Best Practices for Video Marketing

Video is the hottest thing in Internet marketing. But so many people are intimidated by video. It seems difficult and a little mysterious.

But take comfort: if you adopt video as part of your marketing mix, you’ll have the first mover advantage in your niche. Most of your competitors aren’t using video yet.

Why video is such a powerful marketing tool

Video increases conversions for your marketing campaigns.

Steve Washer from Brainyvideo.com describes how Stanford University used video to increase donations from alumni using video. They increased their donations by 23% from the previous year by use of video on their online donation pages.

Washer also describes how the website www.supermindevolutionsystems.com achieved an opt-in rate of 60% using video: http://www.supermindevolutionsystem.com/page1/.

Some of the factors that make video so compelling are the increasing availability of broadband connections, the ability to differentiate yourself using video, the relaxation effect that video has on audiences, and the ability for people using mobile devices to easily view videos.

Best practices for videos that convert

If video is such a powerful marketing tool, consider using video on your landing pages to increase your landing page's conversions.

But make sure you follow the following best practices as described by Washer:

1- Get straight to the point. Don’t clutter your video with introductions or additional non-relevant explanations. Explain exactly what your offer is and what your customers get.

2- Don’t let your background distract from your subject. If you’re providing a talking head video, keep him or a little more in front of the background than normal. Keep the space around your subject clean. Make sure you have enough light, and also make sure your lighting isn’t too bright.

3- Use the law of 1/3rds. Make sure your subject is on the left or the right third of your screen, instead of directly in the middle of the screen. Also, the top of your subject’s head should be just below the upper edge of the video, not in the middle of the video.

4- Less talking, more images. The more you can use clean, simple imagery to explain your concept, the better. This is video, so use everything video allows you to use: sound, motion, imagery.

5- Use a good microphone. Use an inexpensive lapel mic, or a shotgun mic, but use a mic. Bad audio is the number one way to lose viewers.