I recently wrote an article to make the case for online video. I believe that most websites can benefit from short video clips profiling a company's key people, their products or their services. And to that end, Spectrecom will be launching 2 new online video product-based sites over the next month. These will be showcased at an interactive presentation we'll be delivering in our studio on 17 September 2009. This seminar will be aimed at small business owners who want to know more about internet video marketing, and will be of particular interest to potential affiliate partners thinking of reselling our new services.    

Earlier this week I submitted an article to the online networking site Business Scene. The article heralds a new phase in our drive to educate and cater for the SME sector, and specifically, to open up new markets for what has traditionally been known as 'corporate video'.

We launched this site in January, and our analytics have shown us that 46% of all the traffic that lands on our home page then goes straight to our team profile videos. This bears out what I've always suspected - that a website is the shop front to a company, and that as such, it's entirely natural that visitors should want to meet our people. The proof has been in the pudding. We've won business or attracted affiliate partners purely on the strength of our online presence. I believe that most websites can benefit from short inexpensive video clips profiling a company's key people, their products or their services. So in my article you can find out exactly why I think we're just at the beginning of the web video revolution.

Spectrecom has started work with another 5 universities this summer: York, Lancaster, Sussex, Newman and Goldsmith’s. The videos are predominantly for recruiting students online, and it’s now becoming such an effective marketing tool that it’s being seen as an essential part of the recruitment strategy. The universities that started using online video a couple of years ago have been delighted with the upswing in recruitment that they’ve delivered. I’m especially pleased that we’ve been asked yet again to produce work for Durham and King’s. They’re great clients to work for, and it’s good to see that they’ve been getting fantastic results with their videos.

So what of our most recent work? We’re often asked if, since we specialise in university films, our work doesn’t become a tad, well, samey? The answer is an emphatic ‘no’, and this summer we’ve been working with a number of new ideas and, where the budget allows, more high-end equipment and shooting techniques. For example, we’re incorporating more tracking and crane shots into our work, and we’re shooting more on HD than ever before. And in a move that shows single-campus sites at their best, 4 universities are going to benefit from an aerial shoot courtesy of our partnership with FlyingTv. Beyond that, our story-telling also remains imaginative. Steve Milton has just finished a film for St Mary’s College at Durham in pure student-led documentary format, and it’s resulted in a highly watchable and enjoyable film.

The undergrad students have all gone home now, but we’re continuing to make the best of the weather as the sunshine allows, shooting campus buildings and grounds, and capturing the flavour of local attractions and surrounding areas. The next big push will be to prepare for the Fresher’s season at the end of September when the universities will be alive with activity, the weather will still be friendly, and the new students will experience their first taste of university life. It’s the best time to record the combination of a thriving, enthusiastic student environment, sport and activities, and surroundings that are still passably green and leafy. Not surprisingly, it’s usually the busiest time of our year, and we’ll be there yet again to capture the event for those future students still fretting over their A levels.
 

According to Nate Elliot of Forrester Research in the United States, thanks to the introduction of Google's "Universal Search" feature in 2007 - which incorporates results from news sites, videos and maps right into the body their search results, online videos are now 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than text pages!

Statistics like these are helping to drive an entire industry dedicated to video optomisation and businesses around the world are beginning to take note too. A Permission TV survey, for example, recently revealed that out of 400 company executives, a whopping 67% said online video would be a primary focus of their 2009 online marketing campaign, with 52% expecting to start or extend online video projects in the second quarter of this year, up from 32% at the time of the study in December, 2008.

However, appearing on the first page of Google isn't the only reason why videos are great for SEO. Video content can also easily be used to build those crucial inbound links that every successful website needs; they can be uploaded to social media sites where they'll be viewed by a multitude of online viewers and become part of larger online discussions; and RSS feeds can be created, allowing users to subscribe to videos on your website, notifying them as soon as new content is available.

Clearly, companies and organisations who continue to focus on traditional online marketing methods alone will miss out on a proven, increasingly high-impact marketing tool and soon find themselves behind the competition.
 

A recent US study by Findlaw has revealed that when consumers search online for a law firm, before they pick one to contact by phone, they'll visit an average of 4.8 different websites. However, if the sites they choose to visit contain video, this reduces dramatically to only 1.8. The same study also showed that “58% of consumers indicate video increases their likelihood of contacting a law firm”.

Compared to the United States, only a relatively small minority of UK law firms currently host video on their website, but with statistics emerging like these, firms who continue to rely on traditional marketing methods alone will be missing out on a proven, high-impact marketing tool and will soon find themselves behind the competition. But why is video so persuasive and such an effective conversion tool for law firms?

Primarily, it's because a well-crafted, professional video, which captures the true character of a law firm and its people, enables potential clients to get to know a firm's staff in person, prior to making any commitment. Visitors want information before they pick up the phone or fill out a form and if done correctly, video is by far the most compelling and efficient way to do this. Videos can also help inexperienced prospective clients overcome the intimidation factor of contacting a law firm by taking some of the mystery out of the legal process. In an increasingly crowded online marketplace for legal services - where hundred's of websites are vieing for people's attention - video is also a great way for any law firm to stand out from the crowd.

However video marketing also offers a number of other benefits. In addition to providing information for your site visitors and adding a human face to a website, videos can also be optimised for high visibility on video sharing sites like YouTube, Google Video and Yahoo Video. The content will then be viewed by a multitude of online viewers and can act as an extremely powerful element of any marketing strategy. Also with the introduction of “Universal Search”, videos rank consistantly high in normal Google search results, as well as Yahoo, AOL and Ask, whose searches also now incorporate video.

Put simply, video can deliver a level of confidence in any law firm, large or small, to trump any other marketing effort and it should always be considered for inclusion in any firm’s marketing plan.