By Maria Valdez Haubrich
According to the latest market research from digital marketing intelligence firm comScore, more than 172 million Americans watch online video in any given month. Are they watching video about your business?
Online video is here to stay, and it’s only going to grow in popularity as today’s younger Internet users—who’ve grown up on YouTube—get older. That’s why using online video to market your company is one of the smartest moves you can make.
Here are some of the things you can do with online video:
- Tour your business
- Demonstrate a product
- Educate customers
Because video is highly attractive to search engines, adding videos to your business website or putting them on YouTube increases your company’s rank in search engine results.
Using video doesn’t have to be intimidating. Here are some ideas:
Keep it simple. Depending on your audience, something as simple to use as a Flip video camera can work for shooting quick videos. In fact, an informal, “fun” video can be a great marketing tool. If you need the film to be very pro, contact local video production companies for help.
Keep it short. Consumers have short attention spans so tailor your videos accordingly. Three minutes is a sweet spot for many types of videos; if you’re doing an educational video such as talking about tax tips for small business, you might want to go longer, but still keep it under 10 minutes.
Keep it entertaining. Even the aforementioned tax video doesn’t have to be dry and dull. If you’re not an energetic speaker, find someone in your business who is. The more fun and creative you can be, the more likely your video will get spread around from friend to friend or shared on social media sites.
Keep it coming. Many companies post a few videos, then never follow up. Customers (and search engines) crave new content, so choose a schedule you can realistically keep up with and post new videos regularly. Creating a series of related videos is a great way to keep customers coming back for the next one.
Keep it easy to find. The more places you post your video the more hits you’ll get and the more your business’s name will get known. Put the videos on your company website, Facebook page and YouTube. Link to your videos in your press releases, e-mail signatures and anywhere else you can think of.
Image by Flickr user Alan Levine (Creative Commons)
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: Marketing, online video
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