Way back in January, I published a blog post on video marketing based on a conversation I had with Jessica Piscitelli, videographer extraordinaire and owner of www.capture-video.com. She’s a film school grad and worked in the movie industry in NYC until she realized that the exhausting, chaotic movie business was not for her. Jessica now produces videos for promotion, training, and SEO and lives a slightly more sane life. She and I have become friends, and she even roped me into joining the board of a local non-profit.
Because social media and video marketing are very important for SEO, I thought another blog post that focused more on her business would be useful and interesting.
Why did you decide to go into business for yourself? How long have you been in business?
When I started working in corporate video [for another company], I was basically their do-it-all solution. In other words, I ran the camera, edited the video, and made the, ahem – dating myself – master VHS tapes. I frankly just thought that since I was doing everything, I should be my own boss. I didn’t realize there was a lot more involved. That was 1999. I have since learned a lot about managing and growing a business that I wish I had known then!
Why do your clients decide to use video marketing as part of their marketing mix?
Because it is useful. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A moving picture is priceless. What does your product do? How do your services work? Who is being helped by your non-profit? All of these kinds of questions can be answered very clearly and concisely with a video.
Tracking ROI from marketing in general and social media specifically can be a challenge. There is no perfect answer for tracking ROI, but clients have come to me with specific goals in mind that were trackable. I had a client who wanted to get a certain number of clicks on a video we posted to YouTube. That was easy to monitor because YouTube tracks video “plays.” I had another client who wanted a certain number of people to click through to their website after watching or finding their videos. With Google Analytics or similar tools, it is possible to see where a viewer landing on your page came from and how many of them got there from various video posts.
Care to share the results of some of your most successful videos?
Wetlands Studies and Solutions:
The problem WSS was having involved explaining to a neighborhood association what their area would look like after stream restoration. Restoration is a long and ugly process, and people in areas where it is being done are often unhappy about it. Over a period of months, we captured the changing landscape – before, during, and after, as well as a full growing season later – and put together a video demonstrating exactly what you could expect from the stream restoration in your area over time. Of course, the improvements really are worth the process.
Georgetown University:
GU wanted to educate students on campus about the recycling program and facilities available on campus. They decided to put together a video using students to explain the benefits of recycling. Though not technically a viral video, as it was disbursed internally, the video was made like a student production – and it had the same kind of peer-to-peer energy.
A new website was launching to help hunters prepare their meat. The problem with venison is that the quality of the meat is determined during the process of field dressing. There is not much out there to teach people how to field dress a deer, and so a video showing those steps was not only a great educational tool, but also a great draw for the website.
“I do think having the video adds credibility to our site; more than words, it positions us as experts on our subject matter. Having a short video is a great way to share some expertise and connect with the target audience…people automatically trust you more if they’ve seen your face and heard you speak. It’s a great and easy tool to use.” – Susan Rose, GreatVenisonCooking.com
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