Tidbits of Online Video Advice for the Direct Marketer - Q&A with Michael Behrens

10/29/2009

A small piece of what Michael Behrens, WebMetro's VP of eMarketing, shared in the Online Video session at the Direct Marketing Association conference in San Diego…

Q: What are the benefits of online video marketing?
Michael: From a direct marketer’s perspective, online video can improve the quality of customer engagement, lower cost of acquiring a customer, increase onsite conversions, improve overall ROI and capture visitors with a brand personality. Videos are a powerful way of enabling rich, non-linear, interactive storytelling. They can boost perceived value, enhance credibility, increase a site’s stickiness, communicate a brand or product’s value proposition more quickly (than relying on a user to read paragraphs of content or lists of bullet points) and, of course, generate leads and eCommerce sales.

Q: How can online videos increase a brand's visibility?
Michael: While the focus of our online video approach is about video on a brand’s website for increasing sales/leads along with ROI, we have helped clients employ online video via external sites like YouTube channels to help increase visibility within search results. Reported by BusinessWeek back in February of this year, a study by Nate Elliot of Forrester Research showed one-fourth of U.S. Google searches (and more in other parts of the world) return videos in the results. This coupled with the facts that broadband adoption/penetration is increasing and online video viewership has never been higher provides a timely opportunity for brands to challenge how they can employ online video to boost visibility. To be successful, videos don’t need super high production value nor do they have to be summer blockbusters. However, they must be well thought-out and integrated into a brand’s overall marketing strategy for new customer acquisition.

Q: What are some tips that you would offer for creating and producing online videos?
Michael: Before rolling the camera, use tools like web analytics to gain insight into what information consumers seek on your website. For example, with our client AngelBeds, we were able to identify which pages of content were most important in enabling the purchase decision. This helped in creating the script as well as the video location (which pages within the website would have a video); it gave us insight into what the online video had to communicate in order to be effective. Ultimately, conversions increased 11% in the first month alone and 47% year-over-year for AngelBeds. The AngelBeds home page video was able to condense the learning curve for purchasers: Before the home page video was implemented, purchasers visited 33.37 pages on average before buying; after the video, the number decreased 34% to 21.92 pages.

Q: How are online videos different from traditional TV videos?
Michael: Online video is more interactive: consumers can click, play/stop, etc. Brands can be much more engaging with online video than traditional TV videos.

Q: What is the future of online video? How is it evolving?
Michael: There will be a lot more testing of formats, sizes, and deliverability. For direct marketers, I think we’ll see the industry embrace online video. Online video marketing will become more of a best practice for eCommerce rather than an exception to a rule!