Video Production Oakville – TrueView for Youtube

While many marketers in Oakville are still struggling over view-ability of their videos, YouTube is offering something much more valuable than just views. In March of 2015, YouTube launched Interactive Cards, which enable creators to share product information directly within their videos. Then, in May, YouTube took this feature to the next level with TrueView.

TrueView is a feature that specializes in helping viewers shop directly from the videos they’re watching. Similar to YouTube Interactive Cards, with TrueView, ads appear as an icon on the top right corner of the YouTube video/ad. When users click on the icon, Cards will drop down, and users will be able to scroll through images and pricing information about products featured in the video. If users are interested in purchasing, they can simply click the image and they’ll be taken to the retailer’s website to learn more, read reviews, or click to buy. Virtually any brand can now transform their videos on YouTube into a digital storefront.

TrueView provides direct sales of products like apparel, shoes, sunglasses, handbags, watches, custom goods, media, video game software, and books. This is potentially bigger than QVC and HSN put together because YouTube overall reaches more consumers than any cable network in the U.S.

TrueView has quickly and dramatically increased the importance of video production in Toronto and has created quite a buzz among marketers. In the coming months and years, you can expect the TrueView feature to become an essential tactic in e-commerce.

When it comes to your business – hire a professional

In 1985, a year after the Apple Macintosh computer was launched, the first desktop publishing program, Pagemaker, was released for the Mac. It launched a world of professional page layouts and home-made garage sale flyers, all on a home computer.

Suddenly everyone was a graphic designer! The number of brochures being produced soared, but the number of bad brochures soared as well.

Today we see the same phenomenon in the world of video. Small, HD video cameras and inexpensive desktop video editing software have legions of people producing and editing videos.

It’s certainly suitable for hobbyists to edit short videos and post them on YouTube for fun, but in the business world that can lead to disaster. A poor quality video can lead to an unsatisfactory impression of your company and brand. You can’t go back and make a new first impression.

With video becoming an increasingly vital component of  commercial websites, your business requires the production values that a video professional brings to the job.

In Short … Keep it Short!

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our clients is: How long should my corporate video be?

There is no magic answer. Ten minutes in real life usually flashes by like a nano-second, but ten minutes on video can seem like an eternity, no matter the subject. In our experience a standard length for your average video production should be 2 to 3 minutes. That’s all. Better to have easily digested chunks of information stacked on a web page in multiple 1 to 2 minute video segments, than to have one 10-minute video that is not watched to the end. Few decision makers will have the time to watch an 8 to 10 minute video about your company.

Keys to a successful 3-minute corporate video:

1. You want your videos to be brief and to the point. Your target audience requires information. Quickly.
2. Keep your audience’s attention with a stylish, attractive video utilizing high-quality film-making skills. A successful video production does not need to be a big budget event. Music, great sound and lighting, crisp and clean images, fast-paced editing in a whiz-bang fashion that suits the image of your organization or business . . . these are the things that will help keep your viewers interested.
3. Stay relevant, with a clear message. Stay laser focused. Your video should point out how your products or services will solve their problems and satisfy their needs.

Bottom line: leave your audience wanting more.

Superbowl Commercial Fun Facts

So this is it, the start of the new year. The holidays are wrapped up for another year and we look ahead to our goals for 2017.

Signs of spring are still far off, but the countdown to Super Bowl VI begins and with audience numbers predicted to smash last year’s 115.5 million, we rounded up some facts about one of the most important aspects of the game: the ads.

In 1967, NBC charged $37,500 for a 30-second spot. This year the usual big brands; beer, cars, Coke/Pepsi, and of course the e-trade talking baby, will shell out a record $5 million for each 30-second spot.

Certainly a Super Bowl ad has it’s cachet value, but today’s advertisers are hoping that their commercial goes viral. Conversations, chatter and social sharing can turn an ad into an online phenomenon. Back when the legendary Apple “1984” spot launched  at the big game, ads ran once. Today, brands want their ads to live forever and  are looking online to connect with their audience. Thanks to the power of social video – online video content – their ads can stand the test of time.

Who can forget 2006’s catch-phrase-making Budweiser “Wassup” spot, or Doritos’ 2011 Pug Attack, and of course, the top shared Super Bowl ad of all time, Volkswagen’s “The Force”?

Why hire a Video Professional?

Though many of us are accustomed to the barrage of media, the impact of video can still be tremendous. We live in a multimedia world with  video finding its way into every walk of life. Video screens can be seen on buses, in lobbies and waiting rooms, in department and grocery stores, in restaurants, on our mobile phones and tablets and even while fueling up our car!

Video has become a respected and essential tool for marketing and promoting companies and products. So how do you keep your message from getting cast aside?

Craft a simple message and present it in an engaging, original and professional way.

This raises the bar for the demand for quality.

Taking a crash course in video technology and hoping for the  best is likely not the best idea. Although video recording and editing hardware and software are constantly developing and dropping in cost, a professionally produced video is invaluable.

Choosing the right production house can drastically increase the chances that your video project will be responsive, visually stunning, and pay for itself many times over. But finding the right video production company for your business can be challenging for a small business owner.

Here are three considerations when choosing a video production company.

1. The large companies with multiple studios and sound stages, editing suites and a sizable staff. These are the people Hollywood and television stations will call on when they are looking for a local production. A considerable price tag will accompany their overhead. Often they are unable to service smaller businesses because of the smaller budgets.
2. The next step is the smaller, full-time production companies. The core of their clientele is the small and medium businesses. They are compelled to keep the budgets as lean as possible while  delivering the best possible quality. These production companies may have a small, single studio and editing suite, and rent a sound stage and hire contract crews when the project calls for it. This translates into lower production costs for you.
3. This last category is the part-time videographer, with a camera and a computer. Their ability to understand corporate, commercial and broadcast needs are limited and could impact the quality of your production.

4 Reasons to have an Online Video Profile

No matter how much written content and photos you have on your website, they can’t convey as much about you and your services as a video profile.

Our Online Profile is a short 1- to 1.5-minute video featuring owners, staff and customers in a “real” documentary style format.

The Age of YouTube and Reality Television
While the idea of using video as a marketing tool is not new, in the age of YouTube and Reality Television most people are now accustomed to seeing ordinary people talk about themselves — sharing their knowledge and expertise, or creating their own ”reality TV” show. The benefit of these self-promotions is that potential customers get to hear from you — the business owner.

Doing Business with  People You Know
An Online Video Profile Video helps customers to feel like they know you, even before they’ve met you! If they like you on video, they’ll  probably like you in person. People prefer to do business with people they know, like and trust. Video can go a long way toward building those qualities into your relationship with virtual strangers.

Yellow Pages No More
Long gone are the days of the yellow pages. Your customers likely go straight to the Internet to find you and to learn more about you, all before calling you.

Be Yourself
Your online profile will help distinguish you from your competitors and build a local presence, just by being yourself. A promotional video is great for nearly any type of business owner; lawyers, accountants, web designers, physicians, realtors, dentists, mechanics, restaurant owners, contractors, just to name a few.

And keep in mind that maintaining the momentum with new, helpful videos will leave your target market wanting for more.

Top 5 Benefits of Online Video Marketing

Online marketing can play a crucial role in promoting your business. Video has become a very cost-effective form of communication allowing you to demonstrate your products and services in ways that photos and text simply cannot.

1 – Show and Tell
Statistics show that 65% of people learn visually, while 30% verbally. Most people will skim through written material on a website, looking for clues to make a fast decision. A video production will get your company message out there in the way that YOU want it to be seen, enhanced though the use of a web video. Your show and tell video will use images, music and voice over.

2 – Make your Website “Sticky”
Because of their increased level of interest, your visitors will spend more time on your site learning about your services and products. Your goal should be to keep prospective customers on your website for as long as possible, learning about your products and services.

3 – The Emotional Connection
Have you ever seen a celebrity, politician or local business person on TV and then seen them in person? Did you recognize them, maybe you just felt like you knew them? Well, that’s the power of video at work. Video helps customers to feel like they know you, even before they’ve met you. Share your passion and knowledge of your product in a way that establishes you as an expert.

4 – It’s Your Video – On Demand
A web video showcases your product and services to the world. Anyone interested can visit your website to view your video time and again – and of course, there’s viral reach; Share, Email, Link . . .

5 – A Thousand Words
They say a picture is worth a thousand words . . . video contains 30 pictures a second! That translates to 1,800 pictures a minute!

As communication technologies change, businesses need to adapt. Most people now have high-speed Internet and expect complete multimedia content. An out-of-date web site can immediately turn away potential clients. What better way to impress them than through a web video?

A Formula for Video Production Success in Oakville

There’s a concept in business that people don’t buy products, they buy the expectation of benefits. It is characterized by Leo McGinneva’s famous explanation about why people buy quarter-inch drill bits: “They don’t want quarter-inch drill bits. They want quarter-inch holes.”

In other words, we want to know what’s in it for us. Internet search, and its ability to help people find what they want, when they want it, has been revolutionary for the way we do business. And what better medium to propel this new wave of marketing than a video production? Video production is one of the most effective mediums for marketers in Oakville and elsewhere. But creating content is only one part of the job. The other part is to make captivating content – content that gets people talking. But how should you make your content more sharable, and get more people to see it?

Is there a magic formula to creating a captivating video? Well you can certainly maximize your chances of success by first identifying the factors that appeal to your audience. Study the techniques used by top marketing teams. Scan social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, etc.) and think about which posts you would be likely to share and/or leave personal comments?

After analyzing all this, you will get to realize that you would obviously share the content that seems to be most interesting, humorous, positive, emotional, cheerful, trendy, informative, helpful, motivating, and inspiring… right?

Some posts resonate with your personal and professional experiences and you instantly hit the like button. Some posts reflect reality and make you want to hit the share button, while some posts are so exciting that you have to leave a comment about it. This is what we do daily on our social media accounts.

This analysis will put you in the right path to producing videos that will engage your social followers. We all know that video production marketing is an absolute must in today’s Oakville market. But the content must be engaging otherwise you’re wasting your efforts. Use this social media research formula to maximize engagement for your videos.

Get YouTube to Recommend Your Video

Most of the viewership on YouTube is driven through the “suggested videos” column on YouTube watched pages. This is important to know when developing a YouTube channel for video production with your Oakville based company. In the video production and marketing realm, dominating this section can drive massive viewership and ensure your audience is not lured away to someone else’s video channel. However, dominating the suggested videos column is not easy. It starts with creating great content and is accelerated by proper programming and attaining an engaged audience. The YouTube suggested videos column is made up of three categories:

1) Suggested videos are the 4 videos featured from the creator and are selected by the YouTube algorithm
2) Related videos are other videos that are similar to yours
3) Recommended videos are based on the viewer’s YouTube viewing history

To determine where they will list each video, YouTube uses metrics such as “watch time”, relevancy, viewership history, and engagement. After creating quality engaging video content, there are a number of ways to influence these metrics and dominate the suggested videos column. Here are four essentials for dominating this column:

1. Encourage “Engagement Actions”

YouTube’s algorithms look favourably on videos with lots of likes, dislikes and comments. YouTube has stated that it utilizes comments as a form of metadata around video production. Encourage comments from your viewers by replying to many of your viewers’ comments, but also by posting your own questions with each video. Post a question in the comment section whenever you post a video. This will generate more comments which will influence the keyword algorithm into moving your videos up the list.

2. Optimize YouTube Video Titles

The first step in generating watch time is to get someone to click on and view your videos. But in addition to that, titles are used by YouTube as a main source of metadata. The title shows the YouTube algorithm how all your videos are relevant to each other in your channel which can also aide in optimization and in your videos making it to the suggested videos column. When developing your video title, always remember to include the following:

– The name of your show
– The number of the episode
– The name of the channel

For some additional information, click on this link: https://groovyconcepts.ca/video-title-optimization/

3. Optimize Descriptions, Tags and Closed Captions

Descriptions, tags and closed captions are all vital aspects of your metadata and will also dictate whether your videos make it into the suggested videos column or not. Here are some important guidelines for maximizing this metadata:

– Descriptions should be a minimum of 3 sentences and placed at the top of the description section
– Using the default tool in Youtube, always include a generic 3 – 5 sentence description of your show and channel at the bottom of the description
– Descriptions & Tags should focus on one primary keyword
– Limit the number of tags to 12, focusing on your primary keyword

4. Upload Compelling Custom Thumbnails

Custom thumbnails are one of the most important essentials in getting someone to click on your videos. The thumbnail is the first image anyone sees of your video and gives the first impression. Many marketers of video production in Toronto still fail to take advantage of this feature.

A custom thumbnail image that properly represents your video, your channel message and your brand is extremely important. Oakville companies should follow these basic guidelines: https://groovyconcepts.ca/5-steps-optimizing-video-thumbnails/ when creating optimized thumbnails.

Extra Step: Scheduling

An extra step is to communicate your schedule. If your audience knows when you’ll be posting new videos, they’ll keep coming back to tune in.

Conclusion:

These tips are only a part of your overall programming and audience development strategy. Although video SEO on YouTube is not an exact science, by following these tips, you’ll be launched in the right direction. Remember, you’ll need to stick with it to see results. If you continue on in this direction, the Youtube presence of your Oakville company will begin to grow and flourish. Remember that the cornerstone to any successful video production campaign in Oakville is quality content. Without quality content, all of the steps listed above are null and void. Always hire a professional video production company (there are many here in Oakville) to create your video production content.