Still Waiting for the Movie to Come Out?

by Carl Weiss

Everyone knows how important the Internet is to promoting their business.  Yet all too many website owners are reluctant to embrace online technology that is truly game changing.  For example, a few years ago blogging and social networking were introduced.  These technologies not only enable business owners to engage and interact with prospects and clients at the push of a button 24 hours per day, but they do so for FREE.  Still, the vast majority of website owners continue to undervalue and under employ these business tools to this day. 

That brings us to online video, which everyone admits is another game changing technology.  Like it or not, YouTube is a fact of online life that is hard to ignore.  Mashable.com recently reported that, “More video content is uploaded to YouTube in a 60 day period than the three major U.S. television networks created in 60 years.”

Just to put the viewership numbers into perspective, today more than 3 billion videos will be viewed on YouTube.  Last year, more than one trillion videos were viewed on YouTube.  And do you know how much a company is charged for airing a video on YouTube?  Not one red cent.

Then why isn’t every business in the US broadcasting videos by the boatload?  You’ve got me.  When you consider the fact that every business owner in the US either has access to a webcam or smartphone, there is no reason why every business website can’t at least sport an elevator pitch video and several video testimonials.  If the problem is one of production value, there are thousands of video production companies out there that can help them shape and shoot a professional video for a reasonable fee.  (We’re not talking thousands of dollars any more.)

What’s even better is the fact that once produced, a video can be used to put every other form of marketing you are currently employing on steroids.  Have a blog.  Embed the video.  Want to tune up your tweets?  Link your YouTube video to twitter at the click of a mouse.  Speaking of social networking, Mashable also reported that, “YouTube says that on average there are more than 400 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link. Meanwhile, over on Facebook over 150 years worth of YouTube videos are watched every single day.”

Want to break out of the box?  Every piece of print advertising and literature that you currently employ for business purposes can be enhanced by the addition of one square inch of ink known as a QR code.  How would you like to enhance your conversion rate by a factor of 5?  It has been shown that people are five times as likely to click on a video as read text.  Do you think that a 90-second video introducing your business, your offer and a satisfied customer might have a positive effect on your conversion rate? 

Don’t take my word for it.  ComScore.com reported that , “Research and Markets report showed 4,500% growth in QR code scans in 2011.    According to the data from Nielsen research, as of January 2012, almost half (48 percent) of all mobile phone users have a smartphone device.”

This fact alone should be a wake up call to businesses large and small to the fact that QR codes, online video, mobile websites and apps need to be a part of every business’ marketing mix.  It is also a fact that within the next few years, more people will be surfing the web on their smartphones than on their computers.  The latest 4-G networks are designed to stream video faster than a DSL line.

So, if you are still waiting for the movie to come out featuring your business, don’t wait too long or you might not like the ending.

Carl Weiss is president of http://access-jax.com and http://jacksonville-video-production.com a company that has been helping companies take their online marketing to the next level since 1995.  Carl can also be heard weekly on his http://workingthewebtowin.com radio show broadcast on http://blogtalkradio.com