How to Easily and Cost Effectively Add Video to Your Marketing Arsenal, Part 2

This week I continue my primer on internet video and how it can benefit your company. Picking up where I left off, here are some more opportunities to use video on your website.
(To read part 1 of this series, click here.)
One of the reasons infomercials are so successful is their demonstration factor. People love to see things in action. If you have a product that lends itself to demonstration, put it online. For example, say you sell radio-controlled cars; show them in action. If yours is a multichannel clothing company, model your line via video. These are just two of countless examples. Think about your products and what you can shoot.
Video Options
With today’s high-quality video cameras that shoot in high definition at 1080i, you don’t need to spend a ton of money for quality video. You can go high definition for less than $1,000. Of course, depending on your capabilities and budgets, you may want to bring in professionals. You have many choices available to you at any budget.
The key is to have a solid strategy and script in place before any shoot takes place, even with your camcorder. As for postproduction and editing, again, you can choose to do it yourself or go to a professional editing company.
Video Promotions
Once your video’s shot and edited, create your own channel on YouTube, and promote your videos on your website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter and more. Create even more videos by asking your customers to video themselves using your products, and distribute those videos via the same channels. Better yet, as I said last week regarding testimonials, hold a video contest asking your customers to show themselves using your products. Remember, social media is about engagement.
The Search Engine Factor
Online video can also drive search engine results. Since I'm by no means a search expert, I reached out to Khrysti Nazzaro, director of optimized services at the search engine marketing firm MoreVisibility, for some advice. Here are her thoughts on online video:
- People:
- Jim Gilbert
- Khrysti Nazzaro

Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.