Why Your Business Needs Online Video

Internet video is rapidly becoming a necessity for businesses of all types and sizes. Here's why:

1. Status

Utilizing web video is a powerful way for companies to demonstrate that they are up-to-date with current technology trends. Just as every business today needs a website, soon every business will also need a video on its website, as well as on its social media networking pages (Facebook, Twitter) and video broadcasting sites (YouTube, Metacafe).

Web videos are already being used by businesses of all types to attract and retain customers. Multinational financial groups, local demolition companies, storage facilities, personal trainers, lawyers, florists, recruiting firms, tile manufacturers, massage therapists - every imaginable industry now has video in the mix.

Businesses that use video advertising stand out as leaders in their industry. Businesses that do not will soon risk standing out in a negative way, appearing unsophisticated and out of touch.

2. Presence

Every business wants to maximize its position on internet search engines. A website that includes a well-tagged video (or even better, multiple well-tagged videos) has an enormous advantage in search engine optimization over websites without video content.

Major search engines now use BLENDED SEARCH, displaying videos, images, maps, alongside standard search results. Google is more likely to blend videos into its results than any other type of media (images, for example).

For this reason, a well-tagged video will help increase a website's ranking on Google, especially since not everyone is yet using video on their websites:

"Any given video in the [Google] index stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the index." - Forrester Research

Now is the time for businesses to get ahead of the curve and build their web presence with video-rich websites.

3. Substance

An effective video provides a business with a standardized, concise sales pitch that engages viewers and tells its story.

Every business has its angle, its brand, a unique combination of qualities that differentiates it from the competition. Let's call this the business's "story." It could be a moving company's commitment to fixed price quotes, a hair salon's ability to work with every hair type, or an insurance agency's 80 years of single family ownership. Whatever it is, this "story" is significant, because it is why the business remains in business.

Video is the perfect medium for telling a business's story. In 60 seconds, a business can have tout its selling points through sound bites from owners, employees, and customers, while also presenting compelling visuals of the company in action. And all that potential customers have to do is click "play," sit back, and watch.

4. Versatility

Businesses have many avenues for leveraging their web videos. Beyond their own websites, businesses can distribute their videos on video-streaming sites and social media networks (YouTube, Facebook), through email blasts, online chat sessions, on television (yes, television. I've made several web videos that later aired on Comcast as television commercials), and of course in blogs... like so:



That took me a whole 30 seconds to add to this blog. Pretty easy.

5. Price

In the old days (about 10 years ago), videos cost a lot more, looked a lot worse, and could only be seen on TV. Businesses paid thousands of dollars for gimmicky, laughable videos - none of which would survive the judgement of today's Tivo users. Now businesses can have compelling, vibrant videos that viewers CHOOSE to watch, often for just hundreds of dollars. And airing those videos online costs... nothing. You can show your videos online, infinity times, for free. You can't beat that.
In summary, internet video advertising is quickly becoming a required practice for any serious business. It makes you look legit, it increases your chances of being found on web searches, it delivers your sales pitch quickly and powerfully, it can be used all over the internet and beyond, and it's practically free. If you can afford a daily Dunkin Donuts run*, you can afford internet video advertising.

* - The basic DD combo (coffee and donuts) costs on average $2.69. Multiply that by 240 works days (which accounts for 20 days of vacation), and you've got $645.60. This is more expensive than our starting video package.