Friday, September 26, 2008

How video can make your small business a star

We’re now several years into the online video craze. Every day, 65,000 videos are uploaded to YouTube, according to RBC Capital Markets research. And comScore Inc. reveals that, in a typical month, 75 percent of all U.S. Internet users watch video on the Internet.

Consumers have been at the vanguard of the online video revolution. Video delivered over the network is making its way into the business world. Small businesses in particular are finding that incorporating online video into their marketing and employee training can deliver big benefits.

Here are two examples of how small businesses are employing video:

• To promote its high-end blenders, Blendtec of Orem, Utah, created an online video series, “Will It Blend?” — with episodes posted on a company website www.willitblend.com/ and YouTube. In each episode, Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson puts the company’s blenders to work, grinding such unlikely objects as an iPhone and golf balls. Sales of the blenders have jumped 500 percent since the video series debuted.

• Sierra Snowboard in California has developed a loyal following with its YouTube channel, featuring more than 100 videos about the sport. CEO Michael Harrosh has said the videos create interest, boost the company’s search engine rankings, and, in turn, direct traffic to its e-commerce site.

As the above examples illustrate, video can benefit your business in many ways. With online video, you can:

• Communicate to customers in new ways. Just as blogging has given small businesses an easy outlet for communicating with customers, so, too, can video be a powerful tool for reaching a potential audience.

• Enhance your marketing. Short, informative, and/or humorous video clips can demonstrate your product or service to a global audience. They can convey your company’s culture and establish yourself or others in the company as thought leaders.

• Improve employee communications. Do you have a new product or service in development? You can record a quick demonstration and e-mail it to employees and contractors (or host it on a server for on-demand access). You’ll enhance understanding of your product or service among your employees.

• Enhance collaboration. Webcams and videoconferencing software make it easy and affordable for multiple parties to communicate visually over the Internet. And videoconferencing can significantly reduce travel costs and increase productivity.

The tools for producing video have dropped in price so dramatically that just about any business can afford them. You can buy a tapeless digital video camcorder for $120 or less. Such camcorders capture video formatted for YouTube or other video-sharing sites. 

Many consumer PCs and Macs today ship with basic video editing software. You can also buy software that simplifies video editing for novices for $100 or less. And it costs nothing to upload videos to sharing sites such as YouTube.

Video files quickly consume gigabytes of storage. To offer internal video on demand for your employees, you’ll need robust file servers from which the videos can be streamed. Your network should have sufficient bandwidth to support streaming video as well.

Videoconferencing can be accomplished with just a web browser and webcams costing $100 or less. 

Your videos should serve a clearly defined purpose, whether it’s to motivate new customers to learn about your products, or encourage existing customers to try your new products.

Also, make sure your videos for audiences outside the company are part of a larger effort. For maximum effect, the videos should enhance your current marketing campaigns.

When it’s done right, there’s much to gain by incorporating video into your business. And you can get started for just a few hundred dollars. Who knows? Maybe your business will become the next big thing on YouTube.
 
 

Peter Alexander is vice president, business marketing for Cisco Systems Inc. He can be reached at palexand@cisco.com.