Sometimes, you can catch lightning in a bottle, and more often than not, it happens organically.
If you happen to drive past the corner of Emerson and Thompson Rd on Indianapolis' southside, you will probably see Lionel Hills; a 48 year old health claims processor who rides his bike backwards while juggling or twirling sticks.
Lionel is a sensation. He has quickly become a local celebrity, been approached by local businesses for sponsorship opportunities, and has been featured on the local news.
Let's compare that to a few other popular Indianapolis establishments who are on Facebook:
ENTITY# OF FANS
Peyton Manning 9,346 Guy on Thompson (Lionel) 6,259 Rupert (from Survivor) 4,835 Indiana Fever (WNBA) 3,464 Indianapolis Star 3,461
The most incredible part of this? . . . Lionel didn't try to make this happen.
"I ride just because I love doing it and it's good exercise," said Lionel.
Ashlynn Bruner, a high school student, decided to create a fan page for him, and his history is still being written.
Here's the point: organic, non-manufactured content is the most infectious; in video marketing and otherwise. In today's online marketing, controlled messaging can have an adverse effect on your organization's goals. Embrace authenticity, and let natural stories rule your content approach.
To find out how Cantaloupe TV can uses organic authenticity to enhance your web content, email me at bevans@cantaloupe.tv. We do WAY more than website video firms.
It is well known that when planning anything properly, one must aim then fire. When it comes to online video, however, most people fire then try to aim. Let me explain. Many times people will think of a "cool" or "interesting" idea for a web video, but they do little to confirm that this video will actually help them. A good illustration might be how products are introduced to particular markets in modern times. Many people or companies start with a good idea, they manufacture a bunch of gadgets, and then try to create a need in a market. Conversely, the most successful businessmen first find a market, unearth that market's most glaring heartaches, and create products to alleviate that pain. Many people with good intentions fall victim to the first kind of thinking, in business AND with video marketing. Before you consider ideas for video, it is wise to first consider what your overall marketing goals are. Once you've determined what those goals are, you must then ask yourself questions such as, "Where are we falling short?" and "What are the most difficult goals to achieve?" Once you've unearthed your organization's own heartaches, it's much easier to determine where video can help, and what the content of that video should be. So don't put the cart before the horse; identify your overall needs, then decide where video can enhance.
If you would like to learn how Cantaloupe TV is different from website video firms, email us at bevans@cantaloupe.tv.
The marriage of video and email has become a very hot topic for online marketers, and if utilized properly, the two should play an integral part in your online marketing strategy as video can greatly enhance your existing email marketing program by generating:
1. Higher Click Rates
A Forrester Research study revealed that online marketers who use web video in email campaigns can increase click rates by 200-300%, moving more users from their inbox to your website.
2. Better Engagement
Once subscribers reach your website, video keeps them engaged with your message. Studies show that 65% of viewers watch online video to completion, while only 10% read a web page in its entirety, and 50% of people who watch a "quality" video will respond to its call-to-action.
3. Maintain Ongoing Conversation
Video email can continually bring subscribers back to your website on a recurring basis, providing a great medium to stay in front of clients and prospects.
If you'd like more information, download our whitepaper to learn more about the best practices of video email marketing.
Continuing on the series of common web video mistakes in marketing, let's focus on video file formats. I'm sure you'd agree that technology changes quickly these days and feels like a full-time job to keep up with - not to mention keeping the alphabet soup of web video formats straight. wmv, mov, swf, flv, mp4, MediaThis and RealThat... it's enough to make your head spin.
Tell me this: How many times have you visited a website, encountered an online video you're excited to watch and been forced to download it onto your computer before attempting to play it? Or worse - you had to figure out what software to download in order to watch the brief video. I would bet my lunch that rather than figuring out how to watch the video, you left the site in search of a competitor who made the experience easy.
As you produce web videos in house or select an online video firm to help you, rely on the expertise available to ensure that you provide your website visitors with a hassle-free viewing experience. Think usability - this isn't a place to cross your fingers, hope you guessed right.
My husband, being a "man's man," loves these kinds of silly, quasi-perverse rhetorical questions. And the age-old querry, "does size really matter?" always gets a smirk from him. But, really it does apply to video marketing on the internet.
Online video storytelling, in any capacity, is much more labor intensive and costly than writing an essay, article, or a blog. So, often times those who purchase videos believe they must be scripted epics that cover every single marketing message their team of managers, assistants, and directors can concoct. Whereas I truly appreciate their efforts, a well-rounded web video strategy looks at each individual video as a simple part of a more well-crafted branding image. Instead of having an executive spend 20 minutes on a video telling me how great his/her people are at XYZ Company, I'd rather hear from and see the individuals in short and impactful video stories.
In my experience, successful online videos have several key components- they are visually interesting, convey an emotion, and do not drag on and on for the sake of dragging on and on. The last thing any marketer wants is to spend a ton of money on a video nobody can stomach to watch.
In my tenure at Cantaloupe, I can't tell you how many times I have told folks that we are not like a lot of traditional website video firms. With our style of web video production, we don't price on the basis of how long a video is (unless it is a 20 minute epic- I wouldn't recommend that anyway), rather we price based on the number of videos and the style. So...does size really matter? You can interpret the question however you want, but sometimes (to my husband's delight) smaller is better.
By now, you may have realized that online video marketing is something your organization needs to do. The problem is, you're probably not completely sure how that web video campaign should look and how is should fit in with the rest of your online marketing.
What kind of video works online? Where should I put my videos? How many videos should I have on my website? What kind of online video platform should I use? How do I distribute my web video?
You may have researched various website video firms and online video platform companies, but if you still need a little direction I encourage you to register for one of Cantaloupe TV's ongoing webinars entitled, Eloupe: Engage your Audience the Cantaloupe Way.
In this 45 min webinar, you will learn:
How influential your web presence is How powerful online video is What kind of video works on the internet The five "must haves" of a well-rounded online video campaign How Cantaloupe TV provides a full service video marketing solution that is a proven opportunity increaser
I was driving southbound on interstate 465 here in Indianapolis the other day after a tiring day at work. As I was weaving in and out of traffic, I happened to notice a billboard. This particular billboard was vacant, and the company who owned it had a catchy little saying to entice people to occupy it. You know the kind . . . "made you look," "your customers could be looking at this," stuff like that. This billboard, however, had something I've never seen written before. It said, "Why whisper when you can shout?" Clever. Point well made. Makes sense. But, as I continued to fight my way through mini vans and semi trucks, I began to think more about this rhetorical question. Why WOULD I whisper if I could shout? It was almost as if it were a riddle I HAD to answer. Then it hit me like a house load of bricks . . .
With the advent of technologies like broadband internet, the world has evolved from being a billion, tiny microcosms to one gigantic monster. With it's evolution has come a certain change in how we communicate. In this new, never-sleep, global society; glitz, flash, superlatives and techno music are working overtime just to catch our attention. There are thousands of entertainment and broadcast mediums, millions of websites, XM gave us hundreds of specific radio stations, there are cable stations galore . . . and the more they grow, the more THEY shout. Pulling us to and fro with enticing words and attractive choreography. Back and forth, over and over, they shout. Buy this! Come in here! Watch me! Listen to this! Read me! Subscribe here! Travel there! Wear this! Order now! A deafening chorus of shouting. But, here's the point . . . If everyone is shouting, who is really being heard? A whisper is rare. A whisper grabs your attention. Ever been at a table, and someone leans over to whisper your neighbor a secret? What do you typically do? You stop. You pay attention. You naturally want to know what the secret is. If you're close enough, you may pry to find out what it was. You completely grab one's attention if you whisper, and in a world of loud mouths and yodelers, people crave the intimate, and personalized delivery of a whisper. Yes, technology has brought us many great things . . . but, boy has it numbed certain aesthetic human subtleties. Email is wonderful, and fast, and convenient, but do you remember the appreciation and self value you felt when you received a handwritten letter? Sure, getting flair or a "poke" on Facebook is kind of nice, but how does it compare to someone firmly holding your hand, looking you in the eyes and saying with sincerity, "I appreciate you." You see . . . we've gotten away from that. As marketing gurus, we must understand that our job is not necessarily to shout as loud as we can so as many people can hear us. No . . . it's more about having the right conversations with the right people. Sincere video is an excellent alternative to the "loud mouth" methods being used out there today. We've gotten away from what, in many ways, makes us human. "Why whisper when you can shout?" ANSWER: Because a well placed whisper is louder.
More often than not I'm advising clients to shorten and tighten up their online video stories.
So when our video team wanted to put out an 8 minute video, I fought it. I thought I might as well tattoo "hypocrit" across my forehead if I allowed this to happen.
But their creative vision won out and we launched the video, and I learned a valuable lesson.
You can't optimize a video's length without knowing it's intent.
I always knew this, but now I had a clear story to back it up. Take a look at this graph:
What you see here is that roughly 505 people started this video, and 190 completed it (I don't take into account the late steep drop off at the end because it represents people who clicked out of the video when the closing tag came on. Think of it as people leaving a movie when the end credits come on.). That's a completed views rate of 37.6%.
Is that good?
Well we typically see completed views rates at about 50%, but those are for videos 2-3:30 minutes long. I would have expected a drastically reduced completion rate for a video more than twice as long. Why didn't I?
Because we pitch Cantaseries as entertainment. People aren't watching it for information like they might be with your website videos.
Think about this too, according to Marketing Sherpa's "Marketing with Video Report", only 36% of viewers make it all the way through a viral video, and those videos ranged from 1:30 - 2:00 minutes.
This is why you should focus on video marketing instead of viral marketing. Viral marketing may be worth taking the occasional risk on, but internet video marketing will deliver much more reliable and consistent results.
In the recent months, more and more companies have begun utilizing contextual web video to enhance in their interactive marketing activities. One company that does this extremely well is ESPN as demonstrated by the following page: Lewis, Ball St. beat W. Michigan to complete 12-0 regular season. In this page, the video highlights have been embedded inline with the game recap article, which as we noted last time provides context for search engines and promotes the visibility of the video itself.
Barack Obama also effectively utilized contextual video for his campaign website as shown by his Economy page. The content of this page identifies Obama's economic plan and contrasts it to McCain's philosophy, but the contextual video was added to provide an interactive channel to the user.
Look for this contextual strategy to increase as firms begin to realize the power of online video and its association with good web search engine optimization practices.
"The best public measures seldom result from previous wisdom, but rather are forced by the occasion." -Benjamin Franklin
I stumbled upon that quote back in high school, and for some reason it stuck with me word for word. The insight here is simple - sometimes we don't do the things we should do until we're forced to do them.
In the case of marketing, sometimes we don't take on the new projects that can really move the needle for our organizations until some external catalyst (like an impending economic recession) forces our hand. When our budgets are cut, we're forced to be more creative with our money. When the consumers are harder to reach, we're forced to be more innovative with how we reach them.
At Cantaloupe.tv, we see this every day when we discuss internet video marketing with prospects. Many of them are still wedded to traditional advertising - buying ads in newspapers and magazines, relying solely on a sales force to bring in leads, going to the same old trade shows, etc.
Web video is new to them, and it looks risky, as does all interactive marketing like blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc.
But when times change, we're forced to change also. This article on tech firms shows you how lower marketing budgets have forced tech marketers to branch out into new mediums. What's great about these new mediums is through sheer hard work, you can get more out of every dollar spent than you can with traditional advertising.
It's nearly impossible to get more mileage out of an ad you bought in this month's magazine, but if you create a video for your website, there are infinite possibilities for distributing it and getting it seen, if you're only willing to work for it.
Now, I know instant messengers have been used by some marketers as a channel for reaching customers, but I only ever saw it used in a B2C environment, and then, only a couple times.
Why didn't it ever catch on in the B2B world as anything more than an internal communication tool? Why didn't we ask people for their IM name and put our own on our business cards like we do with email addresses?
I've used video chat internally with Apple's iChat, but Google's entry into this space spurred me to think about what relevance this live online streaming video feature has for B2B marketers. At Cantaloupe, the majority of our work is done in the space of website video firms. We're starting to see more and more branching out of where our clients want to distribute web video, but up to this point, the website has been the most popular place. Chat poses an interesting opportunity...
I know this will be a disappointment to all of you, but this post just contains questions not answers. I'm going to think a little more about this and post some more thoughts over the next couple days.
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.
Cantaloupe.TV saw a lot of interest this year at the Techpoint Indiana Technology Summit. One of the people who stopped by our booth was Eric Kanagy of a company called RedPost. (What does RedPost do? I think their mission says it best: To replace the world's bulletin board with digital signs?)
The reason I'm highlighting Eric is because he wrote a blog post reflecting on what impact YouTube has really had, not just in the online world, but in the world of video production.
As a the owner of a video production company "pre-YouTube," I think he can speak to the disruptiveness of online video better than I can.
I'm guessing "website video firms" wasn't a category anyone thought to google in the era "pre-YouTube"?
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?
This is actually the title of a section from "The McKinsey Way" a book that delivers insight into how things are done at world's top strategic consulting firm. The point of the statement is that McKinsey doesn't sell. It doesn't make cold calls. It doesn't knock on doors. It doesn't pound the pavement, yet it's the "top" strategic consulting firm.
How then, does McKinsey get new projects? In the words of the book, it markets. It markets by sending its own quarterly academic business journal to all of its clients. It markets through networking whether it's being on non-profit boards or attending conferences. This passage in essence, sums up the way McKinsey sells:
"But sometimes the right way to sell your product or services is not to
barge into your customer's home with a bunch of free samples. Just be
there, at the right time, and make sure the right people know who you
are."
This too, is the essence of online video magazines. It's about using video on websites to have an ongoing conversation. It's about authentic storytelling that peppers in the marketing message in a subtle fashion, masked behind an engaging and entertaining streaming video. It's about looking like the expert (re: McKinsey's quarterly business journal) rather than forcing your sales pitch down someone's throat.
"Just be there, at the right time, and make sure the right people know who you are."
Think about how nice it'd be to have a web service software that allowed you to -
Show a video with your web cam and upload it to your website without help from developers
Create internet video landing pages
Rearrange your video magazines at the click of a button
Click one button and upload all your videos to YouTube and other internet video aggregators
Optimize all your videos for google video search and other internet video search engines
To store your website videos
To burn your website videos to a CD for use at tradeshows
To search your entire collection of videos so you can easily find the one with Brian the CEO talking about how his ski trip inspired the second generation product
Have more video analytics than you know what to do with
That list is alright, I have a ton more things I'd like to see in an online video software. I haven't even shared my best, but what would you like to see?
Update 7/28/08: A reader's comment (and thanks for commenting by the way) prompted me to clarify this post. The web service portion of Cantaloupe's product does some of these things (tracking and storing videos for instance) and we're currently gathering feedback for future developments. We'd love to hear from you.
Cantaloupe has got its
hands in something big: Internet video marketing.Of the 150 million Internet users, about 85 million are
viewing video online at this point in time.The future
of online video may seem mystifying, but if one thing's for sure, it’s not going away.
Online video spending was
at $225 million in 2005 and then $640 million in 2007 (these numbers include video advertising dollars, digital media production costs, and online media firm fees, etc.).eMarketer projects that by 2009
spending will reach $1.5 billion. With the increasing popularity of this entertainment medium there's good reason to expect that kind of growth.
According to a study by F.N. Magid Associates for Online Publishers Association:
-5% of consumers view online video daily
-24% view it at least once a week
-46% view it at least once a month
Marketers want web video
because it engages viewers.Viewers want it because it’s engaging (and entertaining). Online users watch many forms of video, but news video ranks highest in popularity (except with younger viewers), and humorous videos came in second place (probably because these videos are most likely to be shared with others). According to the study conducted by Pew Internet & American Life titled "Online Video," professional videos are preferred among viewers over amateur content. Thankfully Cantaloupe can help you out in the area of professionalism. That's not to say if you really want amateur-style video we wouldn't do it though...
The more popular and
available online video becomes, the more people will view it.Google and Yahoo already have video
search options making it easier for people to find video on websites.Strides like this will only amplify
viewer numbers.
Since the emergence of Internet video marketing, companies have looked for more and more ways to incorporate video into their own marketing plan.We all know
people don’t want to read through a bunch of mumbo jumbo to figure out
what you/your product/your business is all about.Just show them.Through video. It can be fun, entertaining, informative, and chock full of your wonderful marketing messages (but not blatantly full of them of course). Soon there will be a day when people expect video. Might as well start giving it to them now.
It’s creates more work for me than I can take on right now
We can save money by producing them ourselves
It’s time consuming for me
It’s just a fad
It can’t be tied to increased sales
Our people aren’t engaging enough to be on video
No one will want to watch our videos…especially on a regular basis
My business doesn’t have any interesting stories to tell
My business doesn’t really have a use for internet video
I need thousands if not millions of viewers for my web video to be successful
I can't measure an ROI on website video
I get it but other people in my organization never will
No one else in my industry is using it. This is often used to justify using internet video. It turns out, other people in your industry probably are using it and it's becoming more common everyday.
From the very beginning we've positioned ourselves as authentic storytellers, and now I'm happy to report that we have some very exciting additions to our story development process coming out of beta.
These changes are for any marketer who has ever thought that they don't have an interesting story to tell, or that no one would want to watch a video about their company.
It's for the marketer who has struggled to think about who the audience is and how that audience should interact with their website video.
With so many ways that video can be utilized on websites, it's important to have a systematic way of thinking about your internet video marketing strategy.
Curious to learn more? We're happy to share. Just give us a call or shoot us an email (contact info is on the bottom of our home page)
I had to check myself twice before I typed that title. Do I really mean exactly what that says, that quantity is more important than quality? In a debate could I stand my ground? I've already given you my answer.
Video Magazines elevate the quantity. Why? Because it's about the relationship, and most relationships are not love at first sight. They're built over time with multiple conversations.
Read that again and apply it to the way you used to think about internet video. How often did you think about internet video as an ongoing strategy (quantity)? Now how often did you think about it as a piece of glitter for your website (quality)?
Quantity vs. Quality is really a false dichotomy. They're not necessarily mutually exclusive. As a digital video production company, we produce quality videos. Do we produce the highest quality? No. Do we produce the highest quality needed to reach your online marketing goals? We like to think so.
Sometimes, you can catch lightning in a bottle, and more often than not, it happens organically.
It is well known that when planning anything properly, one must aim then fire. When it comes to online video, however, most people fire then try to aim. Let me explain. Many times people will think of a "cool" or "interesting" idea for a web video, but they do little to confirm that this video will actually help them. A good illustration might be how products are introduced to particular markets in modern times. Many people or companies start with a good idea, they manufacture a bunch of gadgets, and then try to create a need in a market. Conversely, the most successful businessmen first find a market, unearth that market's most glaring heartaches, and create products to alleviate that pain. Many people with good intentions fall victim to the first kind of thinking, in business AND with video marketing. Before you consider ideas for video, it is wise to first consider what your overall marketing goals are. Once you've determined what those goals are, you must then ask yourself questions such as, "Where are we falling short?" and "What are the most difficult goals to achieve?" Once you've unearthed your organization's own heartaches, it's much easier to determine where video can help, and what the content of that video should be. So don't put the cart before the horse; identify your overall needs, then decide where video can enhance.
In the recent months, more and more companies have begun utilizing contextual web video to enhance in their interactive marketing activities. One company that does this extremely well is ESPN as demonstrated by the following page: 
What prompted this thought was Google's recent video feature addition to Gmail (
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