5 Great Tips for Successful Online Video Marketing

Online video marketing is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to get your organization advertised. With online video marketing, you can create an ad at a minimal cost and post it to your organization's website or another video site like Google Video or YouTube for free and save on the cost of airing it on television. Also, with video marketing, you can make your advertising as long or as short as you'd like it. There are several benefits to using online video marketing. Using the following methods, you can create an exciting piece of advertising that will draw people in and will help boost your business. In college, a large part of my major was in media studies and communication within media. What I am imparting here is some of that knowledge. This article focuses more on the content of your video marketing, rather than the "how-to" of creating it.

Placement

Where you place your ad is of prime importance. If you're posting it on your organization's website, you don't want it hidden in a labyrinth of links. You want it to stand out right away when one comes across your site. It should be prominently featured on the main page. Keep in mind that the easier your video is to access, the more success you'll have in reaching a larger audience. If you are posting the video to a video sharing website, make it easily accessible by giving it a name that is easy to remember and simple. Your organization's name should suffice.

Prepare Your Audience for the Video

Once you've decided where to place your video, the next step is to inform your audience about what they're going to watch. Next to the video, give it a short title and description. It is important to list the time of the video. The audience will lose interest or not even watch your video if it is too long. Keep it short; less than five minutes is best, but under two minutes is better. As for the description, also keep it brief. For example, if you have a video introducing the history of your organization, use a description like "A brief look at the history of XYZ Inc."

Include a Good Voiceover and Music

In order to keep people from stopping your video and moving on to something else, make sure that if you choose to have a voiceover, make it a pleasant, confident-sounding voice. It doesn't matter if the voice is male or female, just as long as it is clear, fits the message you are conveying, and is even-toned. If you choose to use music (which is recommended), use music without lyrics. Lyrics are distracting from your main message. That is unless, of course, you are using a jingle to promote your organization. In that case, lyrics work. You want to music to match the mood of your ad. If it is in juxtaposition with your message, it will come off as unprofessional and annoying.

Support the Narration with Text

Supporting the narration with text will help strengthen your message. The text should coincide with the narration. It will also help get your message across to those watching the video with hearing impairment or if someone simply has their speakers turned off. You don't need to provide subtitles or captioning, just text that highlights key points.

Style and Substance

The content of your video ad should be clear, concise, and straight-to-the-point. Because you have a limited amount of time, you want to develop the strongest message that you can. Your audience won't want to sit through a meandering, off-topic message. People like sound bytes. They like compressed ideas and facts that don't take the scenic route. Write down your idea into a single four or five sentence paragraph including only the most pertinent information, then decide if you can cut anything from it. Also, the style of your video should match your message and your organization's brand identity. The colors and font should be similar to the colors you use in your logo. This will help the audience identify the message with the sender of the message.

Using these tips, you should be able to construct a professional, to-the-point video advertisement to help market your organization. If a video looks and sounds good, even if it's an advertisement, people will take the time to watch it.