The Importance of Professional Online Video

We have seen video grow from a “frill” some businesses occasionally include on their websites, to an essential, competitive differentiator that drives SEO and increases brand identification.

Knowledgeable companies embraced this shift and made video a central part of their online offerings. Videos grab attention, engage viewers and, if executed properly, can succinctly communicate your entire value proposition in as little as two minutes.

There are many new techniques people are using to promote and increase the sales on their website. Videos are considered as one of the best methods for communicating with audiences. A fact that all of us know is that it’s much easier to consume the visual image than to read something. The visual impact created by videos can often be creatively used to reach out and capture the imagination of a wide audience. Video’s use of real people, animation and music are valuable when motivation is a key ingredient in your message.

Video is best for the communication of a simple, convincing message. We can feel an emotional connection more readily with video’s moving images and sound than other communication mediums – to an audience it is the closest medium to reality.

Streaming videos over web pages has caught on with an increase in the available bandwidth and connection speeds in the last couple of years. Often a good video can double or even triple the ’sale ability’ of the product. The impact created by the video partially depends on the quality of the created video.

Here is a video on my media training work that I did in one take, having a friend hold my Flip video camera.

And here is a video that was professionally done and edited at the BRANDit Workshop.



Do you see the quality difference? Would seeing one video versus the other one make a difference in your decision to hire me to do media training?

Now add your video into an online magazine and you have even more impact and a variety of ways to reach people.

A good video, bundled with the right support material, will definitely prove to be one of the most effective ways of reaching out to a worldwide audience 24×7.

Branding: Making an Emotional Connection

When talking about branding, we most often have to start with a definition—what is a brand?

A brand is a name that stands for something in the mind of the customer. Your brand is your most valuable asset. The goal, therefore, is to define a brand that creates an emotional connection between you and your customers.

What emotions do you want others to feel when then think of you?

Maya Angelou said, "At the end of the day people won't remember what you say or did, they will remember how you make them feel."

We are overwhelmed by thousands of product choices, and we’re all short of time. That’s why the emotional connection is so important. People want the facts (why is this better?) and the emotional connection (why is this right for me?).

The power of appealing to emotion is detailed in Wharton professor Deborah Small’s groundbreaking research. She shows how the use of statistics by non-profits, as opposed to a vivid “identifiable victim,” results in lower giving. People want to hear and be moved by real stories.

You want to unite an idea (your brand) with an emotion. But how do you do that? The best way is to tell a story.

You use a brand, both visually and verbally, to educate your prospective customers about who you are. You tell them both visually (with a logo) and verbally (with a short message that best describes your business and its benefits). The key to creating a strong icon or logo is to paint word pictures. Then compare the word or visual pictures with your description of your business and what sets it apart from the rest of the business world. Think unique, think independent, step outside of your marketing mindset and get creative.

Everything you do stimulates an emotional response whether you want it to or not. Even if you don't know it, you leave every encounter with someone feeling a certain way, whether you meet in person, via social media, or simply by them viewing your business card, flyer or web site. So knowing that, why not be proactive about this and work to stimulate the emotion you want others to feel instead of leaving it to chance?

To take an active role in the emotions you make people feel, start by being aware of what you want to portray and sprinkle it in here and there. Do you use inspirational quotes on social media? (I specifically make sure I do NOT do that since so many others are). Or if you want people to feel excited and alive, do you send out samples of music and music videos that you like?

I send out research, relevant articles, to friends, clients, past clients, potential clients and colleagues. Thus, an emotional connection with me is one of networking, a strong resource, and someone who stays on top of current events and trends. In the online marketplace, it can be easy to get trapped behind a monitor and keyboard.

You have to remember that business is about people, not numbers. It’s about relationships, not computers. In our rapidly evolving business environment, the entrepreneurs who are going to thrive are the ones who engage their clients and build long-term relationships. So get out there and develop your cheerleading squad, refer business to others, join groups and tell your story.

You can purchase my webinar on The Brand Called You or sign up for the BRANDit weekends coming up in Santa Barbara or Iceland. Watch this video from Harpa Georgsdottir, Manager of Rain Deer, who attended our BRANDit workshop in Iceland in October 2010. She talks about the importance of the emotional connection.

Online Video Ads Reign over TV Ads

Since I became involved with the BRANDit program (www.maryschnack.com/brandit or www.brandit.is), I have become more and more aware of videos on the web. Besides training on re-invigorating your brand, The BRANDit program offers attendees a new marketing kit-which includes new head shots and a video for their website.

Being a trainer and speaker, I've been "trying" to get videos up on my website for three or four years--and just wasn't successful in getting it done. Now I have four on my home page--which all tell the story of what I do much better and more succinctly than all the text on my site!

I notice other articles about the power of video on the website. For example, according to Forrester Research, you are 53 times more likely to appear on page one of Google's search results with video on your website. Video raises click-through rates up to 200 percent.

The story I saw today about online video ads versus TV ads doesn't totally apply to our individual business websites but its still interesting. In a research conducted by The Nielsen Company and Microsoft it was found that video ads shown during the full episodes of TV shows shown on the Internet have deeper brand impact on the viewers than has TV ads during the same show when relayed on television, because there is greater brand recall. The over-arching reason for this, that does have influence on why we should videos on our websites? "The research showed that people are more engaged and attentive while watching on the Internet, which assists in brand recall."

I'm working with my clients to get videos on their websites. The more professional the better. The Flip cameras are great, but you can't fill your site with amateur videos. As more and more business goes online this is an important marketing step to take.

Who Are You Cheering For?

When I watch tennis, I usually cheer for the higher ranked player. I think once you get to the top, it's hard to stay there. Everyone is gunning for you and they are often playing the game of their life. One bad day and the top pros can find themselves on the losing end.

But when it comes to basketball, that rule doesn't apply. Because I am loyal. Loyal to my Los Angeles Clippers.

I lived in Los Angeles for 18 years and during most of that time, I had both Lakers and Clippers season tickets. The difference was--my Laker tickets were in the 25th row and my Clipper tickets were in the sixth row--or better.

The Clippers play the same teams the Lakers play, and I had the best seats. A real basketball enthusiast (anyone surprised--TWO sets of season tickets?), I enjoyed being closer to the action despite it being the Clippers instead of the Lakers. When I decided, for both time and financial reasons, that one of the sets of season tickets had to go, it was the Clippers tickets that I kept.

So no matter who the Clippers play, I cheer for the Clippers. When I was both a Clippers and Lakers fan, I would always cheer for the Clippers when they played for the Lakers. Once the play-offs started, it was all Lakers for my cheering (primarily because the Clippers in the playoffs is a rare event). During one Clippers/Lakers near the end of a season, when a Laker win was important for home court advantage during the playoffs, I still cheered for the Clippers, much to my date's chagrin. He thought I should be more cognizant of the long term impact of that game.

There's no other team as consistently bad as the Clippers that I cheer for. I hated it when Phoenix didn't embrace the Cardinals--until they started racking up some wins two years ago. I hated it even more that I was one of the fair weather fans!

As much as I like, and I hope, for an underdog like the Clippers (which Sports Illustrated dubbed the worst franchise in pro sports), they have been replaced in my heart. There's nothing like knowing a player personally and cheering him (or her) on. Since I personally met Channing Frye and got to know what a terrific person he is, I am for whatever team he plays for. Fortunately, he was picked up by the Phoenix Suns last year so I was able to cheer for the home state team (by then I was living in Arizona). Until Channing joined the team, I was for the Suns--unless they were playing the Clippers, Lakers--or the team Channing played for (Knicks or Blazers).

Now,only when the Clippers play the Suns do I root against the Clips. Blake Griffin is a bright spot and a leading candidate already for Rookie of the Year.
Go Blake Griffin! Go Clippers! Go underdog!

But most of all--Go Suns! Go Channing!

Being a Small Business Sub-Contractor

It always amazes me as I travel around the world how different our cultures and life can be--and yet how much is still the same. As a small business that has worked in the transportation industry in Arizona, I found an amazing similarity when I met a woman from Afghanistan that builds roads. See Video.

My experience with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) was primarily as the Communications Manager for the State Route 179 project. I also worked (an am working) on some smaller projects, such as the study on Interstate 17 north of Sedona and south of Flagstaff, and several projects for the City of Sedona. I am always a sub-contractor to the primary business that won the contract award.

There are great people/companies to sub for, such as Katherine Bush at URS in Phoenix and DMJM+Harris (now AECOMM) in Phoenix, there are some that are good and there are others that are terrible--which I am so tempted to name, but probably better not. The worst offender was a woman in Phoenix who used another colleague and myself to win the award, and then brought our services in-house (so she would get more of the $$$$). We wrote and designed the proposal.

But when I talk to a woman in Afghanistan about building roads--I expect to hear all kinds of problems -- about security, about funding, about working conditions, lack of supplies, etc. Yet what was her main complaint? About being a small business sub-contractor. She said the large firms get the $3-$5 million contracts and then contract with her to do the work at just a fraction of that price, keeping all of the profits. Well, its best left to hear in her words: See Video

Things My Daughter has Taught Me

My daughter’s cat had to be put to sleep on Saturday. Looking back to how she got this cat as a kitten 16 years ago made me smile. And made me realize for the first time at the age of 12 she also had a pretty good business sense.

I was in the process of selling my sign and banner shop and Christmas was just a week or two away. I was having a holiday open house for 150 people later that week. Busy time, to say the least. My daughter called me, right before I was heading home, to let me know that she had found a kitten abandoned in our outdoor storage shed. Could she keep it?

But her question wasn’t that simple, figuring that I would say no, she quickly added, “I talked to Connie and she said you need to pick up…..” and she gave me a list of things (like a doll bottle and baby formula) to pick up on the way home. Connie was my best friend and is the ultimate cat lover. She also had helped Erika pick out her initial two rescue kitties three years earlier (one of which was now dead—leaving Erika to believe there was room for another cat in the house).

I had to give it to Erika. She did her research BEFORE she called me, and rallied “the team” around her request. But I still said no—if I had to stop on the way home to do that type of shopping—I was just too tired and had too much going on to take on something else like this.

Erika did more research and called me back. She had called Connie again. By putting cat food and water in front of the kitten, and the kitten eating and drinking, meant the baby bottle and formula wasn’t needed. I didn’t have to shop on the way home. She added creativity and initiative to the mix, along with foreseeing problems and obstacles and having her message points ready, and added that—oh by the way—she had made a bed for the kitten in her shower and named it Butterscotch.

Of course I said yes this time. Just shows what good research and good teamwork can accomplish!

Who’s the Quarterback?

It always seems self-serving when I recommend that an outside consultant is needed during a crisis communications situation.

Let me back up a beat. First of all, the MOST IMPORTANT thing for a crisis or challenging situation is to have a plan in place in advance. That’s most important.

I have a video clip that talks about the importance of having a plan in advance, and why outside consultants should be considered.

See Crisis Communications Video.

An outside consultant or agency helps add a dose of objective realism. It may be difficult for internal staff to see the whole picture objectively, as an outsider would.
When you work at a company, you are part of that company’s family--no matter how good you are at work/life balance! Thus, when something happens that may be upsetting, those in-house are emotionally involved and are not necessarily in the best position to either make objective, critical decisions and/or may need help in carrying out everything in the plan.

What is important when you bring in an outside consultant to help, is to define who is going to be the “quarterback” of communications. Control should always be firmly in the hands of the organization, but the outside consultants should become an integral part of the crisis team. The agency or consultant should play an advisory role while the organization makes the final decisions.

If you are working with an outside public relations agency or consultant, it is important to keep them on retainer so that you have their expertise available to you with the additional people power that can be brought to bear quickly in a crisis. By having them involved early on, it will help your ability to deal quickly with the media should a crisis occur. If a retainer relationship is not possible, bring in an outside consultant before a crisis occurs so that the company benefits from the preplanning expertise of the consultant, ideally to the extent of avoiding a crisis in the first place.

Discuss with the consultant or agency, in advance, such things as what resources they can make available, what media contacts they have, what they would charge in a crisis situation (by the hour, day or crisis), who exactly will be working with you (what level of seniority), and can they work on-site?

The downside of bringing in external help is the morale of your current communications staff (feeling discredited or unappreciated) and the perception of your external audiences that may indeed be an even bigger crisis than they imagined since you are soliciting outside assistance. (Consequently, a prior relationship with any outside sources is important so this perception does not exist).

SEE WHY MARY RECOMMENDS OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS FOR CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS—and more on the importance of having a plan prepared in advance…