Can your business benefit from online video?

Absolutely.

How can I say this when I don't even know what line of business you're in? It doesn't matter. If you have employees or if you have customers - you can benefit.

I repeatedly see how we save companies money on training. When you consider the cost of travel for remote employees, plus the lost productivity while they're away from their jobs...the savings associated with a webcast quickly add up. Then there's the added benefit of having the training program available afterwards on-demand for review purposes or for people who couldn't attend on that day because of other commitments.

Hiring new employees? Company orientation, welcome from the President, knowledge transfer for specific job functions, explanation of company benefits ... the list goes on.

Marketing to customers and potential customers? Testimonials, product descriptions, how-to videos, assembly instructions, you name it.

We've helped event producers secure sponsors for future events, food manufacturers create mini cooking shows, networking companies train their global workforce ... I'm sure we can help you grow your business too.

Don't just take my word for it. Google search "webcasts" or "online video" and see how other companies are taking advantage. Talk to our clients. There's a reason they keep coming back.

I know online video will work for you.

Want to increase sales by 6-30% this year?

One of the speakers at the recent Streaming Media West show was Rico Nasol of Zappos.com. Rico is a Content Team Senior Manager for Zappos, and he shared how important video is to their business. It's so important, in fact, they are gearing up to have around 50,000 product videos on their website by the end of this year. The reason is simple. They know that when an item on their website is accompanied by a product description video, they tend to sell between 6% and 30% more of them.

Watch the interview from streamingmedia.com...

That's a pretty compelling reason to consider using online video in your business. I'm not suggesting you create 50,000 videos, but wouldn't it be worth trying on a few select products or services? Once you see the results, we can make the other 49,998 videos.

Welcome 2010

Like many of you, I worried a lot in 2009. I know my product is one of quality. I know it serves an important purpose. But I also know that this is the first type of expense to be cut in a down economy.

It shouldn't be, however. We can actually save companies money.

Companies still need to train or cross-train employees. They need to market their goods and services. They need to keep their employees informed. We can do all of that in a cost-effective manner.

If you're a marketing executive, in HR, responsible for training or any type of information transfer, you owe it to yourself and your companies bottom line to give us a call.

More thoughts about yesterdays webcast

I was thinking about this again this morning. We had 17 people watching the webcast of the training session yesterday. I know that doesn't sound like much, but consider that if the company had flown each one here, put them up in a hotel for one night, paid for a car, meals, and whatever else they charge to their expense accounts...it could cost $1,000 per person easily. Believe me when I tell you...I did not charge them anywhere near $17,000. to do this webcast!

Money is one thing, but think about how "green" this was.

I have a client - a huge global company - that reduced their travel when business dropped off. Since they started using video services, they've decided to continue discouraging travel, opting for video conferences and webcasts instead.

This seems like an intelligent business decision. I just wonder why other companies aren't reaching the same conclusion.

Let me know your thoughts.

FYI - our new website is up and running. Be sure to check it out!
edifydirect.com

Just a quick note...

I am at a client location today, producing a training webcast. I am amazed that more companies aren't doing this. We have two subject matter experts here teaching to a room with about 20 people, and me. On the other end of the webcast, we have a number of people from the companies locations around the country. Some are watching from their desks, others are grouped in a conference room. All in all, about 15 people didn't have to fly here, rent a room here, rent a car, eat out, or lose three days of productivity ... while that may be bad for Nashua's economy, it's a great savings for the company. Why wouldn't every company do this??

Video Ads are THE Most Effective Ad Format

Yesterday, Google released a study via DoubleClick which showed quite clearly how online advertising which contained a video element outperformed other advertising types ... including Flash animation. The study, “The Brand Value of Rich Media and Video Ads”, has found that people who see a video in a rich media ad are more likely to make a purchase.

From the study, you can see that ads with video generally increase intent to purchase by 1.16% over a control group that did not see an ad. With Flash animation, the intent to purchase only rose 0.26%, showing that consumers do find video ads more compelling than Flash. The market norm is 0.60%, so video almost doubles it while simple flash performed the worst, falling short by about two-thirds.

So, if you're advertising on NHBR.com, NH.com, nashuatelegraph.com, wzid.com, ... you get the idea ... add a video and get better results.

At Edify Direct, we've always known that video was a powerful medium ... but it's nice to have proof.

Call us today.

parts of this article were excerpted from ReelSEO.com, Mark R Robertson

Online video really does work...

We all know what's been happening these days...marketing budgets are down, travel is down, sponsorships, donations, everything...down, down, down. So it was great when last week I had a meeting with a client who has been spending MORE with us. Why are they spending more? Because they have proven to themselves that online video really does work.

The client is McLean Communications, publishers of NH Business Review, New Hampshire Magazine, Parenting NH, Nashua Telegraph, and more. A few months ago, we Tech Produced the BOB Awards for NHBR. We also brought our camera and interviewed some of the attendees. We made a simple 4-minute video of the interviews which NHBR sales people showed to the sponsors a few weeks after the event. As a result, many of them re-signed for the 2010 show on the spot! They have also used the video to recruit new sponsors for next year.

Here's the video...



It's simple, but effective. We have just finished a video for the Family Fun Fair, which can be found at parentingnh.com, and I'm looking forward to this Thursday at the Best of NH event at the Verizon. We'll be working with comedian Jimmy Dunn, and the results should be fun to watch. Look for that video on the New Hampshire Magazine website and on TV!

This client has so much confidence in the power of online video that they have pre-booked us for events happening through 2010!

Making money or saving money ... online video is effective for both.

See you soon.
Dale
www.edifydirect.com