Tag Archives: marketing

We took a family outing to IKEA yesterday. I know. Sunday at IKEA? Yes, it was every bit the madhouse you’re imagining.

But among the madness, guess what I found? Okay, my wonderful wife spotted them. Shoppers escaping the chaos by sitting in the prearranged living rooms watching… IKEA videos.

There were actually videos running all over the store.  Most of them appeared to show customers the many ways they can use their products to decorate… and the customers were watching.

It’s a great example of how to focus on the audience and still meet a marketing goal. The videos weren’t necessarily hyping IKEA. They were videos focused on the audience’s interest in decorating.

You don’t always have to come out and tell people how terrific you are. Deliver a series of videos over time that focus on the audience, and it simply becomes understood.

–Tony Gnau

A lot of companies now recognize the power of video. Many are making the leap to produce some sort of video about their business. That’s great. I encourage them to continue. An About Us video is something every company should have these days.

The thing is… that’s only scratching the surface of what video can do. Producing a video series can put a business on a path to video success. It can capture someone’s attention, encourage them to share what they’ve discovered, and get them coming back for more.

The content is up to you. I recommend producing a series of videos on specific challenges facing your customers. Identify the problems, then show them how to address those issues. The videos may not be all about your company, but they are demonstrating your expertise. Turn yourself into the industry expert.

Not willing to make that leap of faith? Focus a series on your business. Create a series of videos featuring outstanding employees. Highlight your customers and how you’re meeting their needs. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head.

Regardless of what you choose for your series, keeping them focused on the audience’s needs… not yours… is critical. This isn’t about pumping you up, it’s about serving the customers. Even if you focus the series on your business, the theme behind the videos should be, “This is how we help you… our client.”

Create quality videos that do that and you’ll benefit from something. Watching quality video is habit-forming. Once you’ve demonstrated to an audience they’re going to get quality video content, they’ll continue to click when you inform them there’s a new video.

A video series is custom-tailored for our social media world. Produce one and let users help build your brand.

–Tony Gnau

In part one, we explained the importance of keeping the videos in your series short. Part two was about viewing habits. Today we’re hitting on maybe the most powerful aspect… sharing.

The idea behind a series is to capture an audience. Short videos, covering topics important to your viewers will help you develop that following. Now we want them to share them with others. The best part is if you’ve done your job well in the other areas, this will likely happen all on its own.

Post it on YouTube. Share that link on Twitter, Facebook, in e-mails campaigns to clients and prospective clients, with your friends, family, your dry cleaner… EVERYONE! If they like what they see, they’ll pass it along too.

The more people that see it, the more people will turn to you for your expertise.

Tomorrow… we’ll wrap things up with some final thoughts.

–Tony Gnau

If your business is embracing social media. If your business is into e-mail campaigns. If your business is interested in getting noticed, a video series will do wonders. The best part is the more videos you produce, the  more people will watch.

The most important thing is quality. The videos need to look and sound good. Second, you need good content. Something that addresses the needs or issues faced by your audience. Finally, the videos need to be produced on a regular basis. It could be quarterly, monthly, weekly… it’s up to you and your budget.

Once your audience notices you’re producing quality videos, a magical thing happens. They watch. Not only that, if you promote the series, they’ll look forward to the next video.

There’s so much garbage out there that quality stuff stands out. Producing a solid series will get you noticed, and it will have viewers looking forward to your next production.

Tomorrow… the sharing factor.

–Tony Gnau

This is an idea whose time has come. There’s no denying the power of video, but there’s an even better way for businesses to use it. On top of that, it’s a way that will give them more bang for their buck.

It’s the video series. All week long I’ll be highlighting why it’s such a good PR/marketing idea.

First reason… doing a series of short videos will capture short attention spans. How short should the videos run? One minute and 30-seconds or less.  That’s 1:30 or less.

Think it can’t be done? Wrong. The average story you watch on TV news every night is exactly that length. You may have to find a quality storyteller to help your business do this, but you’ll be rewarded with the type of videos that will capture people’s attention.

A series of short videos will also do something one long video can’t do. It makes it much more likely your audience will watch the videos all the way through. If you produce five 60-second videos and release them on a weekly basis, you stand a much better chance of getting people to see all five minutes than if you produced a single 5-minute video.

Coming tomorrow… why a good series encourages viewership.

–Tony Gnau

Courtesy: Virgin America

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about Virgin America. I’ve never flown the airline, but I can’t wait to give it a try.

One of the reasons, I keep getting these videos via Facebook that do a great job of promoting the airline. Yesterday’s video featured a partnership with Google allowing travelers to check-out a laptop to surf the web during their flight.

Just another great example for businesses. The video itself is nothing special, but I watched and now I know about another service the airline provides its customers.

Could Virgin leaders have done this with a simple text post? Yes. Would it have had the same impact. Doubtful. Video doesn’t just provide the information, it transports you to the airport and gives you a sense of what it would be like to actually use the laptop.

That’s the power of video. That’s why you need to put it to use promoting your business.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Virgin America/Google Laptop Service

You know why video makes for great social media content? It works. People love videos and they love to share the good ones.

According to emarketer.com, the number of internet users who are watching online videos every month is on the rise. By 2015, it could surpass the 195-million mark.

If you’re a business owner, those are numbers that can’t be ignored. If you’re a PR or marketing pro, those are numbers you need to share with your clients.

–Tony Gnau

Public relations maestro Gini Dietrich occasionally blogs at spinsucks.com about gaming and how it can be used in a PR/marketing setting. I’ve been thinking about various ways to incorporate video into social media games, and apparently I’m not the only one.

I love the promotion Dodge is running via YouTube. It’s basically an online video scavenger hunt for three of the company’s new SUVs, and the winners who find the vehicles get to keep them. Dodge is posting a series of videos at its YouTube channel providing hints.

Most of the videos are pretty simple, but it’s clear they’ve been well-produced. We’re not talking video shot by some amateur in the company’s marketing department on a FlipCam. It’s clear that pros shot and edited these segments. They actually look and feel more like TV ads than online videos.

Regardless, the game is fun, the videos look great, and it has my creativity synapses working overtime.

–Tony Gnau

VIDEO: Dodge YouTube Channel

You can pay just about anyone to shoot some video. Chances are they’re also capable of editing together that video. What you should be paying for is someone with a storyteller’s vision.

It’s their creativity that will set your video apart. It’s their creativity that will drive engagement. It’s their creativity that holds real value.

Don’t look for a vendor. Hire an artist.

–Tony Gnau

An authentic voice isn’t always polished. People who speak from the heart occasionally stutter, and sometimes they say, “um.” Don’t worry about it. Leave those things in your videos.

It’s okay for a couple of reasons. First, audiences don’t even notice it. Okay, if someone says something like, “you know,” four times in the span of 10-seconds, people will notice. They rarely notice the occasional verbal misstep because that’s simply how we all speak.

This is your video so you’re dissecting it word by word. Audiences don’t watch and listen that way. Stuttering and stammering is what we hear everyday, so hearing the same in a video only sounds like natural conversation.

Second, because it does sound natural, the content of what’s being communicated comes off as much more genuine than a polished answer. Unless you’re a great actor or experienced politician, sounding sincere while delivering a practiced answer is nearly impossible.

The best thing to do during your videos is to speak from the heart, hum, and let your passion show.

–Tony Gnau