Online video marketing is the key business differentiator for web companies wanting to communicate effectively their product profile and benefits within the shortest possible time. There is nothing else that comes close to the effectiveness and persuasion power of a well designed video message.

This doesn't mean that putting up a 10-min video tutorial on your site will automatically get you to double-up your conversion rate of new registrants or that you will instantly sell more of your products. There is more to effective video communication than just slamming some video content up on your web pages.

Video is a complex, highly multidisciplinary art, and extracting the best out of it is not as simple and clear-cut as writing a news story or a blog post. But why is video the best way to go? Because, today, the average attention span of a web user today is measured in seconds.

 

Effective web video marketing campaigns need to contain an engaging audiovisual presentation that includes interactive content elements (beyond video); some level of user control during playback; meaningful measurability; easy customization; viral marketing capability; portability; and cross platform and multiple device compatibility.

In addition to the required components of web video marketing– interactivity, web distribution and measurability, the five additional factors required to create an effective web video marketing campaign are:
• Engaging content
• Portability/universal accessibility
• Intuitive viewer controls
• Viral capabilities
• Ease of use and modification for marketers

 

Many studies over the years corroborate the persuasive effectiveness of video. The Wharton School of Business showed that video boosts comprehension and retention by 50% over a live presentation. Other industry studies have shown that video expedites buying decisions by 72% versus print. And that six times as many people prefer a video to printed information.

All of this is to say, direct-marketing video isn't just for big companies with huge budgets. With new technologies making both production and fulfillment more affordable, businesses from car dealerships to photography studios are finding that even small campaigns reap big rewards.