Corporate Viral Video Of The Week: Pedigree Dogs

Welcome to week two of Skillman Video Group’s “Corporate Viral Video Of The Week” series.  Let’s review some of the characteristics of a successful corporate viral video outlined in last week’s blog. The most important rule is of course to keep it simple. Too many characters and too much back and fourth dialog is too much work. The average, cubicle bound, corporate viral video viewer does not have the time to get caught up in an elaborate story.  This week’s video is from Pedigree Dog Food and it exemplifies many of the traits that make viral videos successful. This video was added last week and it already has over 700,000 hits. They opted to go as far no dialog at all. Instead, they focus on the physical feats of the dogs. The video is fun and lighthearted without trying too hard. The video also has a cool bit of production work. By showing the dogs slow motion while using a camera with a high frame per second rate, the viewer is able to see every minute movement of the dogs. The slow motion technique is very effective in this video. It adds a clearer view and a heightened anticipation to the dogs’ tricks.

Naturally, the videos that go viral are the videos with the most mass appeal. Companies are constantly trying to make videos that are funny but also work for a broad audience. This video exemplifies one of the sure fire rules to achieve that mass appeal: Put a dog in your video. If the words “dog”, “kitten”, or “puppy” are in the title of your video you’re almost guaranteed a million hits. Everyone loves to see dogs perform zany antics; you can’t help but smile.  The video with the most mass appeal is the most successful viral video. Check back in for next week’s Corporate Viral Video Of The Week.  Or call Skillman Video Group to see what kind of viral video we can do for you!

Corporate Viral Video of the Week: Coca-Cola Happiness Machine

It’s clear that here, at Skillman Video Group, we believe using video is the most effective way to market your company online. Video provides a platform that is both personal and visually stimulating.  We then use search engine optimization techniques to route as much traffic to your content as possible. However, in the case of “Viral” videos, it is the content itself that generates the massive volume of viewers that are so desired in online marketing. When executed well, viral videos can provide a substantial amount of attention for your company.  Amusing time wasters like Chocolate Rain or Miss Teen South Carolina are great example of videos that have gone viral. However, using the appeal of viral video for corporate promotion is something that many companies strive for but only a few have managed to succeed, even without the use of sputtering sentence fragments or the soothing baritone of Tay Zonday.

In many ways, the key to an effective viral video is to keep it simple. The most successful corporate viral videos provide a brief smile and enough interest to pass along to a friend. Corporate viral videos do best with little dialog so it’s important to not be too wordy. This week’s corporate viral video of the week is the Coca-Cola Happiness Machine video. This video was posted on YouTube on January 12, 2010 and already has over a million hits. It is an example of a strong corporate viral video. The concept is simple and the focus of the video is the action rather than the script. Often, companies will try too hard to be funny and miss a large audience because humor is subjective. The Coca-Cola video won’t make you laugh out loud, but it will keep you smiling and has mass appeal. Another technique used in this video which makes it successful in the viral format, is that it’s not over produced. The hidden camera or home camera look is very effective with viral videos, it provides a more personal and intimate tone that we associate with Internet video and distinguish from television.

Ultimately, the successful corporate viral video does not express an overt point of view, but provides a moment of harmless levity in an otherwise dull corporate day. And therein lies the art.  Check back soon for SVG’s “Corporate Viral Video of the week”, or contact us today at 1-800-784-0149 to see how you can create your own viral video!

Marketing Video Shoot at Kitchen Countertop Center of New England

Last week, the Skillman Video Group production team spent a day in Providence, Rhode Island filming a marketing video for Kitchen Countertop Center of New England.

It was a fun and productive day of shooting with three separate shoot locations that kept us busy! Skillman Video Group was hired to create a marketing video that could be used at home shows, in their show room and be embedded on their company’s web site.  Our goal was to market and demonstrate to potential clients the uniqueness of their design and installation process .  The video was shot entirely in HD.  We started the day by meeting with the guys of KCCNE at their showroom in downtown Providence. We shot footage of co-owner, Eddie Keegan, taking customers through each step of the remodeling process.

This  included everything from the first meeting with the kitchen and bath designer over KCCNE’s computer generated model of the finished kitchen, to trips to the tile store and the granite warehouse.  We were able to capture Eddie working one on one with his customers and clearly communicate what sets KCCNE apart from its competitors. Our video will allow potential KCCNE’s customers to gain insight and understanding into KCCNE’s unique process in a way that other mediums would not allow. It was a light hearted and fun shoot -  and lucky for us Eddie was a natural in front of the camera!  Please contact Skillman Video Group today to see how we can market your business through the use of the video medium!

Utilizing Video & Social Media in a Political Campaign

It’s clear that here, at Skillman Video Group, we believe using video is the most effective way to market your company online.  We also believe that online video is a necessary component to an effective political campaign. Video provides a platform that is both personal and visually stimulating. Online video allows you to present yourself to your constituency in a way that is far more personal than signs and posters and allows you to become more than merely a name or political party. With an effective online video, voters hear you, see you, and get to know you in real time and in living color. You are provided a forum to speak to your base directly and communicate in a way with which the written word cannot contend. Online video also provides an affordable alternative to television advertising as video on the web  allows you to deliver your message to a wide audience without paying for airtime. Think of the possibilities!  The Internet is also a much more flexible media outlet than television and allows for many different styles of video. One could post videos of campaign speeches, interviews or fund raising events. All of these videos have a much lower production costs than a television ad, yet, still provide effective marketing.

Online video is much more dynamic than other forms of campaigning. You can host your video on your website to provide interesting content. However, you can also use a variety of video and social media websites to spread your message even further. By posting your videos on sites like YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Flickr, you are able to spread your content to multiple forums and help your social media profiles become more attractive.  The above video was produced for the Brad Williams for State Senate Campaign and was a simple single camera set up with wireless microphone.  The video was later edited and compressed for the web and was used both on their web site as well as in their social media campaigns.  Productions such as this are very cost effective, but still give campaigns higher visibility to potential voters and give candidates a platform to discuss and debate  the issues.  By using additional services such as  key words and Search engine optimization techniques Skillman Video Group can help make sure that these videos can be found on YouTube and other social media sites. Online video is the optimal way to have you message heard and seen while political campaigning.  Call today to set up a free consultation!

Eliminate Your Customer Engagement Gap with Professional Video!

Written by Harry Klein, President
Customer Engagement Strategies, Inc.
www.customerengagement.com

In my consulting practice I define Customer Engagement as:  “The degree to which Customer Experiences are equal to or better than the Customer Expectations set by your Brand Promises as delivered by Customer Touch Points.”

Let’s break that down a bit:
• Brands = Promises
• Promises set customer expectations
• Business processes – touch points – are how promises to customers are met, exceeded or not met at all
• Companies enjoy higher levels of customer engagement when they meet or exceed the expectations they set.

When customer experience falls short of brand promises a company has a “Customer Engagement Gap”.  Customer Engagement Gaps result in:

• Higher Costs of Sales
• Lower Profits
• Lower Marketing ROI
• Fewer Customer Referrals
• Lower Customer Loyalty, Retention and Life-Time Value
• Higher Customer Turnover

Here are 5 ways that a professional video produced by Skillman Video Group can help you eliminate your Customer Engagement Gap:
1. Set Customer Expectations – Create a brief video for prospects and new customers in which your CEO explains the company’s commitment to them. Tell them how they’ll be treated and what to do if their experience falls short of your promise. This will set your company apart from the pack and gain you extra consideration and loyalty.
2. Start Customer Dialogues – Set your company apart by using video in your CEO’s blog. No need to do video for every posting. but think about the possibility for a monthly video from the CEO in which they addresses customer feedback and what actions the company is taking as a result. Customers will feel that they’re being listened to and that the company is taking action.
3. Provide Technical Support – For companies with highly technical products or services or for companies that supply products that require customer assembly, professional training videos that explain the most challenging parts of the process are extremely useful. Your printed or online instructions can feature alerts and URLs that a video is available that will show you that specific step and walk you through it. Customers will be thrilled that you took the extra effort to help them get off to a good start. That kind of effort generates lots of word-of-mouth marketing.
4. Help Customers Understand the Impact of Current Events – There are circumstances that arise – for example, the financial market collapse – that require a CEO to put customers at ease even if the circumstances were not created by the company. Addressing these issues with a brief video supported by additional documentation can be an effective outreach strategy when your customers are worried, nervous and not sure what current conditions mean to them. Customers will further understand that you’re in this together and for the long haul.
5. Invite customers to submit video testimonials – Video certainly brings passion to the forefront. Ask your best customers if they’ll deliver a written AND video testimonial. Tell them you’ll help them write it and will send the video crew to their place. These videos can help prospects and other customers understand your commitment to them and how other customers work with you to ensure they maximize the value of the relationship.

The above listed videos can serve more than one purpose as many will be suitable to incorporate into your social media marketing efforts.   You’ll want to be certain to track how viewers are getting to those videos and what impact they have on site traffic, lead generation, sales, support and customer engagement overall.

To learn more about Customer Engagements, please visit http://www.customerengagement.com

PRODUCER’S NOTES: The Producers at Skillman Video Group are ready and willing to custom design a video program that can meet some or all of those Customer Engagement “touch points”.  The Internet Marketing specialists at Skillman Video Group will be able to design a marketing campaign around your videos that includes monthly reports to track your success.   Call today to learn more about how video can directly impact your customer retention.

How can a testimonial video help you?

As we stated in earlier posts testimonial videos are a great way to market your products,  services or live event to potential customers.  Video is simple, powerful tool to build trust and rapport with viewers before they pick up the phone to call!  What a better way to communicate how good you are then  to have your audience see AND hear why you are so good from your previous (happy) clients.

Networked Events recently used Skillman Video Group to produce a series of testimonial videos for their web page and e-mail marketing campaign.  The videos were both posted to their web site as well as incorporated in their monthly e-newsletters.  The participants were all asked the same three questions and there answers were later edited and compressed for the web.  Simple “talking head” or interview style videos are extremely cost effective yet powerful in their delivery.  Here is an example of a testimonial video we produced for Networked Events in November 2009.  It was shot at the Liberty Hotel (in Alibi) in downtown Boston.

A simple “hot shoe” light was mounted to the top of the camera (similar to what you might see used by a news crew) and attached to a battery pack  to help boost the image .  “Hot shoe” lights are are fantastic for live events because they are extremely portable and don’t need to be attached to a electrical outlet (which frees the camera person to roam around if needed).  Incorporating light is very important in professional video production because it allows the camera to record a high quality image….even in dark settings (such as a restaurant or bar).  Another important component to professional video production (of all kinds) is the audio.  What good is a testimonial video if the audio is muffled, garbled or too low to be useful?  By attaching a professional wireless microphone to the speaker, we were able to record high quality audio despite the fact that we were in a crowded, noisy room.

Utilizing such professional production equipment is what allows Skillman Video Group to produce high quality videos regardless of the environment we find ourselves in while shooting.  As we have stated many times it is very important to look and sound your best in any marketing endeavor your pursue and customer testimonials are no exception.  Contact us today to see how we can produce professional testimonial videos for your web site

The Importance of Closed Captioning in Professional Video Production

Skillman Video Group offers closed captioning services for both DVD and web based video formats.    Closed Captioning is a term describing several systems developed to display text on a television or computer/video screen to provide  interpretive information to viewers who wish to access it. Closed captions typically display a transcription of the audio portion of a program or video as it occurs, and can include non-speech elements such as music or background noise.

A lot of times we get asked what the difference is between “closed captioning” and “subtitles”.  The term “closed” in closed captioning indicates that not all viewers see the captions—only those who choose to decode or activate them (usually through your TV).    “Subtitles” assume the viewer can hear but cannot understand the language, accent, or  that the speech is not entirely clear, so they only transcribe dialogue and some on-screen text. “Captions” aim to describe to the hearing-impaired all significant audio content—spoken dialogue and non-speech information such as the identity of speakers and, occasionally, their manner of speaking—often along with music or sound effects.

However, the benefits of closed captioning extend far beyond the deaf or hard of hearing community. As time goes by, the general population is beginning to recognize its other useful applications.  For example, it is not uncommon to see closed captioned programming in noisy public environments such as airports, public lobbies, and sports bars.  It has also been said that Closed Captioning can aid those who are trying to learn English as their second language.

Closed Captioning is a great and very affordable “add on” for many of your live event, marketing or corporate video productions.  The power of video is that you audience can see AND hear what is being spoken.   For what equals out to be just a few dollars per minute, you would be widening the audience for your marketing, training, testimonial or social media video to include those who are hearing impaired.   Captioning is a service that betters our community and enhances the teaching power of media.  Contact Skillman Video Group today to see what we can do for your video production with our transcription, closed captioning and subtitling services today!

The Rise of the “Searchmercial”

We live in a world where the company name Google becomes a verb if you need to find someone, a business, or information.  If we don’t know something, we “Google it”.  This concept was alien to most of us 5-10 years ago, and now it is standard operating procedure for consumers and businesses alike.  Companies are constantly trying to figure out how they can use search engines like Google to their highest advantage. With the rise of YouTube and more advanced searching capabilities, Internet searches are involving video more than ever, and now is the best time to get your message across with a professional “searchmercial” video.

So what exactly is a “searchmercial”?  A blog written by RealSEO talks about the increasing need for searchmercials among small to medium businesses.  It is simply a web video that can be found on search engines so customers and clients can find your business. Searchmercials are between 30-90 seconds long and briefly explain you and your company, what service you provide, and any special offers going on.  These web videos allow you to target your audience effectively, so the viewers become your customers. 68% of Internet users watch video ads.  68%!  And as we previously pointed out, it is only expected to grow in the coming year. Television commercials a)  can cost an arm and a leg in addition to your bank account, b) you can only use it a select number of times, and c) there isn’t an immediate feedback on the success of the commercial after it airs.  The beauty of a “searchmercial” is that you can take the level of quality of a traditional TV commercial, for a 1/4 of the price, and use the power of the Internet to reach the customers whenever you want, AND receive immediate feedback on the success (utilizing Google Analytics)!

With web video becoming more popular, the blog states that Internet companies like Google and Yellowpages.com are making their sites more conducive for web video advertising so that companies can be found by clients.  The phonebook is transferring to the Internet, and in addition to being found with a website, you can be found with a quality web video that speaks more than words on a page ever could. Those 68% of Internet users (and rising) will see your ad, visit your web site, and pick up the phone and call.  That is what we call a hight “rate of return” on your investment.  But how do you want to be perceived?  That is where Skillman Video Group comes in. The blog also states that among small to medium businesses, 75% prefer a custom-made professional video to put on the web.  Businesses all over the country (and Skillman Video Group) are beginning to realize that quality produces results!  It is essential that all aspects of your advertising campaign are done to the highest quality, including your web video, so your clients know you are professional, experienced and the best in your field!  Skillman Video Group is here for you to help market your brand on Internet with a professional high-quality “searchmercial.” Skillman Video Group has the professional equipment and expertise to make you look and sound your best to your clients, and the partnership with QLegal to help you take that video and optimize it on the Internet to get the highest rate of return for your investment.  These Internet viewers’ first impression of  your service or product will be from your web video, so it MUST look and sound good!  With your Skillman Video Group “searchmercial”, your clients will see that you have arrived into the new decade, you will have more control over what you can do with your video, and you can track its success.  2010 is here and roaring – Contact us today for pricing!!

Grow your business in 2010 with a professional Internet marketing video!

This time of the year, there are lots of blog posts and articles about how you can “Grow your business in 2010″, but it can be difficult to sift through the plethora of information and find what really works for your type of business.  If you read our post on Professional Video in Social Media (scroll down), you will see that one of the biggest areas of growth in 2010 is Internet video marketing with over 40% growth projected for this genre in the coming year.  If these trends come to fruition, then a day is coming when businesses will no longer see web marketing videos as a luxury but a necessity and a key tool in their overall marketing strategy.     As we have stated before it is imperative in any marketing endeavor  to look and sound your best.  Using professionals to shoot and edit your videos will result in a better quality product and give you a much higher rate of return on your investment then if you tried to do it yourself without the proper equipment,  training or experience.  Quality does matter to your audience and our goal as professionals  is ultimately to translate those viewers – into clients!  A high-quality corporate or marketing video from Skillman Video Group can be the key to kick start your business in the new decade.

In researching some of the most popular ways video is going to expand over the next few years, we came across a couple blog postings listing and describing 42 different ways to use video on the Internet for your business (yes – 42 different ways).  They were rated by the authors by Popularity and Growth Potential.  A summary of all of these types can be found on Reel SEO and the original posting with descriptions can be found with One Market Media.  There are so many ways you can grow your business with a professional video, but to save you some time we thought that we would highlight some of the video categories that got the highest rating in both Popularity and Growth Potential, so you can start brainstorming now about what kind of video Skillman Video Group can do for you.

• Customer Testimonials/Success Stories
• Man-in-the-Street Interviews
• Product Presentations/Demonstrations/Reviews
• Visual Stories
• Corporate Overview
• Staff Presentations
• Training Video/Employee Orientation
• Just-in-time Learning
• Internal Communications
• Health, Legal, & Safety
• Internet Commercials/Viral Video/Email Video
• Content Marketing (Huge Growth Potential)
• Landing Pages/Microsites
• Video Press Release/Community Relations Video
• Event Presentation Video
• In-Store video
• Mobile Video

The producers at Skillman Video Group have years of experience helping businesses like yours see real growth in their market share through the use of web marketing videos.  We have the cutting edge, professional equipment needed to create your perfect corporate or marketing video, for either your web site, DVD distribution or e-mail marketing campaign.  The producers at Skillman Video Group also have experience in leveraging the power of social media sites (such as Youtube.com or FaceBook) and Search Engine Optimization techniques to attract new viewers to your site and increasing your overall  web presence on all major search engines.   2010 is here, start it off with a bang – Contact us today to learn how!

How to Prepare for Speaking on Camera

Skillman Video Group specializes in marketing videos for both large corporations and small businesses in the Boston area and all of New England.  As we have said in previous blog posts (feel free to scroll down and check them out) in this day and age of Internet social media, viral videos, and Internet (or “inbound”) Marketing, a great professional corporate video from Skillman Video Group is a great way to market your product or service, build brand awareness, and increase sales.  Creating repore with viewers who come to your site by adding the “human touch” through the use of the video medium, can not only help you reconnect you with former clients, but also open the door for new clients to feel instantly connected to what you and  your business stand for.

As you can see in our Portfolio page, many business leaders and employees have courageously stepped forward and placed themselves in front of the camera  to speak  about their company and the services they offer.  For some (and maybe for you), this is an entirely new experience and as we have said before, it is not as easy as it looks!  The professionals at Skillman Video Group recognize this and are ready and willing to help!  The whole experience of “lights, camera, action!” can be daunting (trust us when we say we’ve seen it before), but if the speaker is properly prepared for the shoot, it will go quickly and smoothly.  With this in mind, Christina Skillman, Sr. Producer and Principal at SVG and the production professionals at Skillman Video Group willingly stepped out from behind the camera and created a short “How To” video to highlight some of the pre-production work and planning that goes into creating the ideal “Talking Head”/interview video.  A marketing video can take many forms, but the simple interview or talking head format is one of the easiest and cost effective forms available.  From pre to post-production they can be completed in just a matter of days!

So there you have it!  There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration when making a professional corporate video -from the room selection, to the clothes, to the microphone & lighting, to the on-screen mannerisms – it can seem overwhelming to the novice.  But with this kind of preparation, and with the skill and experience of the professionals at Skillman Video Group, it’ll be a breeze!  As a business owner it is in your best interest to look and sound your best in whatever marketing endeavor you pursue,  and we will be there to help you every step of the way.   Feel free to check out our previous work to get some ideas about what Skillman Video Group can do for your business!  Contact us today to set up a free consultation on what our video production and Internet Marketing services can do to help your business grow in 2010!

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