Why you need to create video for the web
Advertising revenue is down, newspapers are struggling and as the economy takes a downturn production costs are up, at the same time online readership and revenue continue to rise. So what's the answer? Go where the eyes are.
Whether you are writing, taking pictures, shooting video or recording audio you can build communities with your content. But only if you take it online.
Q&A: Nick Bell on the opportunities offered by online video
Previously, Econsultancy has discussed the visible impact that new video formats are having upon the online advertising sphere and is an area which we can easily see will implode within the digital environment as a whole over the next twelve months or so.
To get some front-line opinion of the marketplace, we spoke to Nick Bell, co-founder of the up-and-coming interactive video platform, Quick.tv, about this complex and often overlooked marketing medium.
10 videos from the Traveling Geeks roundtables
A few weeks ago Econsultancy hosted the Traveling Geeks roundtables in London, where the US digerati turned out in force to discuss and debate trends and issues.
The Geeks - featuring the likes of Craig Newmark, Robert Scoble and Susan Bratton - found that there is far more in common between the UK and US than is sometimes suggested, albeit with some notable differences (“fear of failure”).
The UK-based attendees included Poke’s Iain Tate, lastminute.com’s Marko Balabanovic and Steph Gray from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
After the roundtable discussions had taken place we shot a little bit of video, where we interviewed a bunch of the attendees to figure out what they’d learned from the day. Do check them out…
Q&A: Richard Spalding of The 7th Chamber on viral marketing
Richard Spalding is CEO and co-founder of Diffusion Media Group, which runs viral marketing agency The 7th Chamber, as well as social media marketing agency Grape Digital.
The company recently sold entertainment site Kontrabrand to Dennis Publishing for an undisclosed sum. I've been talking to Richard about the sale, and his plans for the future...
Jeff Bezos on the Zappos deal, and four other videos
I once had the pleasure of meeting Amazon's Jeff Bezos, a man who is in some dictionaries the very definition of 'Enthusiasm' (with a capital E). He's pretty hard not to like.
So last night when I heard that Amazon had very discreetly negotiated a deal to buy customer-centric Zappos I felt that it was a great fit for both companies. I also happen to think that Amazon has the better deal, with Zappos going for less than one year's revenue (and about 95% of the $930m deal is to be paid in Amazon stock). But it's obviously fantastic for Tony and the rest of the Zappos team. Congratulations all round.
At any rate, Amazon's Jeff Bezos has been explaining why he bought Zappos in a video, in which he also explains "everything he knows" in a series of flipchart 'slides'.
Bezos riffs on customer obsession, something that he says Amazon shares with Zappos, which he says has a "unique culture". On Zappos: "I have a good feeling about how important that culture is to the Zappos brand, employees and customers."
Anyway, here's the video so you can see for yourself. I've added a few others for your viewing pleasure. Bezos FTW!
The rise of interactive video and what it means for online marketing
Online video isn’t exactly the new kid on the block amongst those the digital industry, but it is maturing into a meaner, tougher kind of service. It is also the one area of display advertising that I’m expecting to flourish over the next twelve months or so, especially in the interactive segment.
It’s no surprise that video in general is on the increase, given that users are continually wanting an engaging experience. According to comScore’s US video metrics, 14.5bn online videos were watched during March this year - a massive 11% increase from February - and I’m equally of the opinion that this trend will be very similar in the UK.
Mobile app review: Sky News for iPhone
Sky News launched an iPhone app this week, which provides the latest headlines, as well as encouraging users to send in their own reports and images.
The app, which is currently top of the free download charts in the App Store, also has a strong focus on video content. I've been seeing how it compares to rival ITN's version.
How Drs. Foster Smith uses video to drive ecommerce success
As part of the social web movement, marketers are increasingly becoming publishers. There are few who are pouring as much into multimedia (i.e. video) web publishing as Wisconsin USA-based Drs. Fosters Smith.
This seasoned, catalog-based direct marketer is investing in their own staff, production facilities and syndicating widely, on the Web with www.peteducation.com, and on national cable television.
I sat down with their online chief, Gordon MaGee to understand how the company cost-justifies and measures its continued investment in online video.
10 linkbait strategies to build links and drive traffic
Linkbaiting is a widely used term to describe strategies where new web content or services are created specifically to boost rankings through attracting lots of inbound links.
Some argue that linkbaiting is an unnecessary term which just means 'great content'. Nevertheless, it is a neat term that prompts marketers to focus their minds on what makes for genuinely useful or engaging content.
Let's take a look at 10 strategies for linkbaiting.
Tips on making the most of product images
While standard photos may be acceptable for items such as DVDs, books and CDs, which are more or less the same wherever you choose to buy them, for most other products good quality photos can make a real difference.
This is especially true for clothes and shoes, and online retailers need to work hard to overcome the web's limitations in this area when customers cannot touch and see a product close up as they would in-store.
I've been reading a post on the Future Now blog where Jeff Sexton explains how effective use of product images can answer questions and ease a customer's doubts about a product.
I've summarised some of Jeff's tips here and added some of my own...
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
