This article is part of Video Marketing 101. You will find the links to the other articles in this series at the bottom of this post. Stay tuned for future ones.
Video marketing is fast becoming a necessity for businesses online. The main reason is because video marketing, when well done, pulls better responses. So more and more businesses are using video marketing to promote their services.
Videos are being used on websites much more productively than in the past. They are cheaper to produce, faster to make, and easier to put online.
Video marketing can also be a very important part of your international internet marketing plan.
Remember, all of the standard good practices in cross cultural communication and international marketing still apply here as well.
Video marketing is just another marketing channel.
We will look into cross cultural communication used in video marketing in the near future here at Get International Clients. First let’s run through the basics of video marketing.
Today let’s review where you can use video marketing online.
Place Your Marketing Video On The Home Page
Internet video’s can be used on your home page. Think twice, better yet, ask your readers, before setting your video to fully launch automatically. There are people that don’t like the intrusion and prefer to be offered to opt into audio and video.
Put It In A Fixed Screen Spot
There are several companies that create videos which seem detached from your actual site. The video remains in one corner even when you scroll down your screen.
This can be very effective when your video is in the bottom right hand corner and has a white background. The white makes the video very obvious. You have the choice in setting this type video to play automatically or to launch when selected by the user. Some versions allow the video to start after a set amount of time.
Place It On The Left Side
Never hide your video. Place it on the left side of the screen in the zone where a person will naturally see it. Have text or a graphic pointing to the video, very briefly stating the topic and length of the video.
Give The Length Of Video
Given the choice between 2 videos, one of unknown length and one clearly marked as a three minute video, a viewer is more likely to watch the 3 minute video simply because he knows the maximum amount of time needed.
Make It Easy To Mute
If you launch your video automatically, make sure there is an easy way to mute the video, or to stop it.
If you do not offer these options you will have a very high percentage of your site visitors simply close their browser window. Don’t torture your viewers with a video they did not choose to see or hear. And yes, that is what some people will think about your video.
Create A Special Sub Page
A video or set of videos on a subpage can be a very effective sales tool. Link to it directly from your main page and clearly indicate the “video tutorial page” or “video testimonial page”. You will attract a certain audience.
Those who choose to go to a video page usually watch at least one video.
Create A Series Of Videos
When making a series of tutorials, make a link from the end of the first video to the second. Get your viewers to watch the next video.
Link To Your Videos
Include a link in your advertising, newsletter or ezine within your marketing video. This can be bring you great results. Your audience has already chosen to receive some form of communication from you by watching your video.
Add a well defined link to a video or video series for further viewing. This is a good way to increase your time with the reader. Of course, this only works well if your video is well done.
Remember that there are some products that sell better with audio and video. If your product is one of these then make sure you take advantage of video.
Put A Video On Your Sales Page
Videos on sales pages, or squeeze pages are very common. The reason is because they help increase sales. Very often the sales page will have a brief video to cover each benefit of the product they are selling. There are also videos to tell readers exactly what to do to make their purchase. This is all part of a well orchestrated marketing plan.
Add A Thank You Video With An Up Sell
Once a viewer has made an online purchase, a video can used on a thank you page. This video can also offer an additional surprise bonus or something special to your clients. There are product specific videos for the product just purchased. And there are up sell videos to get clients to purchase your next product.
Preview A DVD For Sale
A final place to use your marketing video is to include it on another full length DVD product you are selling. This is similar to the previews at the movies.
An online video with a 15 to 30 second advertisement preview of the main DVD products is put on the main website.
This is used with good results when selling DVD’s for past seminars. Change the preview video weekly to give a different useful bit of information on the DVD for sale. Since the information is changed weekly it also drives some return traffic.
Translate
With all of the video editing software available today, a video is easy to edit. It is possible to make multiple language versions of one video by dubbing the voice. If the person speaking is famous and you want to keep their voice, subtitles are also very easy to create and to add on top of a video.
Take advantage of the internet video marketing possibility to make multiple language versions of your video.
Targeting a foreign audience may open a whole new part of the world to your products at little additional cost.
Be Selective
Be selective on where you place your videos. Your clients will respond well to your videos, but they should not think your video is their only option you give them to communicate with you.
Think of all the possibilities where video can work for you. Don’t limit yourself by thinking of only one web page. Put your marketing video where it will help your sale the most.
Give It A Go
Practice and try new things in creating your videos. Test and track results and your video marketing will improve.
Study your foreign target market’s cultural behavior profiles to determine the best way to use video marketing.
We are going through the series of 5 different cultural behavior profiles this month in the weekly Get International Clients Newsletter. Sign up and find out how you can use this to improve your international marketing.
Video marketing can work for you!
Here are the other articles in this Video Marketing Series:
