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Welcome To The Future Of Video Marketing…
Welcome to this short report on Video Marketing  As you are probably already aware video content is rapidly taking over the internet.
Recent reports suggest that almost 50% of the content viewed online is in video format and it was calculated that YouTube served 1.13Billion minutes of video online (yes, I said billion minutes) in 2009!
So, it’s pretty obvious that if you are not using Video Marketing to promote your site, your products or your services then you could be missing a huge opportunity.
The good news is that in this short report I am going to give you 10 quick and easy ways you can use Video to multiply your marketing efforts and increase your profits…
Some of the ideas in this report can be implemented for zero cost and will take you a few minutes, others may require a small investment and some extra time but by now, you are well aware that frequently, you get what you pay for!
As with all reports of this nature, it cannot increase your marketing effectiveness (or profitability) by sitting on your hard drive. You need to read it, digest one or two of the ideas and take action. The better your actions the better your results will be
Countdown begins… 10
“A quick scan of YouTube will allow you to see hundreds, of thousands, of personalities beaming back at you from your screen”
Video Marketing Tip No 10
Video marketing – Personality Sells
It’s been established time and time again that people by from people and the stronger your relationship with your customer (or your target market) then the more likely you are to make that all important sale.
The faster you can show that you are a real, genuine person, the easier it is for your target market to create an emotional bond (empathy, respect, camaraderie, etc,) with you.
And video is a brilliant medium for this…you can literally sit in front of a camera (or web cam) hit record and start speaking. Your personality will literally shine through, allowing your prospects to see who you are and what you are like.
A quick scan of YouTube will allow you to see hundreds of thousands, of personalities beaming back at you from your screen.
I’d like to give you two great (and very different) examples…both successfully create relationships with their target market and both depend on the medium of video to transmit their individual style.
The first is “The Frank & Trey Show”. Frank and his cousin Trey are very successful Internet Marketers who clearly have a lot of time on their hands and rather silly sense of humour.
The Frank & Trey Show documents a rather ambitious prank they pulled on another Internet Marketer called John Reese. Watching this you cannot help but get a sense of the kind of guys they are!
Now not everyone wants to make a Miami Vice styled goofy video and you don’t need to…
“Since posting her first few videos she has gone on to become a huge recording star in Japan, with her own album, tour and a massive fan following”
The other example is at the opposite end of the spectrum: This Is Beckii Cruel. Becky is a 14 year old girl from the Isle of Mann in the UK.
She is big fan of Japanese Manga dancing (Manga is a cult Japanese style of cartoon and animation) and began by simply recording herself dancing to a few popular Manga tracks.
She made her own costumes and the backdrop to her first few videos was curtain in her house!
Since posting her first few videos she has gone on to become a huge recording star in Japan, with her own album, tour and a massive fan following (she’s even learning Japanese). She regularly flies out to Japan to perform live gigs and appears on popular TV chat shows.
All this from recording a few dances just moves because she loved the Manga style and sub-culture
You can see that there is a huge difference between the production quality between Beckii’s videos and “The Frank & Trey Show” but both effectively convey personality and allow you to begin to form a virtual relationship with those involved.
In both examples, videos are used to build and confirm the personal brand of those making the videos.
So…how can you communicate how you are, what you love or what you stand for with a simple video?
How can you build a personal brand using a web cam or simple video camera and YouTube?
“videos can be a great way for you to personally recommend or endorse a product”
Video Marketing Tip No 9
Video marketing With Personal Reviews
A common form of online marketing is called Affiliate Marketing. In essence the affiliate is a virtual sales person for the owner of the original product and, if a sale is made, the revenue from the sale is split between the affiliate and the product owner.
So, following on from creating a personal brand, videos can be a great way for you to personally recommend or endorse a product.
Combining this type of video (the personal review) with an affiliate program means that the person recording the video can earn a commission from those who see the video and subsequently decide to make a purchase.
And these videos are extremely simple and easy to do as you can embed links into both the videos and the Information text displayed next to you “Personal Review” video on YouTube.
Of course you are not restricted to using YouTube (and we’ll come on to some alternatives in a few minutes) but seeing as it is now the second largest search engine site on the Internet (with Google.com still way out in front) it makes sense to start here!
As you can see from the following selection, production qualities do not need to be “Hollywood Studio” levels and you don’t even need to appear in front of the camera! It is again personality and content that people are interested in.
Traffic Ultimatum Review 1
Affiliate Millionaire Review 1
Video Boss Review 1
“if you can make people laugh or find another way to make them feel good they are more likely to take a small and reasonable action”
Video Marketing Tip No 8
Video Marketing With Other People’s Video Part 1: “Jam Trousers…”
I am going to show you two slightly sneaky ways to use other people’s videos to promote either your own products or affiliate links to other people’s products. Neither of these techniques are black hat, we’re just going to use premade videos for our own marketing purposes.
If you have been involved in Internet Marketing for a while you will probably already be aware of the idea of a pre-sell page. In simple terms this explains why a customer should be interested in the sales page that your (affiliate) links will take them to.
Now, a lot of people are not great at copy writing but you don’t need to be A few good related videos (free content) and a sprinkling of affiliate links is all it takes.
The page below promotes a number of Comedy related products via affiliate links. The site is free (it’s a blogger.com blog) and took less than 10 minutes to set up and that included searching for both some funny videos (I love the Jam Trousers James Bond gag) and some related products to promote.
Take a look here: http://funniestcomedyroutine.blogspot.com/
I have found that if you can make people laugh or find another way to make them feel good they are more likely to take a small and reasonable action (like clicking a link) to get more laughs or more of the same good feeling.
So, do you think this is something you could add to your affiliate marketing repertoire?
A simple twist to this strategy would be to build Video based Autoblogs witih Adsense and other contextual text link ad based networks (Kontera and the like) as the monetization strategy.
“we can get a little more sophisticated on how we use other people’s videos to market products using affiliate links”
Video Marketing Tip No 7
Video Marketing With Other People’s Videos Part 2: “Invisible Ink?”
Now, following on from those examples we can get a little more sophisticated on how we use other people’s videos to market products using affiliate links. Take a look at these (again borrowed YouTube videos for this example):
http://buildamembershipsite.blogspot.com/
Notice there are no affiliate links visible around the video?
Some people are wary of clicking links and others are keen to see if they can switch out your link for theirs in a blatant attempt to claw back the commission price. But if you look at the video again:
http://buildamembershipsite.blogspot.com/
You will see there is a nice button embedded in the top right of the video. Clicking on that (with a good call to action) will transport the viewer to the target site (in this case the excellent DLGuard software site) via an affiliate link.
Seamless and almost invisible 
This is all achieved using a fantastic free service from http://www.linkedtube.com/
You simply find a video you wish to use as your promotional tool, find an appropriate affiliate link and fill out the form on the LinkedTube.com website. You then cut and paste the embed code in to you page (in this case another example blogger site) and voila, instant affiliate video promotion!
“A quick demonstration is far more powerful than any feature laden set of bullet points would be.”
Video Marketing Tip No 6
Video marketing Product Demonstrations: “Here’s One I Made Earlier…”
The number one rule in a good creative writing class is “show, don’t tell” and the same advice can be very profitable in marketing exercises too.
Instead of telling a prospect how easy a piece of software or a particular technique is, show them. The same goes for anything that saves people time. A quick demonstration is far more powerful than any feature laden set of bullet points would be.
Now, if you are promoting your own product or service then a short video demonstration is very easy to do, you literally record yourself using the product or running through the steps in your process.
If you are marketing an affiliate link but you do not already own a copy of the product then consider buying a copy or asking for a review copy from the product owner.
Apple has been a master of the video demonstration for both its iPhone and more recently for the new iPad device. Check out www.apple.com to see how they have used the video demo idea.
The goal here is not show everything that can be done. By focusing on a single (but powerful) aspect, say a process or function that dramatically speeds up a time intensive process, your video will imply all the other possible benefits and time/money saving advantages that can be achieved.
In this instance a “less is more” approach to marketing will be more successful. Focusing on the biggest single pain experienced by your audience will encourage sales. Recording 20 videos showing every possible feature or function will reduce sales by implying that the product is complicated or that there is a lot to learn.
“use these services to quickly and easily distribute your content to the most popular video sharing networks and sites, sites that attract millions of viewers each day”
Video Marketing Tip No 5
Video Marketing Link & Traffic Bait: “The Power of Networks”
The current preference for consuming information in multimedia formats (both video and audio) means that your videos can be highly useful Search Engine Optimization (SEO) assets.
Video networks need high quality, content rich videos in order to meet their own commercial objectives. Equally, the users of these networks are also looking for interesting, entertaining or useful content. By meeting these needs the smart video marketer can obtain high PR value backlinks and a regular supply of human visitors.
Two great services to consider are www.tubemogul.com and www.trafficgeyser.com . Both of these solve the “distribution” problem frequently associated with Video Market.
Tubemogul’s video submission service is free while TrafficGeyser is at the premium end of the “paid for” spectrum. In either case you can use these services to quickly and easily distribute your content to the most popular video sharing networks and sites, sites that attract millions of viewers each day.
As with any SEO activity, paying attention to Keyword Selection, appropriate tagging and Anchor Text usage will pay dividends.
As the majority of these video sharing networks have the usual Web 2.0 features such as bookmarking favourites, commenting and profiles, it is worth building a consistent presence relating to the content or theme of your videos.
Using your videos to answer other people’s (relevant) questions and make a positive contribution to the current discussions will maximise the flow of human visitors from your videos to your own web site.
“build your reputation and position in your market by releasing a series of videos answering problems.”
Video Marketing Tip No 4
Video Marketing “How To Videos”: “Be A Problem Solver”
As you are probably already aware, great products solve painful or expensive problems. Being regarded as a problem solver is therefore a powerful position to occupy when marketing, and solving problems relating to your product area positions you as both an expert and a market leader in that field.
An excellent example of this is Gary Vaynerchuk. By answering the question “What wine goes with xyz meal” Gary is consistently selling a lot of wine (recent reports value his Wine TV business at $40million!).
Gary’s passion for wine is evident in every single video he records and a positive review or recommendation from Gary will sell a lot of wine.
Rather than jumping in to Video Marketing with a straight product pitch, build your reputation and position in your market by releasing a series of videos answering problems.
You do not need to use live video, talking over a slideshow or explaining a mindmap can be just as effective as your potential viewers are more interested in solution to their problems than they are in your video production capabilities.
To get a list of pressing problems or questions to answer in your niche, I recommend browsing Yahoo Answers, the big Ezine Article websites and, of course, the popular and active forums frequented by your target audience.
Good problem solving videos are likely to spread virally because people with a specific problem normally know other people with the same (or a related) problem.
Using video in this way positions you as an expert and is a great way to start video marketing and develop a personal brand in your niche.
“a sample of the Video Slide Interview can now be distributed to create a natural draw of prospects and customers.”
Video Marketing Tip No 3
Video Marketing Audio Interviews: “Do You Want Slides With That?”
Audio interviews, especially interviews with experts in your target niche or field should be a “must” in your marketing strategy. They simultaneously give your prospect or customer community great content and, by association, position you as an expert.
While it is probably logistically and financially prohibitive to arrange to video a live interview with an expert, it is relatively easy for you to arrange, conduct and record a skype interview (I use the Pamela skype plugin).
Having completed the audio interview you can quickly and easily make a high value video interview for your subscribers and create a key point of leverage in your marketing.
Audio interviews are great because they capture the ebb and flow of a real debate, the questions and answers move forward with a naturally fast pace and this can be their weakness.
When listening to an audio it is easy for your audience to miss any subtle points or to be exposed to so many ideas that the power of importance of each idea is lost in the number of points raised.
So, by having the interview transcribed and the key points highlighted on a Powerpoint or Keynote slide, you are both assisting the audience while simultaneously creating a high value product (The video interview – Video marketing at its best!). In completing this simple process, you can now create three products from the original single interview (the audio interview, the transcription and the video slide presentation.
Additionally, a sample of the Video Slide Interview can now be distributed (See #5) to create a natural draw of prospects and customers. After listening to an interesting excerpt, many will come to buy the full interview.
“While rewriting an entire ebook can be an onerous task, PLR material can be a great asset for the Video Marketer.”
Video Marketing Tip No 2
Video Marketing Product Alchemy: “The Philosopher’s Stone?”
In European myths and legend, Alchemists searched for a fabled Philosopher’s Stone; a device that enabled one to turn base materials (typically lead) in to precious metals (typically gold). Video can be used as a modern day Philosopher’s Stone for the smart Internet Marketer.
Here, the base material is not lead but Private Label Rights products. The internet has a vast and largely poorly used repository of private label material, frequently niche specific and reasonably well put researched and put together.
However, the vast majority of PLR material purchased by marketers still resides on local hard drives because of the high perceived effort in rewriting and rebranding the material as something new.
While rewriting an entire ebook can be an onerous task, PLR material can be a great asset for the Video Marketer.
There are two quick ways to make a high value video product from PLR. Firstly you can create a video slide presentation of the material’s content and record this with an audio commentary explaining the key points contained on the slides.
Alternatively, assuming the ebook is a “How To Guide” of some sort, you can follow the instructions in the material and record the process using a screen capture application like Camtasia (on PCs) or Screenflow (on Macs).
This creates an “over the shoulder” style tutorial, one of the more popular and valuable styles of video product.
“In today’s high speed, fast turnaround world there are many advantages to be gained from using Sales Video over a Sales Letter.”
Video Marketing Tip No 1
Video Marketing Sales Letters: “The Fast Lane To High Conversions”
Almost since the beginning of Internet Marketing, the “long form” sales letter has been the dominant sales tool for both the professional and amateur Internet marketer. However, a trend has emerged over the last 2-3 years where the long form sales letter has been replaced with a Sales Video.
In instances where the sales video is the last part in a co-ordinated launch sequence, it has proven to be highly effective. Even without a launch sequence, a well scripted yet simple slide based sales letter can easily outperform a traditional sales letter and this is especially true if the product owner is not a very experienced copywriter. Good sales videos can outperform sales letter by 200-300%, in some cases by even more.
In today’s high speed, fast turnaround world there are many advantages to be gained from using Sales Video over a Sales Letter. With Video marketing, videos are typically faster to produce, simpler in their construction and, if the message is well crafted, can be more appealing to the prospect.
With the right distribution strategy, Sales Videos can become viral marketing tools, something a long form sales letter can never achieve.
A good sales video will hold the viewer’s attention, ideally by engaging their imagination and drawing them in to the presentation using a range of persuasive language and psychological techniques.
Consumers have been conditioned by decades of TV and Movies to suspend disbelief when watching this medium, allowing you, the video marketer, an opportunity to present your product and your story.
Video Marketing – A great guide to creating your own high converting sales videos
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