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How to Use Video as an Effective Communication Tool
By Jerry Bader (c) 2010

Now that just about everybody is a believer in Web video, it's
time to figure out just how to use it effectively as a marketing
communication tool. Oh sure, there are a few diehard holdouts
filling their sites with thousands of words of densely congealed
text in a vain attempt to attract 'Mr. GoodSearch;' and let's
all encourage them to continue, especially our competitors,
because as they stick to yesterday's marketing tactics, we can
capture market share by communicating, using techniques that
actually lead to more audience engagement, more memory
retention, and more sales leads.

Even if you're still a bit unsure of the benefits Web video
brings to your marketing efforts, think of the commitment Google
has invested in YouTube and then you'll know where the biggest
search opportunities exist. So let's all agree, video is where
it's at, but hold on just a second, let's call it compelling
content presentation, or more precisely, properly conceived,
professionally produced, attention-to-post video that delivers a
meaningful memorable message in a manner that is less
advertising and more content, less pitch and more experience.

Can you do this yourself? Doubtful, but maybe, so before you run
out and blow the petty cash on the latest HD video camera,
proper lighting equipment, editing and motion graphic software,
how to DVDs like 'You Can Be The Next Ridley Scott', a
computer and hard drive powerful enough to handle HD file sizes
and software processing, custom photography, signature music and
sound effects; and before you ask your accounts payable person
or spouse to shoot you in your office with a backdrop of photos
featuring last year's office picnic and the broken office chair
you've been meaning to replace; ask yourself, is this really
how to go about marketing my company? I mean maybe your
appearance is camera friendly, maybe you have the right voice
that fits your message, maybe you understand body language,
maybe you have acting experience, maybe you know how to write a
script and maybe... well you get the idea? And we haven't even
talked about content and concept. There is a place for
amateurism, it's just not in business.

The Ad Content Challenge

The real challenge in website design is not backend technical
issues, search engine optimization, or feature proliferation but
rather how to turn advertising into content, and content into an
experience. We know nobody likes to be sold, especially if it's
a hard sell pitch demanding instant decisions and immediate
action. People are more likely to run from such a sales attack
as quickly as possible, particularly on the Web where escaping
is just a mouse click away.

Let's assume for a moment that you want a professional Web
presentation and not a homemade ego-satisfying
customer-repellent video. Let's also assume that you've hired
a team that has the necessary skills to deliver the 'right
stuff.' The next step is to provide that team with the assets
they need to do the job.

Gather Your Assets

The first thing you'll need to do is get all your resources
together. Here's a checklist of things you'll need to supply
or have created in order to get started:

1. Logos That Work
 
A properly designed logo is a must. I can't tell you how many
times we've had to design or at least redesign logos for
clients who have been in business for years. A video campaign is
all about communicating a corporate personality and that
identity needs a visual tag to affirm that brand image.

Most business people realize they need a logo but they generally
only think of it in one dimension, graphically. With a properly
designed logo in hand, an audio logo tag can be associated with
it so that your brand message is penetrating both visually and
audibly. Remember your goal is to turn advertising into content
and to do that you must create a memorable experience, and the
whole point of using video is to communicate your message using
sight, sound, and subliminal psychological persuasion.

2. Mission Statements - It's About The Why

Mission statements are generally useless exercises in
self-congratulatory bunkum. If your mission statement says your
company aims to have the best products, at the lowest prices,
featuring world-class customer service, then you know your
mission statement is useless. When people hear those kinds of
platitudes they yawn and move on. When was the last time you
heard a mission statement that promises inferior crap, at
inflated prices, with little or no customer service support?

Instead of a meaningless mission statement, create a 'Why
Statement' that answers the question, why should anybody want
to do business with you? I've already given you our version -
"we turn advertising into content, and content into an
experience" it's what we do, what we are committed to, and if
it's not what you want, then you need another production team.
You have to give your clients a reason why they should care
about your company, why they should do business with you. It is
a commitment not to be feared, but embraced. It is the message
you want to deliver, the one thing your audience will remember
about you that will distinguish you from your competition, and
ultimately it will be the reason they do business with you or
not.

3. Six Things You Need To Know

The Why Statement provides your brand point-of-view and
personality. It focuses audience attention on the key benefits
you deliver. So the next thing you need to provide is the six
most important things you want to say about what you do.

Why six? You need to show some discipline in your messaging in
order to be effective. Limiting the number of things you say
emphasizes what's important so that it doesn't get lost in a
haze of marketing jibber-jabber, and it avoids creating
information overload.

4. Realistic Expectations

"Do or do not. There is no try."

You hear and read a lot about ROI and the importance of
scientifically measuring results in order to fine-tune
commercial communication. Business is constantly trying to make
craft into science and it's the fool's gold of advertising. Ad
agency politics has always been a push-pull fight between the
creative teams and the account executives. Account executives
like their bulleted points, pie charts, stock images, and
PowerPoint presentations. The trouble is it's all a shell game,
an illusion used by rote-trained corporate sales people that
lack the insight to commit to what really works, psychological
persuasion. Instead, they settle for a seemingly impressive, but
often deceiving set of facts and figures.

No one is suggesting that Web video presentations should be
art-for-art's-sake; we've all seen visually stimulating
commercials that don't seem to have any commercial point, but
to ignore marketing's dirty little secret that purchase
decisions are based mostly on emotion and not rational
reasoning would be folly.

You're going to make mistakes. Some things will work better
than others. It's all about fine-tuning your message based on
your Why Statement. You need to commit to a Web video strategy
that is more about delivering memorable content in service of
your Why Statement than merely a series of easily dismissible
sales' pitches. Web videos can engage an audience, attract
attention, deliver informative, enlightening material in an
entertaining, memorable manner, and that is how they should be
judged.

Web Video Is Commercial Storytelling

What is the best way to illustrate why people should do business
with you? On the Web there is a necessity to be bold, creative,
and entertaining. It doesn't matter if you're selling legal
services or leg warmers, if you don't make an impression, your
audience won't listen, and if they don't listen they won't
remember you, let alone why they should care.

There is a lot of emphasis today on speed, but your website is
not the place to encourage it. In fact you want to do the exact
opposite. You want your audience to slow down, relax, listen,
and absorb what your video has to say. If your video delivers
informative, entertaining content then your audience, the ones
that are serious about what you do will listen and one of the
best ways to get them to listen is to tell a story.

All stories, at least the ones you are going to remember, have
three key elements. Think of how professional comedians
construct a story: there's a setup, a twist, and a punch line.
A well-constructed Web video has similar elements: a setup that
presents the problem, an elaboration of difficulties, issues,
conventional wisdom, or false solutions, and the 'aha'
resolution. Remove any one of the elements and the presentation
falls apart. If speed is your goal, buy a sports car, if
marketing success is what you want, demand the three elements
that make a presentation worth watching.

When It's All Said and Done

When your video production team comes back to you with a
concept, ask yourself is it bold. Is it something people will
remember? Does it speak to the question why should anybody want
to do business with you?

One last note about deciding whether or not the concept you're
presented is the right one. If your spouse, best friend, or
in-laws don't understand it and are afraid some people will be
offended, then you know that it's targeted, and it's probably
the exact right approach to take. If you play it coy so as not
to offend anyone, and if you insist that everything you do and
every feature and benefit you offer be highlighted, then for sure
you will fail. A production team can only be as good as you let
them be.
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Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design
and marketing firm that specializes in Web-video Marketing
Campaigns and Video Websites. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com/ads,
http://www.136words.com, and http://www.sonicpersonality.com.
Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.
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