Create How-To Videos About Your Product

On the basis that no-one probably knows more about how to use your products than you, have you thought about making a “How to video” to grab some product interest from your prospects and customers online.

Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3 says: Instead of looking for the funny, ironic, or gross viral hit, make something of use. For example, let’s say you make outdoor equipment. Why not do a series of videos on how to set up a tent, or waterproof your boots, or build a snow cave? Or maybe you’re a bank. What about videos on how to balance your checkbook, or how to save for retirement.

Then, when you’re done, create a YouTube channel to house your how-to videos (such as “How to Achieve Financial Independence, from Bill’s Bank). And don’t forget to syndicate your videos out to the how-to sites – including WonderHowTo, Howcast and 5min as well. While these videos will never get the kind of viewership of The Old Spice guy, they’ll deliver consistent value to your most important prospects.

How to fix a child seat

Good Luck

Sous Productions

Call the Video Category What You Want; In The End, It’s “Informational”

Article by By ellenfriedland

This article by Ellen resonated with me as I have recently been thinking about structuring the example videos on my website in such a way to make it easier for prospective clients to find examples that would be similar to their needs.

In the process of thinking about how each of the Sous Productions videos could be categorised, I ended up going round and round in circles. I tended to categorise a lot of our corporate video work as “promotional video” but I can see Ellens’ “Informational” as being relevent.

I think the problem I have is that “informational” isnt a particularaly nice word and I am not sure it is a word used by the people I do business with. If my potential clients dont use a word then nor will I.

Here is Ellens perspective…  Last week a prospective new client of a major corporation asked me to fill out a vendor application. Among the questions listed, I was asked to break into categories the types of videos our corporate video production company creates. I thought about one we finished for a client last week which he intends to use to sell his product, but before I realized it would be popularly classified as a “sales” video, I started to type “informational.” Backspace, backspace, backspace. “Sales.”

The one we finished a few weeks ago on a corporate sustainability initiative, I thought: When it is shown to the private equity company’s investors, it will be seen as an “investor relations” video. When it is shown to other CEOs to give them ideas about how to better the planet and increase profits, it can be called, hmmm… “Marketing?” No, it’s really “informational.”

Or the video for the federal government, explaining to ex-offenders the services in the community that can assist them: “Informational.” But for the sake of sounding more professional, I’ll classify it as “educational.” Same for the video we are about to start with a major pension fund whose beneficiaries need to know details about the plan.

The videos for the nonprofit dinners? “Event” videos. But not event-entertainment, like a wedding. Really, they are informational, telling attendees about the organization or the people being honored. (And come to think of it, a wedding video can be informational too, but that’s not my business.)

We live in The Information Age. We have learned to crave information, even when it comes in substance-less 140 character tidbits, hourly headlines sans supporting facts that major newspapers blast into smartphones, or friends’ comments on banal subjects that glide past them as a day progresses. The information yearning permeates the media formats; it is found not only in written words, but in spoken radio and song form, in photographs, and, of course, in video. Spreading information via written links is good; bolster it with video, and you might create a “following” — and that’s a magic word in the advertising industry these days. Even sitcoms are chockful of product placements, indirectly providing information about the product that is the subject of the actors’ banter.

For some folks, it seems to sound more justifiable to the budget process to label a video as having a grander purpose, like marketing, sales, IR, or HR. The relationship to ROI might be easier to calculate. And indeed, videos serve those functions. But through my window, most times the camouflaged intent of video is to be “informational,” to create little bites of enlightenment that audiences will love to digest.

Well Ellen, I agree with all you say in here. I think most of Sous Productions work is in some way “informational” but its not the term my clients would use. I think it’s important to use the language of the clients, so for me, I make “sales” “marketing” “promotional” etc etc videos.

What To Look For With Video Production Company | Release A Hatch Ling

What To Look For With Video Production Company | Release A Hatch Ling.

A video production company can help to make your website that much more successful. You will find that with the right video production, you will be able to make your website look professional and one of a kind. Use a video production company to help to get your points across to the consumer.

People will often turn away if there is a lot of information that they need to read. If you have a lot to say on your site, the best way to do it is with a video. You will be able to let the potential consumers on your site know what it is that your website does and what it can do for you. Give it a personal touch and help people to understand what they can expect from your company.

Corporate video production is something that can help to get people to notice your site. Consumers will often have a better time remembering things that are told to them as opposed to things that they read. People remember information in different ways. Too much bulky text can be overwhelming for someone that is needing to get information fast.

Be sure that you shop around to make sure that the video production for your site is one that is professional. Get a company that can give you examples and show you that they will provide you with a video that will be taken seriously. You will be able to provide a level of professionalism to your site with a well made video.

Tags: corporate video production., paid search marketing, professional SEO company, SEO company, video production company

Video Case Study – Editing Stage

Live project being edited

Draft v1 of the video case study is done and uploaded to YouTube for client to view and comment. I am editing for the 1st time in Adobe Premiere CS4 and so far so good. There are few things I havent quite figured but I am getting round them well enough.

The client has given me some guideline instructions on what is required for the video by indicating the shots he would like to see used which is really helpful and I am glad to say I agree with the majority of the selections. I have dropped in some of my own thinking such as the design of the title block for the person being interviewed. I have also created a 2nd version of the video with a music track which the client hasn’t done before so it will be interesting to see if that gets accepted. I think it really adds an important depth to the video.

I get the majority of my royalty free music from www.shockwave-sound.com and they have never let me down.

The tricky bit with setting in music is getting the volume levels right throughout. You need to have enough of the music to get the benefit of it being there but you have to keep the volume at just the right level when the interviewee is talking so that it doesn’t drown them out. I also need to play a bit more on the speed by which you put the volume levels up and down between the person speaking. DJ’s do it really well on radio!

YouTube encoding

I used the in-built encoding standard for YouTube. I’m not sure I think the quality is right and it may need a bit of customising to get it right. What I am impressed with is the speed it did the encoding. It’s only a 5 min video but my i7 64 bit processor just flew through it. I have a private account on YouTube where I upload the video to and the client can watch the video through and provide me verbal or written feedback.

Will update the project shortly and provide some images from the video.

Video shoot at new RFU offices in Twickenham

What a beautiful sunny day to film. I met my cameraman for the day, Steve and made our way to the offices. Soon realised we would have to carry all the kit from car park to offices as you can’t pull up right outside. It’s quite an impressive place and certainly a lot more attractive outside than the old perimeter fencing that used to be there.

Shoot went fairly well although I think somethings could be improved on. We should always feel that way I think. Always good to learn and think of even better ways for next time.

The bright sun was quite low and did present some exposure issues for Steve but created some nice shadows that I feel added nicely to some of the shots. It’s a fairly busy working environment so all the usual problems of working around people had to be considered but I don’t think we caused too many problems.

I think my main lesson was that the Steadicam wasnt the best tool for the job of filming in office interior. It might be that better results could be achieved but I suspect it is just not as good as track and dolly for getting moving shots in among static walls and furniture etc. Be interested in other peoples experiences.

Steve, had an awkwardness about him when using the steadicam which mainly comes from being positioned on the wrong side of it and forcing him to cross legs as he walked and I struggled to get him to change his positioning.

The interview went well. The subject did a great job and we didn’t really have to do much in the way of retakes which really sped up the process.

Below is a selection of shots from the day:

The advantages of using video for SEO

For a year or so now I have been working hard to promote the use of video online for helping companies attract larger audiences to their website. I am very excited about the opportunities for using video on company websites to help promote a their products, services and events etc but I think the real value for companies will come from the impact video will have on the Search Engine Optimisation and so I have been looking for information to support my views. This article is written by www.seoconsult.co.uk and I thought it made some really good points.

I continue to be on the look out for some hard and fast statistics so if you have any information you would like to share here or that you can point me towards then let me know.

Filed under: Search Engine Optimisation by Michael on July 30th, 2009 @ 8:36 am

With the advent of YouTube as well as popular social networking sites, many are switching tactics with regard to Search Engine Optimization and what is helping making this switch successful is video website marketing.

The basics of video marketing

In place of traditional bookmarking or Link Building techniques, video marketing is fast making its presence known and as online users are providing more and more positive feedback, video marketing is proving its ability to reach core audiences.

You can perform you own video SEO which means you need to learn its techniques or you can hire someone to do it for you.  You could even upload videos on a site such as YouTube and then link to it in your blog, forums or from your website.  You could also bookmark your video and arrange a Press Release.

Video marketing is feasible for SEO

If you aren’t getting the traffic you need or are simply looking for ways to build up your hit rate the easiest way you could do this is to create and share videos.  Video marketing is total considered a vital part of SEO and by sharing videos you are inviting a larger audience to your website.

Video sharing can generate massive online audiences with an incredibly low investment, making it perhaps one of the fastest ways to make money online.  The future seems to be looking at video marketing as an alternative, or an enhancement to SEO profit Content sites and with the launch of universal video search in many search engines more and more videos are appearing in organic search engine rankings.

While content is still a vital part of SEO, video marketing is capable of Generating Traffic in high volumes as the intelligent and technologically savvy searchers of today are expecting more than just online content and because many of them are attracted to visual learning, video marketing is quickly filling their expectations, and in the process are offering a big contribution to your rankings.

Video sites offer benefits

Such as:-

•    They increase the chances that your message will get across through the help of social networks
•    You can gain a reputation of being an expert in your field if you consistently create high quality video
•     You can re-edit your content without problems and can easily convert  your written content to video by means of a video clip and in doing so you are relieved of the maintenance of having to consistently create fresh content plus you wont be dogged with the problems associated with duplicate content.

Video sites and SEO

Some of the most valuable inbound links happen courtesy of Quality Content which in turn helps increase traffic and helps rankings.  This concept also applies to video content and with the proper production, title formatting; publishing and optimisation a video can actually be responsible for better content which can boost even higher search engine rankings.

Video content although still new and will most certainly change in line with the complexity of video search engines, it is expected to grow.  Online video can help promote your business very easily.

Business podcast:sousproductions

Interview with Sous Productions

Audio interview with Duncan Souster, founder of Sous Productions. Duncan tells about who Sous Productions are, what they do and why they think video is important in helping companies promote their products, services, events and company communications.

Duncan goes on to talk about the unique qualities of video being used online to help with improve your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and how it can not only drive an audience to your website but also help convert prospects in to customers.

.Business podcast:sousproductions

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How to select a suitable video production company.

Growth in video

You have recognised from recent trade show events or browsing around on the web that more and more of your competitor companies are using video to promote their products and services.

Your observations are right. People like watching video and it tells them about your business and products in an engaging and interesting way. Promotional video being presented on your website or for use in presentations and at trade shows is a huge growth area and is undoubtedly where the market is going.

If you are now interested in having your own promotional video but have never commissioned one before and want to know how to go about it then please read on…..

Starting your search – What to look for

Initialy your looking for a professional corporate video production company. You are looking for a company who can easily demonstrate their experience so start by taking a look on their web site as a good company will have a number of demonstration showreels as examples of their work.

A corporate video is there to promote what you do. It’s an important marketing tool that will represent your company in front of prospective clients. Just like your product literature and presentations it has to represent you as a business, and provide you a return on your investment by encouraging prospects to do business with you.

When you are looking at samples of video productions, what you are looking for first and foremost is a professional production company not necessarily a demo of exactly the production you are after. A professional video production company are likely to be capable of producing a range of different types of business video as the techniques and equipment maybe be much the same. Of course, if they also happen to have exactly what you’re looking for then all the better. You are going to be in pretty safe hands.

The web site should also contain references from companies who were satisfied with the work they did. A strong reference from a client is a great indication that the company knows what they are doing and that they can produce you an excellent product.

Please note when viewing their demonstration showreels that they may not be exactly how you see yours being produced. The example might not have used a voice over but that might be because of limited budget or because the client doesn’t like them but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be produced for your video if that was what you wanted.

What your looking for primarily is that the video contains good quality videography free from jerky camera movement, everything is in focus, picture is not grainy and the lighting good. The audio should be clear, titles free of errors and transitions that are clean and almost unnoticeable.

Confidence

Chances are, by the time you have done all the above, you will already have reached that imperceptible decision on whether you feel comfortable with production company and if you can work with them but if the verdict is still open here is a little tip for you to consider. Try finding information on the website, maybe in case studies about how they approach projects. If they are open about how they have approached various shoots then they are likely to be confident in what they do. That confidence is something you are going to be heavily relying on when it comes to fulfilling your own production.

How much will it cost?

Very few production companies will provide much in the way of pricing on their website. This isn’t because they are hiding something its just the nature of the business. Costing for video production is complex and depends on many different aspects.

There tend to be two primary reasons you might want to know costs.

1. Getting an idea of the budget required – What can I afford to do?
2. Comparing quotes – Who is offering the best price / service ratio

Budget

Outline what you want from the video. Please understand that you are asking the production company for some help and advice free of charge. Be honest with the production company by letting them know it is early days and you are simply looking to settle on the likely and realistic budget. A production company should be happy to provide this estimation in return for being invited to quote when the time comes.

What you want to achieve here is to get an indication of the probable cost as well as an indication of other possible items to be budgeted for. An example might be accommodation if the shoot location is not yet known.

As the production transforms from concept towards reality, it will invariably change and so an ideal budget will have enough flex to enable you to modify things without having to find new money but there does come a point where you have to accept, if you change the specification then you may have to change the budget.

Quotation.

If you are obliged to go out to multiple quotations then aim to do this with a single specification. Give the same specification to each of the production companies and ask them to quote a figure against your exact spec. This way you should be able to compare them all like for like.

When you get your quotes you will need to check the individual items. One company maybe offering a higher overall quote but they might be including additional items not included on other quotes. Its things like rates per day for crew and equipment you can directly compare. Some companies maybe including lots of additional items but the actual rates may be lower than the others. You can decide later if you want to use the additional items or not but you will at least have the best rates.

Agreeing your production

Once you have all this information and you are ready to select your production company it is time to determine how much you are really willing to spend on your trade show or corporate video, and what you expect in return. You can then engage with your preferred company to agree a production and pricing that is appropriate to your objectives. Compromises may need to be made.

Next stage…… Sous Productions will be adding some further tips about how to work with your selected production company to turn your concept in to reality

Latest event showreel finished

Just managed to complete a promotional showreel video for a major conference and exhibition, Learning Technologies, held every January at Olympia in London.

The event is fast becoming recognised as the market leading event in the UK and quite possibly Europe. Its certainly the view of the visitors I spoke to.

The conference costs money and time, so naturaly people want to know what the event is going to be like and if its worth their investment.

Music was purchased via shockwave sound 

This type of video can be produced as an mpeg or wmv for playing from your PC or most typicaly we output as Flash ready for embedding in to the client website.

Here is the video for your viewing. If you have an event you would like to have captured on video and / or edited then please get in touch.  www.sousproductions.com

Promotional event video

Exhibitor Stand Video

I went up to the huge Confex show at Earls Court recently to see how one of my target markets were promoting their products and services.

As a video production company I recognise the potential power of video in promoting events such as conferences and exhibitions. Not only that but the locations and facilities of the hotels and conference centres where they are held.

The question was, do the conferencing and events companies recognise the opportunity?

inspiring-venues1

I very recently completed a promotional video for Barcelo Hotels which I worked on with their e-marketing company Branch Communications. The film was designed to promote their conferencing services, branded MeetBarcelo. See the video live on their website here

Barcelo mentioned they would be using the video at the exhibition and so I was interested to see how many of the other exhibitors would be running promotional video on their stands.

If you have not been to the show, I can tell you it is quite impressive and lavish for an exhibition but would they have invested in technology?

Video was certainly evident but probably in only around 10 to 20% of the exhibitor stands. The size of the stand and the strength of brand didn’t appear to make a significant impact on the choice to use video. There were plenty of video showreels on the smaller stands and equaly absent on the large ones.

In conclusion, the use of video on exhibitor stands to help promote their products and services was definitely evident. This is good news because I feel I am not going off at a mad tangent with this sector. There is clearly a recognised value in using video but it is also good news because there is a huge market still to tap in to and if the %’s at the show were reflective of the industry then there is a lot of opportunity still out there.

Sous Productions are definately going to keep working in this sector and hopefull there will be more of the exhibitors showing my work on their stands next year.

If you are responsible for marketing of a travel, leisure and conferencing organisation and would like to know more about having a promotional video made then please feel free to contact me at duncan@sousproductions.com or visit the website http://www.sousproductions.com

Lastly, I would welcome comments below about the use of video to promote your business. Have you used it? Did it help? What price did you pay? etc etc