ENDAVO BLOG

Mom was right. It’s nice to share.

By Pete Contardo

Whether it’s some sick zombie clip, a cute puppy video, or another one of those fake viral commercials, today’s online video scene is full of content for all types of people. But where’s the fun in finding a cool video and then not being able to share it with anyone?

Research shows that 1/3 of all online videos are shared, according to a study by Yahoo! and other large media companies. So, it still baffles me when I come across a great video on a site that doesn’t support sharing or other social networking features. Now, more than ever, viewers don't want to keep their favorite content a secret. They just can’t wait to share it, post it or mash it!

Best of all, great things can happen when a viewer shares your video. They become an ambassador for you, strengthening not only their relationship with your brand, but also engaging others to do the same. You can effectively reach more of your target audience, in a more direct and personal way. And any of their “friends” who receive an invite to view your video are more likely to accept the message because it came from someone they trust, and in turn they learn to trust you. Similarly, if someone embeds your video on their site or social network page, it can have the same effect by exposing your content to their friends.

These days, customers have come to expect sharing features with their media content, especially when it comes to video. So, make sure your platform has the right features. Before you know it, your viewers will be sharing their favorite videos and you can just sit back and enjoy the benefits. (But sometimes it doesn't hurt to remind your customers to share, just like Kelvin G. does before one of his clips...)

So, be nice and remember what your mother taught you-- and make it easy for everyone to share.

Online Video Marketing: Getting It Right

By Tatiana Tugbaeva

While researchers are still debating over how pervasive and effective online video is, marketers across all industries are adopting it as a promotional medium.  Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been finding some great examples of how companies and organizations are using web video to achieve all kinds of objectives – from building their brands, to engaging with the audience, to delivering on specific business goals like increasing sales or tapping into new sources of revenue. Here’s what I found:

The Pennsylvania Tourism Office launched an original web series called "Peter Arthur Stories." These webisodes tell the adventures of a 22-year-old Peter Arthur as he travels around Pennsylvania searching for the waitress that served him a slice of Shoofly pie when he was 12 years-old. While the young man rides around the state in his sidecar, the audience gets to see Pennsylvania’s beautiful landscape, farmlands and towns. Viewers can also enter into a sweepstakes for 12 Pennsylvania getaways by answering 4 trivia questions.

Cabela, one of the largest mail order, Internet and retail outdoor outfitter produces its own TV series and also hosts a collection of about 250 videos on its web site, Cabelas.com.  Professionally produced videos vary in content, from product-related to ‘how-tos.’ Cabela is using its online video assets to add value to its services, improve user-experience and engage site visitors.  

A&E Television Networks is orchestrating a viral marketing initiative to promote its new "docu-drama" series "Hammertime," which chronicles the present-time life of the mega celebrity MC Hammer. A&E’s video “Hammer Pants Dance” has generated almost 1,300,000 views on YouTube driving traffic back to www.aetv.com/hammertime where you can watch more videos, ‘meet’ Hammer’s family, follow him on Twitter, participate in discussions, connect on Facebook and, of course, pre-order a DVD of the “Hammertime” series.

Another viral video campaign was launched by the Miami Dolphins to boost new season ticket holder sales. The Dolphins released an interactive feature that allows fans to input their contact information and experience the excitement of new signee experience. Once you submit your info, you are taken to the next page to watch a video of YOU ‘getting in the game’ by signing a contract, high-fiving fans and running through the tunnel with the team mascot. You even ‘get’ a customized jersey and see your name appear on the screen as they talk about ‘the new signee’ on the news.

All these campaigns are great examples of how online video can be used to drive traffic, engage the audience and generate revenue. However, all of them fall a bit short of their full potential. Online video is a highly interactive medium. So, these organizations could be enabling their viewers with the tools to rate, comment and share the content. How about incorporating some user-generated uploads? Who wouldn’t want to watch more ‘Hammer pants dance’ videos from fans? A&E could sponsor a contest where the winner gets to spend a day with MC Hammer and his family. Now that’s “Hammertime!”

Online Video Episodes about the 'Art and Science' of Filmmaking

Wanna be a filmmaker?
Then check out Film Riot web series from Revision3. Learn post-production techniques for short-form video, get professional advice, explore filmmaking and have a few laughs.

Online video: short-form content is the winner

By Tatiana Tugbaeva
"While online video usage is growing, it is shortsighted to think of this primarily as an alternative venue for watching TV shows," says independent analyst Bruce Leichtman. "In fact, consumer use of video online remains much more about short-form video."

At Endavo Media, we support Leichtman’s outlook on web video. Online video is more than just watching regular TV programming on the web. In fact, in his recent survey of 250 broadband households, Leichtman found that only 8% of respondents watched repurposed TV shows on their PCs.

The greatest thing about online video is that has given equal opportunities to big and independent content owners to distribute their videos online. It has also allowed smaller and emerging brands to tell their stories and connect with the audiences without breaking the bank. You don’t need high-end equipment and a million-dollar budget to produce engaging content and reach your audience. All you need is a hand-held camera, compelling story to tell and broadband connection. 

What Defines a Successful Online Video Campaign

By Tatiana Tugbaeva
If you ever wonder what the heaviest hitters in viral video history are, Visible Measures has the answer. The company specializes in measuring online video across the web and it put together a nice list of “online video campaigns that have accumulated a nine figure total viewership.”  What’s interesting is that out of 18 “heavy hitters” only four are user-generated videos and only one of them, Jeff Dunham’s Achmed the Dead Terrorist, is in the top ten. Music videos (8) are dominating the list, followed by movie trailers (4). There are also a couple of TV show clips.

So, if you still think of a successful video campaign as something that goes viral and generates millions of views, you might want to reconsider. There’s much more to web video than that. Producing compelling quality content that resonates with your target audience and delivers on your marketing/business goals is what defines a good online video strategy.

Evolution of Dance, position 11

Choosing an Internet TV Platform that Works for You

By Shaun Pope

A few posts ago, Paul D Hamm revealed the big secret of a successful online video business – finding multiple monetization models. But an appropriate video publishing and distribution platform is also crucial to execution and success of any online video monetization strategy. So, here are a few things you need to consider when choosing an online video platform that works for you:

Monetization options. Your online video platform should allow as many monetization options as possible. Video and banner advertising, sponsorships, subscriptions, pay-per-view, affiliate programs and e-commerce should all be easily available for implementation.

Control. When you put your video on a free hosting site, giving up control is an inevitable trade-off. Having control over your audience, player/website branding and advertising options means you choose how to make money with your online community.

Analytics and Member Data Management. Comprehensive video analytics together with community members’ personal information provide a valuable insight into your audience and make a great asset for negotiating deals.
 
Interactive and Social Media Features. Over the past few years, interactive features like commenting, sharing, rating, voting, user-generated uploads and live chat have become an expected part of user experience. These tools are also essential for building online video communities. Your platform should have features that make it easy for your content to go viral and for you to monetize your videos wherever they go.

Live Streaming.  Some monetization models like pay-per-view and subscriptions work best as ‘tickets’ to live events,  especially when it comes to sports, music, entertainment, news training and education.  

Tell us what’s important to you in an online video platform. And good luck!

Promoting Online Video: SEO Lift and Viral Buzz

By Shaun Pope

In previous posts, I covered how production and publishing are central to a strong online video content strategy. But it's how you promote your content that impacts measurable results the most.

The key to success in social media marketing is participation. Posting regular tweets on Twitter, updating "what your doing now" in LinkedIn, commenting on your Wall in Facebook, and including links to ultra-relevant content in your blog posts are all opportunities to promote your online video.

While seasoned social media experts can accomplish more than a novice, it's not a secret art. The function is very much about ongoing activity online, being timely with your updates and authentic with your voice. In other words, it's hard to fake it. The name of the game is building online credibility, and in return, increasing your influence. Social media experts are not born, they're raised. The only way to get better is to engage and participate.

Okay, so social media marketing takes effort, it's not always easy to measure, and, while cheap, it's not free (as many marketing execs seem to think). However, there are ways to measure effectiveness and ROI:

1. Increasing video views by seeding viral sharing of your content and promoting your online video content as part of your everyday social media participation will drive inbound traffic. A good tool to use to measure click-throughs on specific links is URL Brief. This service lets you abbreviate the URL and provides tracking for those links. Another tip: make sure to alert everyone in your company when new videos goes live and encourage them to promote it, too.

2. Building inbound links is a great way to earn SEO "juice" for your content, as most search engines (especially Google) use inbound links heavily in their search algorithms. SEO takes time. Increasing your search engine results page (SERP) to 1, 2 or 3 is the result of continued link building over time, as well as the relevancy of your content (a whole separate topic). But it is measurable. 

In summary, alway be promoting!

• Link to your content EVERYWHERE (where relevant)
• Encourage employees, friend and followers to link to your content
• Provide video sharing features so viewers can promote your content
• Use Embed Players to let users put your content on their blogs, websites and social media profile pages.

So, get out there and Produce, Publish and Promote more video content. Want more like this? follow Shaun on Twitter, or connect with Shaun on LinkedIn.

Zippers vs. Buttons...or How Video Helps Your Customers Decide Which is Better

By Pete Contardo

Marketers don’t get to decide the best features of their products, customers do, according to Seth Godin’s marketing insight of the day. In his post What does better mean? Godin writes about how a simple buying decision – zip-up jeans vs. jeans with a button fly – can teach marketers a tough lesson. It’s up to the customer to decide what they like the most about your product. When it comes down to it, all that marketers can really do is to present customers with the features, benefits, and advantages of their product. So as a marketer, what are your most effective methods to present your product?  Well, that’s where online video comes in.

First of all, online video is much easier to produce and distribute today thanks to advances in equipment technology, broadband adoption rates and the functionalities of Internet TV platforms. Costs associated with an online video campaign are much lower, so any brand, no matter how big or small, can launch one. Video in general is a very powerful medium to deliver a marketing message. But the best part of it overall, is that it is easy for your customers to share with their friends.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your company’s creative brains together and show your customers through video what your brand and products are all about. Then, let your customers tell you, and hopefully everyone they are connected to, all about what they love best about your products.

Branded Entertainment is the New Marketing Superpower

By Tatiana Tugbaeva

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article on MediaPost Video Insider that talked about branded entertainment. According to Dave Jackson, the author of this article “The advertising model, as practiced for the last hundred years or so, has been one based on interruption… However, marketers have also begun In a shift in tactics, applying their resources to create content to get their message across.”

A number of companies are now including branded entertainment into their promotional mixes. Borders, for example, launched Borders Live at 01, an online channel that educates and entertains site visitors while building brand awareness and showcasing products. Post Grape Nuts is sponsoring a 50-episode Web series “The Guy’s Manual” that offer advice to men on topics ranging from how to get a date to how to take your fiancée’s  poodle for a morning jog. Geico joined in by launching a series of YouTube videos featuring ‘talking’ kittens, famous gecko and YouTube celebrity Numa Numa Guy.  Finally, yesterday Turner Sports launched the original Web series “Off Track with Tony Stewart.”

Why is branded entertainment becoming increasingly popular? At Endavo Media we believe that branded entertainment promotes deep brand engagement and builds strong relationships with customers that extend beyond a product. We also believe that it opens a world of new opportunities to production studios, advertising agencies and marketing firms. As the industry moves forward, we’ll see more and more companies successfully executing branded entertainment campaigns. And if your agency (firm, studio) doesn’t have the means to produce, promote or distribute online video, you should consider partnering with companies that do.

Liquid video. Wow, pretty cool term, huh?

By Paul D Hamm

I became aware of it from Shane Steele (Tremor Media) at a recent AMA Atlanta Luncheon. The term’s based on video being metaphorically “liquid” ... or, “free-flowing” over various networks (broadband, TV, mobile). I thought it was a smart and accurate way to look at what’s happening with online video and social media, so it got me thinking that video is actually more of a “liquid asset” generating real ROI and revenue—liquidity (okay, yeah, that’s my financial background shining through).

Let’s briefly expand on both definitions ...

Liquid Video Strategy
Online video content becomes liquid when you enable it to be “free-flowing” with your audience and community (note: free-flowing doesn’t mean “free-for-all”). Don’t restrict video and rich media to a single screen or destination. Let it flow to your website, social networks, mobile devices, television—all the screens your audience wants to access.

You can also create liquid video by letting your audience, community or third-party producers/aggregators contribute to your video and social media strategy. Obviously you need an Internet TV Platform to pull content from multiple sources into a cohesive strategy and experience. Engaging your audience by providing interactive features like commenting, rating and sharing and allowing your audience to take your content viral via the social web greatly enhances the liquidity of your online video.

Your Internet TV Platform must allow video to become liquid, while not compromising control over quality, distribution, audience relationships or brand integrity. This is why publishing video on YouTube and MySpace is a poor business strategy for most brands or content owners. Having the right control and tracking mechanisms is critical to maintaining brand integrity and to launching a distribution engine that can be properly managed and monetized—which gets to my second definition of liquid video.

Liquid Video = Monetization
Once a successful liquid video strategy has been deployed, a brand or content producer can create the best liquid of all—money and ROI (as we blogged here before, there are multiple ways to monetize online video – ads, sponsors, subscriptions, pay-per-view and syndication). You can answer a lot of challenges every industry is facing by offering real access dispersed but targeted, liquid but controlled (and tracked), distribution to a target demographic. 

The key to pulling together these two definitions of “liquid video” is finding right tools and systems (an Internet TV Platform) that enable more ways to get your content in ... more ways to get your content out ... let your audience interact and take you viral ... and lastly, to monetize your online video. Do all that and you’ve created Liquid Video.

A Liquid Video strategy can be developed for any small- to medium-sized enterprise who’s serious about monetizing their online video. Tell us what you think.