these days? It doesn’t matter if it is a high tech video, an expensively produced video, a
simple video of a person talking in front of a web cam, or a PowerPoint-type presentation
set to music with a voice over – video is effective in almost all cases. It’s also one of the
hottest marketing tools available nowadays, and for good reason. Guerrilla marketers are
achieving massive results with video marketing campaigns, and here’s why:
1. People like watching videos. It may sound simplistic, but in reality, it’s what people
want. Most people would rather watch a video than get information through reading
or listening to an audio. As a guerrilla marketer, we make our marketing efforts
easier by presenting in a method that is easily accepted.
2. You sell more with videos. Studies have shown that having video on your website
converts your visitors from browsers to buyers by six times. Guerrilla marketers
aim for the strategies that convert.
3. Google will rank your site higher. By adding video to your site, and optimizing it well
(by using keyword rich titles, descriptions and links), your chances of getting on the
front page of a Google search is fifty times higher. Guerrillas are energized by
marketing strategies that work behind-the-scenes like that.
4. You decrease your bounce rate. A bounce is when someone gets to your site and
then leaves right away. Where search engines are concerned, a high bounce rate is a
bad thing and it will cause you to have a low ranking, meaning your site will
probably never be seen when someone searches for your keywords. When you add a
video to your website, however, people are more likely to stay on your site longer
because they are pulled into watching the video.
5. Your efforts get noticed. When you write copy for a website, only 20% of your
visitors will actually read through it, but 80% will watch a video to completion.
Guerrilla marketers choose the weapons that give them a higher chance of being
noticed.
6. You can convey your message more completely. When information is in writing,
there is much that can be left up to interpretation. When information is in audio
form, there is plenty that can be misinterpreted as well. But when someone cannot
only hear you, but also see you, and when you can demonstrate your products and
services, you communicate more clearly. Guerrillas always strive for better
communication.
7. They are hip. Video on websites is still an early technology, and that means sites like
YouTube are still in their infancy. The opportunities are truly endless as to where
this technology will take us. Guerrilla marketers make sure they stay ahead of the
competition by using the latest technology.
8. They can go viral. Since videos are loved so much, they are the first things people
like to spread around. Links to videos can easily be shared on Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, YouTube, email and more. Guerrillas always aim to go viral.
9. It makes you look more professional. Having a video gives viewers the perception
that you are an expert and are more credible than people without videos.
Where the baby boomer is concerned, video is where it’s at. Baby boomers (especially the
late baby boomers) are not afraid of technology. It’s one of the things they willingly spend
money on, and they embrace things like videos openly. You will grab their attention more
easily with video than you will with copy or audio.
If the idea of creating video for your website makes you shudder because it seems too large
of a task or too complicated, take a step back and think simple. The simplest videos are
often the most effective. The point is to get your message across, not to produce an award-
winning film. If you have a smart phone or a camera that has a video feature on it, you can
create a video. If you have a web cam on your computer (either built in or as an add on),
you can create video. If you have PowerPoint, you can also create a video.
First, determine what type of video would be best for your product or service. Then decide
which method of video you are most comfortable with. For example, if you don’t like being
filmed, going the PowerPoint route might be best suited for you. In that case, you could use
a series of photos and text to convey your message. You could record yourself speaking and
add a voiceover or music as well. Audio tools that might be helpful for this type of video
are: www.audacity.sourceforge.net (free), www.kickstartsound.com and
www.camtasia.com.
If you decide it is easiest for you to talk in front of a camera and you want to use your web
cam, you can simply sit in front of your computer (in a professional setting, such as an
office) and speak your message. If you have products to show, you can hold them up and
show how they work as well.
If you’d rather have a friend film you using your camera or smart phone, you just need to
determine your location, instruct them on how you want to be filmed (when to zoom in,
etc). Using this method, it is easy to perform a demonstration. For example, if you are a
massage therapist, you can demonstrate your method of massage. If you created a baking
product, you can demonstrate how to use it.
Videos are best when they are kept short (30 seconds to 5 minutes is best). That’s another
reason why it is simpler than you think to create them. People are too busy nowadays to sit
down and watch a 45-minute video. Even 20 minutes is pushing it. Keep it short and you
will hold their attention.
If you have too much information for a short video, it is in your best interest to create
multiple videos. The more videos you have, the more times you can label them on the
backend with keywords, making your site better optimized for search engine results.
The easiest way to get the video onto your website is to upload it to YouTube and link to it
on your site. This actually expands your marketing reach because you are now in the
YouTube database where your video can be called up and viewed. The trick to getting
found on YouTube is to use relevant keywords in your video title, description and tags.
That way, when someone goes to YouTube to find out tips on cooking gourmet meals fast,
your video will come up if you’ve included the keyword phrase, “gourmet meals fast.”
Since guerrilla marketers always work smart, you want to get as much bang for your buck
as possible with your video. That means you want to leverage it by including a link at the
end of the video that takes them to your website and specifically to a free giveaway on your
website. As a guerrilla marketer, you should always be thinking about how you can get
your video viewers onto your database. By offering a free giveaway, they would have to
visit your site and enter their contact info in order to get the freebie. You would then be
able to continue providing them with value and marketing to them in the future. Without
getting them onto your database, you lose that opportunity.
Another great strategy for using video in your marketing is email marketing. Studies show
that emails that contain video are opened 75% of the time and are viewed 85% to
completion. That is an incredible open rate (the norm is only about 20%) so you can see the
importance of using this tactic.
The more entertaining you make your video, the more the video will be viewed and shared.
Keep that in mind when making your video, but don’t let it stop you from getting started. It
is better to have a video than no video at all. Get something up right away, and then work
on replacing it with a more creative version down the line. Remember, as guerrilla
marketers, we want to be creative and do something that others aren’t doing. The more
unique you can be, the more your message will be embraced. What can you do to be
entertaining and unique? If you are promoting a book about birds, you could film yourself
speaking with birds sitting all over you nibbling your shoulders and saying funny things in
your ears. That would certainly grab attention and get spread around the Internet. It would
make people laugh and they would like you more for it, so they would think of you if they
decided to buy a book about birds.
Video is what people want. It’s what baby boomers want. It’s what Google wants. And as a
guerrilla marketer, you’ll soon find it’s what you want. Video can make marketing fun and
engaging. It can increase your visibility and encourage viral marketing. With all of that
going for it, video is certainly a weapon you want to launch right away.
