Everywhere you turn, you see video these days. Now I know that there has been a phenomenal amount of hype around the use of video marketing to boost your sales or service. Though you may still be very skeptical let me explain why the hype is not just talk. Let me first preface with a bit of history.
For many, many years, video has been making inroads into our lives. It first began with the silent movies. You may not have been able to hear the words, but if you could see the actors and read the words you were able to feel the emotion that the actors were trying to convey. This was a great boon for the artist at the time as the only way prior to silent movies an actor could be seen was live theater. Though all the rage of the era, it proved to be somewhat limiting as far as reaching a wide audience and generating more income was concerned. After all, a person can only be in one place at a time.
In 1922, there was quite the controversy over the silent film versus the phono film or talking movies. As a matter of fact there was a widespread belief at the time that the talking movie would never replace the silent film and that if indeed it did become popular many present day actors would lose there jobs.
An excerpt from an article courtesy of the New York Times written in 1922 provides insight into the thinking process of the time in regard to then modern day movie.
” At Will Hay’s if was said that the students of film generally felt that ” speakies” would never supersede the movies. Tony Sage said that thousands went to the movies because they were restful and would stay away from speaking films because they would put too much strain on the attention and would, therefore, be tiring. Robert Ellis thought the silent film would always hold its place and that the speaking film might be an utter failure because the illusion created for the eye would interfere with the illusion created for the ear, confusing and bothering the audience.”
We now know of course that this out dated thought process was completely wrong. Not only has the talking film averted confusion between the eyes and ears, it has all but been eliminated. Our talking films of today provide us with pleasure, excitement and stimulation most of which are based in emotion.
We as a viewing audience are quite accustomed to watching a romantic comedy that makes us laugh and cry. On the other hand, we watch an action adventure that elicits emotions like excitement or pulse racing drama.
Each time something happens to our favorite movie star in real life we tend to “feel” for them as if we know them on a personal level
A few more notable examples of this are the untimely death of Elvis Presley, Princess Diana, John Wayne, or the latest tragedy Heath Ledger.
An enormous sector of the viewing public cried and mourned each ones death on a very personal level as if they were close friends instead of fans that were completely unknown to the decedent.
Consequently, now the obvious question becomes; how can we produce the same emotional attachment in a customer base?
Thus far, marketing mediums for print required a talent for writing. The least of which is the deceptively simple 3 line ad. The seller must cleverly learn to produce an ad which is eye catching and conveys the benefits of their products to the reader. It must also generate excitement in the prospect to induce the prospect to purchase. In order to accomplish this feat, a home based business owner must either learn extraordinary copy writing skills or empty their pockets to the more talented writers for hire. Good ones are not cheap.
There are however, alternatives for today’s internet marketer.
In 2008, Studies show that people only remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear; 30% of what they see, and 50% of what they see and hear together. Obviously, we can conclude from the study, if a marketer can present his business or service in all three modalities a much stronger and memorable message will be delivered to their potential or existing customer base.
At present the only medium that satisfies that criteria is video marketing. No one can explain a product or service better than the business owner himself.
While the owner may struggle to hopefully find the right words to put in print, there is little doubt when placed in front of a web cam with digital capability, the same owner can usually give a more than adequate performance of demonstrating and explaining the product or service which he represents.
It is during a video session the owner is most able to convey his trustworthiness, sincerity, excitement and enthusiasm. These are the qualities that will convince a customer to purchase.
A number of studies have shown that a person will actually pay a higher price for a purchase if they like and trust the person they are dealing with. This, in the short term, can result in repeat business. In the long run it just may significantly enhance the business owner’s profit margin.
