The first thing you may be saying to yourself is, “Why should I concern myself with videos, I just want people to call me!” We understand that it can seem overwhelming to consider yet another aspect of your marketing strategy, but we are here to help with this very important aspect of your online presence.

The simple answer is that video is where the people are at! Billions of people per day are watching videos on YouTube alone. YouTube is the second largest search engine, and you want to be found there!

As one blogger once said, “…contrary to popular belief, it’s not all just silly cat videos and adolescents injuring themselves.”

Effective Use of Video for your Web Presence

Now that you know videos are an important part of marketing any business or service on the web, it is important to know that not all videos are created equal. Here are some quick tips to help you create a video that adds value to your business.

Tips for effective video marketing:

• When creating a video, it is important to state the problem first, and then talk about how your company is part of the solution. Always include a call to action in your video that compels the viewer to call you for service. Don’t forget your web address and phone number in the video! (You may want to set up a specific tracking number to use in web videos, so you know which calls came through Youtube.)
• What type of footage should you record? – You should record some footage of your team working on a project. You can also create a commercial, or an informational or how-to video. Just make sure it will be of interest to viewers!
• Always leave out the profanity. We know that job sites aren’t always free of profanity, but your videos should be.
• What length should your video be? – We recommend not having a video longer than one and a half minutes. Attentions spans are short. Make sure your video is organized so people watch the whole thing.
• What are the file type guidelines? –If you are outputting a new video file, outputting it to .MPEG4 (sometimes abbreviated as MP4) is preferred,as it widely used on the web, can be uploaded to YouTube, and can be viewed by most users, including those with smart phones, handheld devices and tablets. YouTube is the primary place we recommend you upload your videos so we can embed them on your website. The YouTube file guidelines are included below (iMarket Solutions can help verify your file is in the right format – if you need us to convert it, we can do so for a fee).
  • .WMV
  • .AVI - Many cameras output this format - typically the video codec is MJPEG and audio is PCM
  • .MPEG4, 3GPP and MOV files - Typically supporting h264, mpeg4 video codecs, and AAC audio codec
  • WebM files - Vp8 video codec and Vorbis Audio codecs
  • .MPEGPS - Typically supporting MPEG2 video codec and MP2 audio
  • .FLV - Adobe-FLV1 video codec, MP3 audio

It is important to remember that videos are meant to be a “value add” for your potential customers. Think about what aspects of your services and expertise you would like to highlight and begin there.

Want more tips? Feel free to contact your Online Marketing Coordinator with questions! Not a client? Fix that today - call us at 800-727-3920!