MarketingOC Studios

Today's Marketing Nugget comes in the form of a video from one of our favorite partner companies: Google (also the name of my dog!)

 

In an nutshell, there are lots of ways to monetize video, but first, you have to create your video. So, when you are ready to create your video give us a call, we will help you monetize - and so will Google.

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You probably don't factor in the cost of what it takes to make a rich and gooey chocolate chip cookie when you sit down with a plate of cookies and a tall cold glass of milk. You just enjoy the delightful experience of eating those cookies.

Enjoying video is a lot like enjoying your chocolate chip cookies and milk. You watch and enjoy, and you probably don't think to much about the ingredients that went into creating the video production. And while cookies are most always round, a video production should never be cookie cutter.

Of course, when it comes to your business, you are concerned with the ingredients, as it is the ingredients that help to determine cost.

So what are the ingredients (cost factors) that go into a MarketingOC Studios Orange County video production?

Here's a peak at what cost drivers we consider for each new video production and marketing production.

1. Project and production management: The overall planning and execution of the video production. While our video productions services are cutting edge, our client services are decidedly simple - you can call or email us at anytime with your ideas, needs and concerns, and we are ready to address.

2. Script Development: Every video must have a script. Often clients will write a basic outline, and we turn that outline into an engaging story. Even if it is just a 30 second commercial spot, there is a need for a story to engage viewers and motivate them to action.

3. Storyboard Development: Pairing the script to visuals is key to a smooth video production. It helps in preproduction planning, on set and in post production.

4. Talent: Getting the right talent is essential for connecting the on screen talent with the audience. So, we need to consider:

• Casting
• On-screen Actor(s)
• Voice over artist
• Extras
• Customers (Release form required)

5. Video Assets: A video production is often made of both custom and stock assets. Sometimes, it is less expensive to use stock footage, but that often comes with some trade offs such as the stock photo not being exactly how you may have envisioned, but yet, it is good enough.

• Images needed
• Stock photos (Royalty free)
• Licensed photos
• Custom photography
• Video
• Stock video (Royalty free)
• Licensed video
• Illustrations/3d elements

6. Special Effects/Animations: Motion graphics and special effects can help to create more impact by presenting text and concepts in an intriguing manner.

7. Location: The decision to shoot in our Orange County green screen video production studio or our Los Angeles video production studio or on location depends on the goals of the video production. But the basics we consider are:

• Studio rental
• Fees and permits
• Local or travel
• Building rental
• Sets
• Props

8. Music: Music adds a lot to any video and there are lots of options from stock to custom music that we consider:

• Stock music (Royalty free)
• Custom score

9. Crew: Having a strong team to executes your vision is essential. The video producition crew MarketingOC Studios may bring to your production can include:

• Director
• Director of Photography
• Camera operator(s)
• Lighting
• Sound
• Grip
• Production Assistants

10. Video Editing and Output: Bringing all the elements of the production together happens in post production where the final video is assembled.

11. Overhead: It is important to keep the lights on at MarketingOC Studios. So, we need to ensure that we provide the best equipment and operational management to serve our clients. These factors include:

• Equipment (Cameras, Lights, Sound, Studio, Computers, Software)
• Insurance (Liability and Workers Compensation)
• Rent

12. Distribution and Marketing: A video will only begin to serve its purpose if it is viewed by your target audience. MarketingOC Studios helps you to reach your audience.

• video distribution
• video marketing
• video seo
• video sem

This should give you some idea of the script to screen video production costs and services that goes into the final number you receive in a video production and marketing proposal from MarketingOC Studios.

An upcoming post will take a more streamlined approach to video production if your needs are more simple.

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At one point in time, the search phrase "video production" drove the largest share of search engine traffic to our web site. Today, this search phrase has been replaced with "video marketing" as a traffic draw to our Orange County video production and video marketing services. Why? More businesses are realizing that video is not just a marketing gimmick, but a lead generation strategy that does a number of powerful things for you.

#1 - Video helps to brand you and your business as an authority.

#2 - Video builds relationships and encourages conversation - just look at the cooments on any YouTube video.

#3 - Video enables you to inform, instruct and teach mor effectively than words alone.

#4 - Video can be become viral - allowing your business to benefit from nearly free user generated marketing.

#5 - Video offers effective lead generation - there are plenty of ways to encourage viewers to provide their email address and/or phone for follow up.

#6 - Video can be optimized for search engine traffic. In fact, you can expect that video will be showing up more and more in Google's search results.

#7 - Video can sell your products, business opportunities, and services - better than your static web site alone.

#8 - Online video is easier and more affordable than ever to produce - it doesn't take a Hollywood crew to produce your video - in fact, there is a very real danger in overproducing your video.

With every dollar needing to be stretched further than ever, it's no wonder we are seeing more traffic resulting from the term "video marketing." How will your business use video marketing?

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comScore released their November 2008 data on online video trends for the month. Here's some important highlights:

•  77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The average online video viewer watched 273 minutes of video.
• 97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on YouTube.com (52.3 videos per viewer).
• 52.5 million viewers watched 371 million videos on MySpace.com (7.1 videos per viewer).
• The duration of the average online video was 3.1 minutes.

This all adds up to a lot of eyeballs, a lot of time spent and a lot of video content available to viewers. It also means video is clearly in demand by users.

What This Mean To Your Business:

If you are not using online video today - you need to get on board. Video can tell your brand story and engage your target audience better than the text on your web site.

If you are already using online video to market your brand - you need to ensure your online videos are optimized to cut through the clutter and to directly reach your audience.

If you think social media and networks are irrevelant to your business -  think again,  Myspace and Facebook are where people, your customers, are spending their time and while they are there - they are watching videos (7.1 videos per viewer on MySpace.)

Online video is clearly making the connecting with the U.S. Internet audience. Your customers are a member of this audience. Isn't it time to take action to reach your audience via online video?

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Lately, I have increasingly found myself consulting with our clients about not overproducing their video. There was a time, ecspecially when we added video production to our agency's service offering, that we would only promote the highest level of video production - tight script, high quality HD, superior lighting and impeccable sound. After all, you don't want a substandard representation of your brand on video right? This was an honest sell too -- it was what I truly believed.

But recently, I have altered my pitch to many of our prospects and clients. The fact is, our clients are increasingly interested in using online video to promote their business, products or services. And, every client wants a viral video. They want to use the power of social media to enable their customers, resellers and the blogosphere to become an extension of their marketing efforts and not only watch the video, but want to share that video with others. This goal, is quickly becoming the highest demanded service we have offer, and quite possibly, the hardest goal to fulfill. Hard to fulfill, because I have to convince our clients, that the video has to be focused on something remarkable. Remarkable not in production quality, but in content. It is the story that engages, intrigues, instills emotions, laugther or even pity. It is not. "We are the industry leader...." Our challenge becomes in identifying the "viral" factor, and then creating the storyline to deliver on that factor.

Let's take a look at the Nike video to promote the Hyperdunk basketball shoe. In the video, basketball great Kobe Bryant leaps over a speeding Aston Martin. We all know that Nike has plenty of money to produce a stellar high end commercial to advertise this show, however, they took an approach that leads the viewer to believe that is was filmed by one of Kobe's buddies as they were goofing off. The video quickly spread not only because of the star value, but because Kobe performs a remarkably stunt. Viewers shared the video wondering if Kobe would actually perform such a stunt. After all, it looks so real and not so polished...it couldn't be a Nike advertisement could it?

 

In this example, the money wasn't spend on the typical high end video production bells and whistles, but on the:

1. Concept (agency)
2. The talent (Kobe)
3. The props (even renting an Aston Martin for the day isn't cheap!)
4. Distribution (services and strategic placement and tagging on key distribution channels (YouTube, of course!)

So while not all of our clients can leverage superstar talent, they can leverage a super story or message that people want to share. Defining that message - that's where the real value is and where the real challenge is.

I will explore these viral video challenges in future posts.

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Online video is the one marketing tool that local businesses need to be using if 2009 is going to be a year of business growth, or at least minimal loss.  Here's a report from Daisy Whitney's New Media Minute to give you the facts:

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While it may not be a surprise online video is growing, here are some numbers to support the claims:

The popularity of online video is moving beyond the early adopters and growing significantly among women and older consumers, reports a study from Ipsos Media released Monday.

The study found that about 54% of female Internet users ages 12 and up have streamed a video online in the past 30 days, up from 45% a year ago. That's an all-time high and nearly equal to the 58% of men who have streamed online video in the past month.

Ipsos also reported that 60% of adults 35 to 54 have recently streamed online video, up from 49% in late 2007.

How are you using video to reach your customers?

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Don't you just hate it when you get behind someone in the drive thru line at your favorite fast food restaurant, and the person in front of you is taking what seems like forever to place their order? You wait anxiously, hungry for that person to make a decision. After all, hasn't the person in front of you already been to this fast food restaurant a 100 times just like you? Don't they already know what they want before they even got there?

Maybe they are looking at the picture on the menu board, or asking the drive through cashier questions about a particular burger. Maybe they are trying to make a decision on what to eat based on the information they discover while in line, rather than their previous experience or exposure to the restaurant.  

As I recently sat in the drive thru, awaiting my turn to place my order, I had this thought about how this experience relates to visitors to a business web site and how video can make a difference?

There are many types of visitors who come to your web site, but let's just focus on two broad categories:

1. Visitors who come to your web site, already knowing exactly what they want - often times these are returning visitors.

2. Visitors who come to your web site, with an idea about what they want - often times these are visitors who come to your site as a result of a Google search etc.

How can video help each of these groups make a purchase?

Video helps to take away the indecision and uncertainty visitors to your site may face when considerng your products. If they can see the products in use, what it looks like, how to use it, see it an actual use, hear from others who have purchased the same product and was delighted - video can move the line forward, closer to the cashier (your shopping cart) to place an order. 

Unlike a drive thru line, visitors can easily get out of line, that is, leave your web site.

Even a returning visitor can benefit from an information product video on your web site, even if they already know about your products and what you offer. 

There is great opportunity to leverage quality Orange County video production  services from MarketingOC Studios to ensure that your web site visitors "have it their way."

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Roughly 61 percent of baby boomers (age 44 to 61) said they visited sites that offer streaming or downloadable video, and 41 percent had visited social networks, according to a study from market research group NPD.

This means video is not a domain for just the younger generations and to the crew at MarketingOC Studios, we understand why - a video should tell a story and everyone likes a good story. So it should only make sense, both the young, and the young at heart, appreciate video as a compelling use of their time.

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