in the online marketing world, but it's not ideal for my professional profile, and I certainly wouldn't be content using it for video on my website. I'm a little paranoid about featuring a Cantaloupe video on YouTube les people should think that the quality demonstrated represents actual Cantaloupe quality, when in fact, YouTube greatly degrades the video)

Anyway, here are some steps:

1. Login to LinkedIn

2. Add the Google Presentations application

3. Click the grey "Create Presentation" button. (Note: You must have a google docs account to do this. If you have a gmail address, you're halfway there.)

4. From "Google Presentation" select Insert > Video from the main menu

5. Search for the video you want (Note: Obviously, your video needs to be uploaded to YouTube. I'm going to assume you have knowledge of how to do this for the sake of brevity, but if not, let me know and I'll provide instruction.)

6. Click "Save & Close" in the upper right corner

7. Back in your LinkedIn window select the presentation and click "Post to Profile"

You're Done!

Here's what the video looks like on my profile. Quite the ornament don't you think? Make sure you click "view full profile" to see the real thing.

Thanks to Jeff Tintle Jr. of LehighValleyEntrepreneur.tv for the tip!

Advertising Videos vs. Marketing Videos

Monday, December 15, 2008 by Jon DiGregory

I think there is a big confusion between using online video content as "advertising" pieces versus involving them in an overall online marketing strategy. Actually, it might be as simple as saying that for the most part you will see videos as advertisements used by business to consumer companies while videos for marketing are more utilized in the b-to-b world.

Take this JCPenny video for instance:

JC Penny Doghouse online video internet video marketing

A very well done piece about a husband who finds himself in the "dog house" for giving his wife a vacuum cleaner instead of a diamond. It's obvious that this video was very expensively and highly produced - and, is very much intended to be viral marketing.

And it works! I must have received it from eight different online buddies who thought I might enjoy it too..

Unfortunately, not all of us have the $250,000 marketing budget it takes to put a piece like that together and also don't have an easily recognizable name like JCPenny.

In an attempt to engage the right people at the right time, most of us need to think about how we can use video content as a way to compliment all our other communication and most importantly - sales efforts.

Watching one funny video and clicking to "buy" right then and there works when we are selling shoes. However, when our sales cycle is weeks, months or sometimes years... then we most likely won't see anyone solely making their buying decision on one video. Therefore, engaging content that helps those prospects better understand your offering in an emotional / sincere way needs to be used a a supportive tool for your online newsletter, your sales team, your direct mail, your home page, etc.

And the Walls Come Tumbling Tumbling....

Monday, December 1, 2008 by Justin Gutwein

Hi, my name is Justin. Here at Cantaloupe we care about blah blah blah blah blah blah.

That's about how far people pay attention when they hear that type of messaging. It's old and tired as two dollar...car wash. This is where web video can really be a powerful agent for you.

Break down the walls of your business. Don't tell people who you are and what you do. Let clients SEE you as people, and SEE what you do.

One of my favorite video magazines to date is RJE Business Interior's. They knew that they have a great staff and decided to show that firsthand to the world (wide web). Check out their magazine here rjefurn.com.

Internet marketing is all about the truth, and nothing is more truthful than a streaming video about a day in the life of your staff.

Justin Gutwein

Viral Marketing Will Lead to More People Listening to the President's Weekly Address

Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Brennan Knotts

Even if we've never listened to the President's weekly radio address, we've at least learned of this tradition from pop culture or by watching The West Wing, right? You had no idea the President gave a weekly address?
Now President-elect Obama, in staying true to the online marketing efforts he exhibited throughout his campaign, is taking this weekly address even further by adding a web video component. Each address will now be digitally videotaped and distributed online using YouTube.

To me, what's most interesting about this decision isn't Obama's use of internet video marketing. (I bet you thought that's the only reason for writing this blog post), it's the fact that Obama is choosing this moment in American history, a moment when we're faced with great economic uncertainty and a war, to bring a major innovation to the way the President communicates to the American people.

Compare that to the fact that when the radio addresses first began with President Roosevelt in the 1930's, the American people were also facing an economic depression and a war, and for that time period the radio broadcasts were also considered a major innovation.

I'm sure countless comparisons will be made over the next 4 years between Obama and Roosevelt, I even heard an interviewer the other night ask Obama if he'd been been brushing up on Roosevelt's presidency, and there will be plenty of people who can talk to that point better than I can, but the role of communications technology here should not be observed as a mere coincidence or even insignificant.

I joked earlier about how most of us probably didn't even know the President gave a weekly radio address. Does that mean no one cares what the President has to say?

Here's a prediction for you - I bet in the next four years more than half of you reading this will have one of President Obama's weekly internet video addresses shared with you by a friend.

I think the voter turn out this year proved we all care what the President has to say, we just needed him to say it in the right medium so we have a better opportunity to listen. Viral marketing will bring relevance back to an important, and much needed tradition.

The Wall Street Journal also embraces "Beyond YouTube"

Thursday, November 6, 2008 by Brennan Knotts

As usual, the Wall Street Journal is a little late in reporting online marketing trends, and especially, online video marketing trends. (understandably, the Wall Street crowd probably isn't responsible for staying on the bleeding edge of web video)
However, when the Wall Street Journal does report on something, you better be up to speed because your competitors probably are. This time, the WSJ is reporting on where to look to find video on the web other than YouTube and they point out a few shortcomings of the popular video aggregator. (If you follow this blog, you'll probably remember one of the shortcomings I noted)

While the article is mostly concerned with trying to find popular TV shows and other online TV media, it illustrates that video is everywhere on the internet, and the places you can find it (or distribute it) are as diverse as the reasons for producing video in the first place.

So if you've been wondering whether your organization should be putting video on YouTube, it's probably time to broaden your horizons when it comes to website video marketing. For examples on how Cantaloupe.TV helps clients put video on websites check out our Video Magazines page.

If people are your product, how does one shop for you online?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 by Brennan Knotts

My mind never sleeps when it comes to thinking about the the value of internet video marketing and it's place in the countless online marketing tools today's marketers have available to them.

Whether you consider blogs, email marketing, SEO, online advertising, streaming video, social networks, or even Twitter just to name a few, marketers have innumerable options - and that's just online.

So when one takes a step back and really considers why he/she should use video marketing, he/she has to ask, what can video do for me online that nothing else can?

Rather than embark on a tiresome bullet point list, I'm just going to give you one today.

Video finally brings the notion of "our people are our product" to the internet age.

What do I mean? Well it's as simple as thinking about buying clothing online. Would you ever consider buying a pair of shoes online without first seeing a picture of them?

Of course not and online retailers like Zappos.com know this, which is why they offer not only one picture, but at least 8 different views, including a bottom side view.

Let's say you're firm is a consultancy, or a law firm, or an agency, or any other service firm where the primary thing being sold is the knowledge, helpfulness, and skills of people. Then, what would it mean to show the bottom side view of your product?

I can promise you one thing. It'd be difficult, if not impossible, to demonstrate all views of your people-based product with just pictures. Unlike shoes, people have expressions, they have tone of voice, and they have gestures. All of these are critical attributes about your product.

So if you say people are your product, have you brought your product to the internet age with streaming video on your website?

Should you be thinking about video for mobile phones?

Friday, September 19, 2008 by Brennan Knotts

With the seemingly endless buzz around the iPhone, online marketers can't avoid the pressure of pausing and considering how this affects their strategies.

What's it mean if people are reading my email on their cellphone instead of their inbox? Can they still respond to my call to action? Can they even read what I've sent? Do I still get accurate tracking?
What about my banner ad?
Does my attempt at interactive marketing fall flat on a 2.5 inch screen?

For Cantaloupe especially, streaming video on the iPhone has been a big challenge and one a lot of our clients have questions about. Right now, the iPhone doesn't play Flash (which makes one wonder what YouTube is doing), but it does play QuickTime.

The challenge is, QuickTime files are 100 times the size of a flash file.

But is the sky falling? Is noone watching our video marketing because they're only browsing the internet on their iPhones and Blackberries?

That's not the case. At least not yet.

What prompted me to even think about this was a blog post over at Chacha. Chacha is a human powered search engine you utilize by texting a question from your mobile phone. People often ask them, if people have the internet on their phone, why would they use Chacha? Brad Bostic, a co-founder of Chacha, responds:

The reality is that much less than one percent of mobile phones in the US are iPhones. The fact is that more than 90% of the more than 250 million handsets in the US are not only not iPhones - They are not even smart phones at all.

So the takeaway - while mobile computing is becoming increasingly important, your internet video marketing doesn't need to be optimized on the iPhone today. Unless your target market is exclusively iPhone users.