28 April 2010 - 15:16Video For Awareness and Lead Generation

I Very much enjoyed the event, “Combining SEO and Video to Drive Awareness and Lead Generation Online” sponsored by Business Wire.  The panel of experts provided facts, insights, advice, and predictions on the place of video in marketing communications.

The event opened with an eye-opening question, “How many in the room have looked at a video online in the past month?”  100% of attendees raised their hand.  We then viewed a video provided by David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR”, which showed the question being asked in Japan, London, Boston, and San Francisco with similar near 100% response.

Some take-aways for me from this event in no particular order were:

• Videos to record customer testimonials

• Videos in press releases get 500 times more responses than text

• Videos dramatically increase conversion rates on web pages

• Click through rates are 50% higher with video

• Videos help build awareness at the top of the sales funnel

• Videos help convert sales if used near the bottom of the sales funnel

o   Example: using a video to support a proposal may help close the sal

• How to video

• Videos for market research – interview customers

• Flip video phones – inexpensive and easy way to record video

• Use video in social media

• Use video on your blog

• Use video to generate a call to action

• Use video to show company’s social responsibility

·         Technology will make videos even more in demand – think I-Pad

·         Videos for employee empowerment

Thanks to the following for a very informative event:

Cliff Pollan, Tim Bradbury, Joe Chernov, Judy Gern, Dave Toole, and David Meerman Scott.