BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: Video marketing provides great return on investment

• »
 
• Advertising

COMMENTARY

Video marketing provides great return on investment

LISA OSTRIKOFF

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Mar. 27 2014, 1:07 PM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Mar. 27 2014, 1:11 PM EDT

This is an excellent article for growing your business.  Remember to "target" your audience.  Monitor results so that you can gain more support from your executives.  

If you’re interested in the immense potential of creating, sharing and distributing digital content in 2014, consider who’s doing it best to help you achieve great results.

It’s been known for some time that online video helps businesses increase their brand awareness, generate genuine buzz, and increase sales. What’s becoming more evident is how much of a difference it makes, which is reflected in the results of the latest industry studies.

73 per cent are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video.
One of the latest, released this year by Animoto, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers, highlights the impact of video: 


• 96 per cent say online videos are helpful when making purchasing decisions.
• 71 per cent say watching online video content leaves them with a positive impression of the brand, service or company.

According to eMarketer, online video is one of the marketing approaches that promises the greatest return on investment.

One key business-to-consumer sector is retail, where we are seeing video used to assist a customer’s journey through the sales funnel. Videos offer a better view of products, they promote trends, they express brand culture, and they make a statement that’s much bolder than most advertising methods. From longer-form videos on YouTube to bite-sized content on Vine and Instagram, the smart brands are getting on board, and they’re seeing results.

Zappos was one of the first and it continues to be one of the most mentioned retail brands leveraging online video. Tens of thousands of videos are embedded on its website at any given time and its YouTube channel is full of products, how-tos, and company culture videos. Zappos also encourages its customers to play a role by allowing them to upload their Zappos Experiencevideos. While the online shoes and clothing shop is a huge video-hustle example, smaller retailers can start to emulate its success with a few small pieces.

French Connection is another example of a brand that regularly pushes video content to its network on YouTube and other social media. It creates and releases seasonal fashion updates, fashion tips, campaign teasers and series of short “films” that celebrate the “power of clothing.”

Most of them are short and sweet with creative fair – the company puts some of its fashions on a 360-degree moving display, which offers a more engaging experience that is trusted by consumers more than, say, digitally manipulated photos. 

Other top retail YouTube channels includeHome Depot – with a variety of cool DIY project tutorials – Bed Bath and Beyond “product of the week” segments, and Best Buy how-to videos and “latest technology” news.

With mobile traffic set to increase 13-fold by 2017, retail brands have been quick to experiment with short-form video platforms such as Vine and Instagram. From Ford to H&M, Reebok, GoPro, Ralph Lauren and Tide, there’s even a mashup of the top branded short-form videos of February, 2014. From informative content to entertainment to shock value, there’s no shortage of creativity and unique approaches.

Strategically, it’s about honing in on content a retailer’s target demographic would find intriguing, engaging, informative and helpful, all of which contributes to brand awareness and increased sales. Most brands take a similar strategic approach to video, though the content, of course, is quite different and tailored specifically to their audience.

Not convinced yet? Here are a few more stats from the initial study mentioned:

• Video plays an impressive role in consumers’ lives with 94 per cent watching it at least once a week from their desktop.
• 76 per cent of smartphone owners watch videos at least once a week on their devices.
• 89 per cent are likely to share a video if they consider it educational.
• 86 per cent are likely to share a video if there is an incentive, such as a promotion or discount.

Roll and record, retailers. 
This is your year to make an impact with online video.

Lisa Ostrikoff is a TV journalist and anchor-turned-creator of BizBOXTV, a Canadian online video production, advertising and social media marketing agency. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook .

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: Four ways to help your business stand out from its competitors

 
• Customer Service

GROWTH STRATEGIES

Four ways to help your business stand out from its competitors

RYAN CALIGIURI

Special to The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Mar. 28 2014, 5:00 AM EDT

Last updated Friday, Mar. 28 2014, 8:32 AM EDT

These are solid recommendations.  Also consider continuous "cuttings" or competitor evaluations against your own products or services.  The market is always evolving so stay ahead of the curve.  Real business growth can come through "transformational leadership" initiatives.  The "small things" matter!

I sat in on a meeting with a professional services firm and a consultant, who made a number of suggestions on how the organization should position themselves in the marketplace. As the consultant outlined his framework, I kept waiting for him to ask the firm why they thought customers should choose them, given the competitive alternatives in the marketplace?

The most common (and ineffective) responses tend to be:Like the majority of business owners, the firm likely has a few answers to that question. But are their answers compelling enough to win the attention of – and ultimately persuade – the marketplace? In my experience, the answer is a resounding no.

• “Our solution is best in class and is designed to fit our client’s needs.”
• “We’re focused on collaborating with our clients to achieve their objectives.”
• “Our expertise allows us to address our client’s needs in an efficient manner.”

I could go on, but the point I’m trying to make is that these are not compelling enough to help prospects distinguish you from competitors. Worse yet, if prospects view your organization as similar to another, how do you think they will choose? More often than not, they will decide based on price, and the company with the lowest price is often the one that wins the business.

To avoid his dangerous trap, follow these four growth strategies to build a competitive advantage and go from status quo to compelling:

1. Narrow your focus on the markets you serve. As simple as this strategy may sound, market focus creates competitive advantage. If you cater to a specific market, it becomes far easier to stand out. By focusing on a specific industry or profession, you’ll become known as an expert in that space over time.

I realize the idea of narrowing your playing field scares off most businesses, because they fear missing opportunities that may come with a broader focus, but let me tell you this: you’ll miss far more opportunities to expand globally and penetrate industries if you do not narrow your focus. I’ve seen this repeatedly. With greater focus comes greater opportunity.

2. Become a problem solver. When a business focuses on a specific kind of challenge in the marketplace, with time and the right promotional strategy, that business will become known as a true solution provider. Take what you do and decide on two or three core problems that you solve for the marketplace. Not only will this speak to the market’s pain points but it will focus your messaging as well.

I work with a technology company that made the strategic decision to become a problem solver by focusing on driving efficiency and cost savings in the area of software development. A large segment of the market now consider them the go-two place for optimizing the software development process and, as a result, they’ve been able to expand into different geographies including India and Kuala Lumpur.

3. Become results-driven. The ability to deliver a specific result is a compelling proposition in the marketplace. If you can say with certainty that you’ve been able to achieve a specific set of similar results across multiple organizations you will not only get noticed, but will let you charge a premium because of your track record.

The key, however, is to be able to prove your results through quantitative data or through specific explanations from the client proving a specific result was achieved.

For example, take the consultant who says, “We work with our clients to drive efficiency and value throughout the supply chain.” Now compare that to the consultant who says, “we work with manufacturers to help them remove inefficiency from their supply chain. On average, our solution has saved them XYZ dollars and increased efficiency by XYZ per cent.” The latter statement is far more compelling.

4. Create a new category through ‘productizing‘ Whether you like it or not, the marketplace assumes your business delivers services in a similar fashion to your competitors. To avoid this, you need to explore creating a new category by taking what you do and package it into a process and brand it into something tangible.

For example, almost every service provider says, “each client is different with a unique set of circumstances so we take a specific approach for achieving your objectives.” There is nothing different or compelling about this approach.

Instead, if you were to create a new category by ‘productizing‘ a set process you could say, “our 360 degree manufacturing engagement solution is a proven method to help you consistently generate XYZ.” With this slight shift, you will be able to stand out by seemingly creating something brand new in the marketplace.

My challenge to you When you get in front of a prospect and can position yourself with these strategies in place, you will have something that many organizations will never ever have because they are far too fearful of missing out on something or being too different from their competitors. That in itself is a huge opportunity for the businesses that do take advantage of such strategies.

Ryan Caligiuri is the founder of Ryan Caligiuri International, a growth consultancy focused on developing programs that generate credibility, competitive advantages, leads/demand and new revenue streams for small to medium-sized enterprises. Mr. Caligiuri is also the founder of The Growth Network, a mentoring program that teaches entrepreneurs and marketers best practices, frameworks and strategies to become business growth generators.