If you aren't already marketing your company and its products to online videos, then stop and ask yourself why not. Not only is YouTube garnering more than 2 billion hits per day, effectively making it the world's second-largest search engine, but it's been a breakthrough marketing platform for all kinds of businesses all over the world.
Unfortunately, however, not all of the videos companies produce have the effect that was intended. More often than not, it's not because the message was off or are there wasn't any interest, but because the marketer was missing an essential element. Here are three things missing from a lot of small business online marketing videos:
Professional editing. Unless it's something wildly entertaining – like two cats boxing to the theme of a popular movie – most people aren't going to take the time to watch your video if it looks like it was shot on a camcorder in your garage. Don't skimp on the scripting and editing of your online marketing video; you’re only cutting back on the results you get.
A call to action. What is it you want people to do after they have seen your video on YouTube or elsewhere? Is it to buy a product, to request more information, or something else altogether? You have to decide this beforehand, and make the next step very clear to the viewer. Otherwise, all they're going to do is click on to the next video.
Your contact information. While this might seem like the same thing, it's actually important that you display any pertinent link of telephone number for at least 5 seconds at the end of your video clip. It should also be the last image that stays on the screen when the video is finished playing. It's a small point, but one that can boost your response rate significantly.