The world of Internet marketing seems to change radically every few months, making it a formidable moving target, and making it difficult for entrepreneurial companies with a pared-down marketing budget to decide which direction to choose.
According to the marketing strategy magazine BtoB, online video marketing is projected to reach 1.4 billion dollars this year (a 74% increase over last year’s spending), and spending for advertising on social networks is projected to do about the same. Wow. That’s a lot of increase in spending for just one year.
But online video advertising, albeit not as cheap as handing out business cards at a trade convention, doesn’t have to be expensive as you might think. It can be an effective and affordable option for reaching your target market, if you do it right.
And if you do choose to go with an online video marketing campaign, you’ll be in good (and smart) company. A recent brilliantly executed YOUTube campaign by the famed Ford Models agency exemplifies the New Marketing Rule that when you advertise you mustn’t look like you’re advertising. That’s why most companies use client testimonials – third party endorsements by people who are not (usually) paid to say nice things about you and your products or services.
When I read this story in Inc. magazine I was blown away. Basically, Ford’s ‘supermodels’ are videotaped talking about clothing, fashion, make-up, hair, whatever – giving tips and advice to their adoring fans (young girls who want to be models – a HUGE fashion and beauty buying segment of the population). During the course of the friendly, natural, how-to session, the model mentions, in her own words and in her own way, the label of the clothing she is wearing, for example. That’s it. Nothing more self-consciously ‘mouthpiece’ than that. “It’s just me trying on a dress,” said one model. “I didn’t think it would get that kind of response.” Some of that model’s YOUTube videos have been viewed upwards of 600,000 times. One clothing retailer commented, “People don’t pay as much attention to the brand when it’s the brand talking.” She brokered a deal with Ford for four videos featuring jeans that netted her company $500,000 in register sales in one month, mostly from people who had never shopped at that store before. Not too shabby.
So, how could you apply this idea to your company? Well, you’ll need to do it right. Why? Because if you do it wrong – like anything – it can get expensive fast, and you’ll find yourself back at one of those fascinating trade shows eating hot dogs and limping from booth to booth exchanging business cards with people you’ll most likely never see again.
No, you’ll want to have a great marketing strategist on your side who understands that these days any kind of marketing on the Internet is more competitive than the NFL playoffs. You’ll want your videos well-lit with professional editing and perhaps an appropriately slick but unobtrusive soundtrack. You’ll need some VERY bright ideas, executed by a team that knows (and I mean really understands) video AND marketing. Oh, AND the Internet. AND your company goals. And is easy to work with.
That’s a lot of AND’s. There are more, but I’ll stop now.
