Video content excels at a lot of things, but one of its best benefits is the ability to put your passion on display. Audiences can see it… hear it.. and feel it.

That’s a powerful thing for businesses trying to set themselves apart in the marketplace. Our industry is no exception, which is why I’m so surprised more don’t take advantage of the medium they help others use.

Practicing what we preach

When I was updating the T60 website, I looked at a ton of other video production companies’ sites. I was surprised to see not many produced stories about their own business. Most had some sort of highlight reel featuring past client work, but few produced a video specifically highlighting how and why they produce videos.

That’s just crazy to me. It should come as no surprise then that one of our top priorities was to produce a short video letting people know about our passion… storytelling.

Your video content challenge

So… here’s my challenge for you. Start researching your competition online. Checkout their websites. Do they have video? If so, what types of videos have they produced? A basic About Us video… product videos… testimonials? Do they look like they were made in-house or by pros?

It’s a good thing to do for a couple of reasons. First, if none of them have videos, you now know this is a great way to set your business apart from the pack. Second, if they are producing videos, what they’ve done might give you some ideas as to what types of videos you want to produce for your company.

Either way, it should be a valuable exercise.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Back from vacation… batteries recharged! Last week my family and I went to Wisconsin’s Northwoods for a summer get-away at the Estrold Resort. Good times. I even walked away with blog post idea regarding website video. You know… the About Us video.

Not enough businesses have one.

It’s really kind of crazy. I visited about 10-20 websites researching things for and during the trip. Do you know how many had a video? Zero, zip… I was stunned.

Big city, small town… shouldn’t matter

On one level, I understand it. The Northwoods is small town America. You might not expect small town businesses to be producing high-quality storytelling. One… they don’t have access to the number of professional video producers as big cities. Two… business competition probably isn’t as fierce.

Umm… right and wrong.

The first point is totally valid. I did a search for Northwoods video production and there aren’t a lot of companies to choose from, but there are a few. The second point… I think business owners there would argue.

Competition for your dollars is fierce everywhere. Big city… small town America… wherever. Business leaders are always looking for a leg-up on their competition. For a long time, there was a debate as to whether or not companies needed a website. That debate is over.

Website video sets businesses apart

The new debate is what should be on the website, and without a doubt video is a way to stand above your competition.

Consider this… only 24% of national brands are using online video (Kantar Media). This at a time when online video viewing is skyrocketing. Cisco reports it’s expected to double to 1.5 billion users in 2016.

So if there are more and more people watching online videos… and more than 3/4 of brands are not using online videos to market themselves… what does that add up to? Opportunity.

What an incredible opportunity for business owners to set themselves apart from their competition.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Email marketing remains a big part of many businesses. One of the things that’s great about it is that we have numbers… lots of numbers to track exactly how email campaigns are working. You know what’s working? What’s really driving revenues up? Email video.

Whether it’s embedding video into the emails themselves using html5, or simply linking to a video… it works. The numbers don’t lie.

The Relevancy Group recently conducted a study called, The ROI Of Video In Email Marketing. All I can say is, “Wow!”

How good could it be?

The survey polled 266 marketing executives and found only 25% using video in their email campaigns, but the ones who are have been successful.

Our survey found that marketers that utilize video in email have increased their click-through and conversion rates, and are generating forty percent higher monthly revenue than those that do not use video.

In case that slipped by you… the survey found that marketers using video in their email campaigns are generating 40% higher monthly revenues than those that don’t use video. 40%!!!

I’ll be honest, I don’t know what kind of marketers were surveyed, and the study doesn’t say. Mrs. G thinks that’s a big deal. What if the people surveyed work for big companies? They could have an easier time generating more revenue.

Another factor… we all know email marketing is a numbers game. The bigger and better your email list, the more likely it is that your email campaigns will pay-off.

How email video is working

However… despite those factors… what video is doing is maximizing those emails. The survey shows…

• Increased click through rates
• Increased duration people read the email
• Increased sharing
• Increased conversion rate

Any of those things interest you? They interest me. So much so I’m revamping our own email marketing… sign-up for our newsletter… shameless plug (ding)!

I know… I know… there are all sorts of reasons not to produce a video. We don’t have any stories to tell… it’s too expensive… we can’t take the time to produce them. The thing is… they’re all just excuses.

The truth is you do have stories to tell… video doesn’t have to be expensive… and when you have a pro do it the production won’t take much of your time at all.

Don’t let those phony excuses get in the way of you maximizing your email marketing.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Like the blog? Have you seen our newsletter? What… more content!? You bet.

We take our most popular blog posts, put a fresh spin on them and add a real life case study for the newsletter.

Alright, this needs to be said… or written in this case. If you’re going to make the commitment to produce corporate videos, please do it right.

I just read a blog post in which a marketing person for a major hospital group was giving video storytelling tips. I’m not going to link to the post. I’m not here to embarrass anyone, but it does provide an opportunity for a teachable moment.

Honestly, the tips that were given were all solid. Think about interesting ways to tell your stories, pick the right equipment and remember that videos don’t need to go viral for them to be a success.

Sounding good

Solid, right?

I was kind of digging this, so I decided to check-out the company’s YouTube channel. OMG. What a disaster.

Don’t get me wrong, I saw a lot there of what was being talked about… it’s just… none of it was good. In most cases, the stories were boring and came off amateur-ish.

Producing good corporate videos typically takes a pro

So here’s the teachable moment… just because you know what to do, doesn’t mean you know how to do it.

Video is a tricky thing. It looks so easy. Set-up a camera, hit the record button, maybe do a little basic editing… and there you have it… an awesome marketing video!

Ummm… no. It’s not that easy. As a matter of fact, it takes a lot of experience to produce a quality video that’s going to connect with an audience. Maybe the biggest problem with inexperienced producers is that they sometimes produce videos that have a negative impact on audiences.

Video is about emotion. In nearly every video we produce, I’m hoping viewers leave with a good feeling about the business. I want them to feel confident in that company. A bad video has the complete opposite affect.

Picking a seasoned video pro will go a long way to making sure your video doesn’t make your business look bad.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

I recently blogged about the importance of doing your own storytelling and not letting others do it for you. This is especially critical for anyone facing tough reviews or upset critics.

It isn’t hard to find examples of it being put into practice. Take a look at big time businesses in that situation and they’re all using video to tell their stories. Case in point… Walmart.

At least half of you just cringed. It’s a company that’s popular for its prices, and unpopular for… well… a lot of reasons.

We all know Walmart faces a ton of PR challenges, but its leaders are doing their best to be storytellers and get out messages they probably feel like the traditional media isn’t reporting.

You can find some of them at Walmart’s YouTube channel under the playlist… Our Stories.

They aren’t anything magical. All of them are pretty short… less than a minute. Some have a “commercial” feel, others tell more of a story. I’ll let you guess which ones I prefer.

Anyway, the point is that the big boys get this issue. When you’re facing harsh critics, it’s important not to let them define you.

It would be easy for companies like Walmart to sit back, take the criticism, and count their dollars. Instead, company leaders stand-up for themselves and point out the things they’re doing right.

Ideally, businesses should be doing this all the time which counters any harsh reviews that may come up. Whether it’s customer testimonials or highlighting the company’s charity efforts, there several types of stories you can tell to define yourself.

Be a storyteller.

 –Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

It might very well be my mantra. Video isn’t about facts and figures. Video is about emotion. That’s why video marketing is so powerful. It taps something inside of us.

We all know this deep down, but I’d like to personally thank Forbes for doing some additional digging and research to prove my point.

Brain backing video marketing

Sean Rosensteel wrote a story earlier this year about why businesses need to include online video as a part of their marketing strategies. It breaks down some of the numbers showing how popular online video has become, but then he digs deeper behind “why” video is such a good marketing tool.

For this, he cites Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., also known as “The Brain Lady.” She pinpoints a few areas…

• our brains are hardwired to pay attention to faces as a way to gather information and judge whether or not it’s believable.
• the sound of the human voice converts information into meaningful content.
• emotions are contagious. We see something that appeals to our senses and we want to share it.
• our brains are naturally drawn to movement.

Taking these physiological facts into account, it’s no wonder why video is such a powerful marketing medium.

Helpful tip

The area that actually peaked my interest was the first one about faces. I think a lot of less experienced video producers cover as many of the talk-head shots as possible with “better” video. While I like to cover-up talking-heads as well, it’s important to pay attention to what the talking-heads are saying. If it’s something of critical importance, something that gets to the heart of the video, you should always make sure it’s being said on-camera.

Anyway, all four are interesting points, and they certainly make sense. Video is about emotion, and that’s why it’s so powerful.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Credit Mrs. G for this one. She bought a hand-held citrus juicer, saw a product sticker featuring a camera, and thought it might be blog-worthy. Turned out to be a lesson in product videos.

The juicer is made by the German company, Koziol. The website… mostly in German… not much of a help. When Mrs. G suggested this as a blog post we joked about potential topics. Knowing it was a German company, the first one that came to mind… video… the universal language.

Thankfully, the website linked to the company’s YouTube channel. Guess what I found there?

Lots and lots of product videos

Product videos… dozens of them.  All the ones I saw were pretty much the same… music with a basic demonstration of the product. Nothing Earth shattering, but all professionally produced… and I have to say… I kind of like them. No story… just product demos.

I know… totally not a Tony thing to write, but in this case it worked for me. Mainly because all of the videos were short, and there were sooooo many!

Taking a storytelling break

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I’m a big believer in storytelling. And believe it or not, everyone of Koziol’s products has a story behind it. However, they have HUNDREDS of videos at their YouTube channel.

I love storytelling, but I’m also realistic. You’re probably not going to tell the story of hundreds of products, and apparently you don’t have to. Koziol’s YouTube channel has been up for three years and has received more than 180,000 views.

Not bad for some basic product videos.

If I were counseling their leaders… I would suggest telling a few stories, but it’s hard to argue with a company so devoted to video.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting a lot of Hootsuite ads popping-up in my Facebook feed. The most recent turned out to be a welcome one because it linked me to some fun video content and turned me on to the company’s YouTube channel.

If you’re not familiar with Hootsuite, it’s a platform to manage many of your social media accounts. It’s something I’ve been using for a while, and recently I’ve been doing my best to learn more about how to leverage it for T60.

I guess I just answered my question as to why I’ve been getting so many ads.

Hootsuite video content

Anyway, like I mentioned, in this case I was actually pretty happy about it because Hootsuite is producing some great video content. They feature customer testimonials, how-to videos, product videos, educational pieces, social media insights… holy cow!

The best part… they’re clearly professionally produced so you’re not going to sit through garbage.

The initial video that caught my attention was a testimonial from the San Diego Zoo. It’s just a great example of the way businesses can do testimonials. It’s every bit a promotion for the zoo as it is for Hootsuite.

After looking around the YouTube channel, I checked-out a how-to video. The one I watched was on the User Profile pop-up feature. I was totally expecting your basic screen capture video showing me how to use the function. I did get a little of that, but the video also had a fun and creative edge to it as well.

Takeaway

It’s great to see a company make a real commitment to quality video. It should also serve as a valuable lesson to everyone else. Hootsuite is a company embedded deeply in the content marketing movement, and they have access to big data many businesses can only dream of… and where is the company putting its energy and dollars?

Video.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Okay… you have a video budget. Now it’s time to get some video proposals. Unfortunately, this is how it sometimes goes…

• client requests a proposal
• production company spends time preparing their ideas and putting them into a proposal
• client looks at the proposal, but the price is beyond their budget

Ugg. Has that ever happened to you? Probably… and not just with video. It’s a problem with just about any creative agency and it wastes everyone’s time.

The creative businesses putting together the proposal… the client waiting for the proposal to come back… and the client again because now they have to wait for an updated proposal or seek-out other companies. It’s certainly something that pops-up from time to time, and something I have blogged about in detail before. 

The solution to the problem

It just doesn’t work, but there’s a way to make sure it never happens again. Give the video producer your budget upfront.

Did I just write that? You bet I did. Tell them your budget upfront.

I know, it’s not the way we do things. Nobody wants to give someone a budget that might be more than what it takes to get the job done.

Here’s the problem though, there can be HUGE differences in video production costs depending on what you want done. If a company wants an About Us video, we could prepare a proposal that is $800 or $8,000. The price can vary that much, and as producers we’re trying to read the minds of clients as to what their budget sweet spot might be.

Another way to use your video budget

What’s the point? If you’re doing your homework you’ll be getting multiple bids, right? That ensures you’re not going to be taken advantage of because if you give three production companies your budget, you’ll get to see what all three will deliver for that price. If one is way out of whack, you’ll see it.

Now that’s a smart and time-saving way to get a creative proposal.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.