The animated sitcom South Park is best known for satirizing pop-culture references and lampooning celebrities. Here's a funny video snippet that shows Cartman giving a demonstration of the social networking capabilities on Chatroulette. Too funny!
Just in time for the weekend. A comical look at how some co-workers use Facebook and the effect that it has on others. Enjoy!
Incorporating video into your website and social media sites is an excellent way to grab the attention of your audience. Just like most of us enjoy reading books with pictures, we also want to see and hear through a movie. With the average person watching 182 online videos each month and YouTube serving more than 1 billion videos each day it's easy to see that video is a marketing strategy that shouldn't be overlooked.
The subject that you choose for your video really depends on your brand, audience and industry. You might decide to showcase a news-themed video about a new product launch or maybe create a how-to or information-based video for your audience. Spend some time researching what your audience would like to watch. Let their preference help to guide you as you develop your script and content. Knowing what appeals to your consumers and following suit can help you convert them into brand evangelists.
Hands down, the best thing about video marketing in 2010 is that you don't need to hire an expensive agency with copywriters and art directors to put your video together. That's not to say having Don Draper and his team of Mad Men available at your beck and call is a bad thing. If you have the budget and the time it's worth exploring. For the rest of us, using a simple handheld or computer cam is more than ample in terms of equipment. Before you launch your video put together a rough script to help focus on what you want to cover. If necessary, use a tripod to keep the camera steady while recording.
Some popular forms of video include testimonials from satisfied customers, highlight products being used in real-life situations, training videos or walk-throughs to simplify complex processes or extend existing content-like presentations. There are many possibilities when it comes to video. What's important is that you drive traffic to your video. Try to cross-promote or develop a video series that will get your audience involved and keep them coming back for more.
Here's the part where we talk about search engine optimization. You can - and should - optimize your videos. Include keywords in your script, the title of your video and tagging. Word on the street is that YouTube will be launching a feature that makes the audio portion of all videos searchable. By optimizing your video scripts now you'll stand a better chance of having your audio appear in keyword searches. Don't forget to include keywords in your video title. Just be conscious of keyword overload. You still want people to know what your video is about. Use keywords in moderation.
Take full advantage of all the video outlets that you have available. Host your videos on your website and include homepage teasers to let people know that you've created fresh video content. Upload your videos to all the major sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Viddler. Make your video available in multiple locations and you'll give yourself a greater opportunity to appear in user-generated searches.
Once you've gotten past creating and uploading your video you'll want to involve yourself in its metrics. This will help you determine if it's a success or a failure. Pay attention to the number of views, comments left about your video, revenue spikes and whether the perception of your brand has benefited.
If you need a little video inspiration, check out Erik Qualmann's Socialnomics video that he put together to launch his new book. This video went viral and helped put Qualmann and his book on the map overnight.
Get creative, have fun and test out video with your marketing strategy.
Fans of NBC's 'The Office' will love this quick segment that shows Ryan giving a demo of his new social media tool.
Holy shmorkle blinxx this is funny! If you're a social media junky you'll get a kick out of the new video from comedy troop, Derrick Comedy.
In a nutshell, YouTube is a true video bohemeth that dominates the video sharing landscape with a 43 percent market share. Of that, YouTube accounts for 99 percent of video views with Fox Interactive Media at 3.7 percent, Yahoo! Sites at 2.5 percent and Viacom Digital at 1.9 percent. Looking at all the numbers, you get the gist of what YouTube is about - big numbers and big business. The question for most is how do you use the site to promote yourself. Well, it's actually easier than you think.
The first think you'll want and need to do is create a YouTube account. Pretty simple, but you may want to consider creating a 'brand channel' for your business rather than just a standard user page. Brand channels are like your own video community with YouTube. Some examples of well-known sponsor brand channels include: Apple, Mini Cooper and TripAdvisor.
Get some inspiration on from their content and how they're using the channels to promote their brands and services. Check out famous wine aficionado Gary Vaynerchuk and one of his early YouTube videos.
YouTube allows users to rate and comment on videos that are posted. Even though there is an option to disable this feature, resist the temptation. Believe in your content and feedback, whether bad or good, generates interest. Comments can create their own fan controversies and that's what will catapult your video views.
In January 2009, 147 million U.S. internet users watched an average of 101 videos per person. Your business deserves to be one of those watched videos. When you're developing your video you'll want to follow some of these guidelines:
Title: Get creative and use the title as your hook. Titles can be changed as often as you wish. Research video title trends and use them in your title.
Length: Keep it short and sweet. Aim for one to two minutes in length. Anything longer and you'll lose the attention span of your audience.
Subject: Don't start with a sales pitch or a product push. Your video should offer help, suggestions, tips or how tos for people.
Optimization: Use keywords in your video description, or your even your title. Just make sure that you're using what works best for you.
Like most social media elements, YouTube videos can be tagged to effectively organize them and make them more relevant in user searches. The good thing about tagging is that it can also be used to make your current videos appear in the 'Related Videos' box. This is important because it will keep your audience engaged with your brand and the content that you produced. In addition, YouTube has created a 'More From' section that enables you to showcase your other videos right from the same page.
YouTube Insight is an analytics tool that allows video posters to view detailed statistics about the videos that they've uploaded. This is a great tool for YouTube advertisers because it helps businesses and people understand who their audience is, where the audience comes from and what they're watching and when they're watching. Insight analyzes data across six categories: views, popularity, discovery, demographics, community and hot spots. This information can help with adjustments to elevate your video viewership.
The flexibility of YouTube's ad program is considerably diverse. Ads are hosted in five areas: homepage, search/video/channel page, watch page, upload page and in-video. YouTube's self-service ads make it very easy for businesses to choose what they want to promote, where they want to feature it and who they want to show ads to. The ad structure is based on CPC (cost per click), which means you only pay when someone actively clicks on you ad links. You begin by choosing keywords, entering your daily budget and just like magic - your up and running.
Let people know that you're on YouTube by embedding videos into your website. Share feedbacks in forums and comments on blogs that are relevant to your videos and let people know that your videos is available on YouTube as a good resource for a particular problem or situation. Use other social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to cross-promote your YouTube presence. Be your own fan and your own marketer. Use what you have to get the word out and you're bound to see great results.
Check out how the University of Phoenix is using YouTube to promote their brand. This brand channel has been recognized as an outstanding case study in YouTube business marketing.
Don't have the time to market on YouTube? Visit MindSprout Marketing's services to learn how we can help.
