Online Video Brochures: A Powerful New Direct Marketing Application

Transcription

1 Online Video Brochures: A Powerful New Direct Marketing Application R I C H M E D I A M A R K E T I N G Flimp Media, Inc. 2 Hayden Rowe Street Hopkinton, MA Phone: 877.FLIMP.IT ( ) Fax: jenn@flimp.net Web:

2 Online Video Brochures: A Powerful New Direct Marketing Application Table of Contents 1 Abstract 1 Online Video Brochures: A Powerful New Direct Marketing Application 2 Five Critical Components of Effective Online Video Brochures 4 FLIMP Simplifying Online Video Brochures 5 Conclusion

3 1 ONLINE VIDEO BROCHURES A POWERFUL NEW DIRECT MARKETING APPLICATION Online Video Brochures: A Powerful New Direct Marketing Application Abstract This report, discusses the uses, applications and benefits of online video brochures for direct marketing, communications and sales; and explores how new technologies are enabling users to create, distribute and measure effective online video marketing campaigns using video brochures without programming or advanced technical skills. Web video marketing is here. It presents exciting opportunities for marketers, communicators and salespeople because interactive audiovisual content is more engaging, interactive and responsive than static and website content. Just as web video and rich media have changed online advertising in recent years, video Exhibit 1. Graphic image and link of a new type of portable video landing page called a flimp. and rich media have the potential to change the rules of the game for online direct marketing, communications and sales. The same web video trends that are disrupting the $60 billion television advertising market are impacting the $150 billion direct marketing industry. The integration of online technologies, web video and direct response marketing are propelling the development of a new direct marketing application: interactive video brochures. Online Video Brochures are used to focus viewer attention on a specific offer or information, either editorial or commercial. Video brochures contain audiovisual content and typically generate 4-7X higher engagement and response rates than static print, or web content. The emergence of interactive video brochures provides a new tool for direct marketers and communicators who have seen engagement rates steadily decline. Video brochures can generate higher response rates than traditional HTML by combining an interactive multimedia video experience with targeted distribution, viral messaging and comprehensive viewer tracking. No other direct marketing application combines all of these features. Web Video brochures are part of the direct marketing/internet marketing convergence that includes , paid search and social media marketing. Unlike videos, Video brochures provide an opportunity for viewer interaction and response together with the capability to capture and measure viewer activity and response data. In this Video brochures have the potential to change the rules of the game for sales and direct marketing respect, video brochures provide an opportunity for interaction that can be measured by a web analytics component beyond simple open and click data. Interactive Video brochures can be distributed through a variety of Internet delivery channels including , paid search, web sites, weblinks, blogs and social media. Viewers interactions with these marketing messages are captured and stored in a database. Captured data may then be used by marketers for analytical purposes relating to the effectiveness of the message, for viewer feedback, and for sales prospecting. The three essential elements for successful direct marketing using video brochures are: Interactivity: An actionable, interactive message containing audiovisual content and other content elements that provide a call to action. Online Distribution: The ability to easily distribute or push the message to target viewers using Internet communications methods. Measurability: The ability to collect viewer activity and response data in order to measure the result of the marketing effort. Online video becomes direct video marketing only when all three of these components are combined.

4 ONLINE VIDEO BROCHURES A POWERFUL NEW DIRECT MARKETING APPLICATION 2 Five Critical Components of Effective Online Video Brochures for Marketing Effective online video brochures 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 for video marketing interactivity, web distribution and measurability, the five additional factors required to create an effective video brochures are: Engaging content Portability/universal accessibility Intuitive viewer controls Viral capabilities Ease of use and modification for marketers 1. Engaging content The audiovisual element of a web video marketing message does not have to be a traditional video film. A complete video brochure needs to be able to deliver an engaging message that consists of several multimedia content components whithin the message. Video alone doesn t allow for user interactivity, response and measurement. A key aspect of web video is that it can be any type of sensory content, such as Flash animation, moving slide show images, images with voiceovers, etc. Web video is being used in a wide range of disparate formats from 15-second banner ads to long-form documentaries. Effective Video brochures often have a strong multimedia context in that the audiovisual content is surrounded by other elements such as text, graphics, web links, images, animations, color, etc. Audio, in the form of voice over, music, scripts and sound effects, can add to the richness of the message and enhance the user s engagement. Accompanying text can help set the context for the video message and, in some cases, keep the user temporarily engaged while the video is streaming. Text can also be used to supplement or reinforce the visual aspects of the message. The incorporation of supplemental images into the marketing message can provide additional opportunities for interaction, can add branding to the message, and can provide a delivery vehicle for sponsorship that can offset production and delivery costs. Images can be in the form of PNG, JPG or GIF, which can optionally be hyperlinked. According to Dynamic Logic MarketNorms, messages with video content deliver a three times higher level of brand engagement than messages that contain only graphics, such as GIF s and JPG s, and outperform these formats in generating user interaction. Interactivity increases the number of data capture points for use in analytics. The interaction with each element in a video brochure presentation can be tracked regardless of how the brochure is distributed. Metrics can then be used for A/B comparisons, for measuring campaign effectiveness, and for use in determining ROI. Engaging message content encourages user interaction. 2. Portability/universal video accessibility Portability increases options for distribution. Effective web video brochures can be delivered through a variety of delivery vehicles with , social media, twitter, on a web page, paid search marketing, in a blog or via weblinks. All of these options point to the versatility of web video brochure and their potential as a powerful direct marketing application. Universal accessibility means that the video brochure can be easily displayed and viewed by a majority of viewers without proprietary software downloads or reliance on a specific operating system. An effective video brochure cannot require users to take additional action, such as download a special player or other software in order to view and interact with the video brochure content. Flash Player already exists on over 99% of the computers used to access the Internet today regardless of operating system. For the rare viewer who does not already have the Flash Player installed on his or her device, According to Dynamic Logic MarketNorms, messages with video content deliver a three times higher level of brand engagement than messages that contain only graphics, such as GIF s and JPG s, and outperform these formats in generating user interaction. Dynamic Logic Flash Player provides a link to easily download and install the player software. Both portability and universal video accessibility result in increased response rates for video brochure marketing messages. Flash provides excellent portability for multimedia marketing messages as it delivers

5 3 ONLINE VIDEO BROCHURES A POWERFUL NEW DIRECT MARKETING APPLICATION all content types including video to the viewer in a single, compact presentation. 3. Intuitive viewer controls Users need to be able to control the playback of the video message within a video brochure in case they are interrupted during the presentation and need to be able to pause the video or adjust the volume of the audio. Standard controls include Play, Pause and Volume. These controls have become ubiquitous for online media playback. Using standard, easy-to-recognize universal controls increases usability and avoids user frustration. 4. Sharing capabilities From a word-of-mouth perspective, the viral nature of online video can be tracked more easily than offline campaigns. Enthusiastic viewers will forward and refer interesting brochures to their network. The viral nature of online video can help and social media marketers expand their viewer base beyond the initial target audience. Based on campaign measurement, marketers can break down the effectiveness of each video brochure between the initial target audience and its secondary viral audience. Marketers know that viral video marketing is an important and highly cost effective means to spread their message and generate buzz. Because flash video brochures are much more engaging than traditional HTML messages, and because the message can be spread around the world instantly with the click of a button or link, video brochures marketing campaigns should leverage the power of viral marketing by incorporating forwarding buttons and social media links. The tracking capabilities built into new video marketing technologies provide marketers with the means to capture lead information from viewers and recipients readily. 5. Ease of use and modification for marketers With new emerging technologies, video brochures using flash Exhibit 2. Image and link to a Best Buy video brochure used for a video marketing. The adoption of new video marketing and sales technologies will radically change the way most companies market, sell and communicate online in the next three years. We are witnessing a broad shift from static text and graphic content to engaging audiovisual and multimedia content, with more viewer interactivity, and instant tracking, reporting and results measurement. As broadband makes web video available to a global audience, and enables richer, more interactive marketing experiences, the use of video brochures will reshape the direct marketing and communications industries as we know them today. will be increasingly easy to develop and deploy and will not require sophisticated software programming, databasing capabilities or IT resources. Creating video brochures will be possible for most marketers and communicators using existing graphic and video content. Marketers will be able to create and deploy interactive video Wayne Wall, CEO Flimp Media inc brochure marketing campaigns in a matter of hours and will be able to revise and update them in minutes even after distribution without any programming or technical skills. Using new technologies such as Flimp, marketers are now able to create, edit, distribute and track video brochures without any programming or help from the IT department.

6 ONLINE VIDEO BROCHURES A POWERFUL NEW DIRECT MARKETING APPLICATION 4 FLIMP Simplifying Online Video Brochures New technologies are becoming available that simplify the use of audiovisual content for branded video brochures and marketing campaigns. One of these is an integrated rich media platform called FLIMP, developed for video brochure marketing, sales and communications. FLIMP is a new on demand video marketing software that enables non-technical users to quickly create, distribute and track custom branded video brochures using Flash called flimps with any combination of drag and drop content elements videos, audio, text, graphics, images, links and more. As flimp brochures are created, the process of updating the tracking mechanisms contained within the flimp web page is handled seamlessly, without user interaction, by the FLIMP platform. The term flimp originated as an acronym for Flash Interactive Marketing Platform. Flimp video brochures are selfhosted and self-tracking, and they can be shared or distributed via , web links, blogs, paid search and other Internet distribution channels. Each flimp is a hosted, self contained, portable web page with a distinct URL that supports Flash video content. Flimps can be created and tracked using FLIMP, which provides a secure utility dashboard for real time editing, distributing and reporting on viewer activity and responses. Primary marketing problem solved - no programming With FLIMP, interactive marketers can quickly create, edit and distribute dynamic rich media brochures (flimps) with audio and video that track and report detailed viewer activity and action responses by address without any technical skills or software programming. Primary features and benefits Using the FLIMP platform, digital marketers are able to: Create, launch and track engaging viral video marketing campaigns with individual viewer response and activity reporting by address. Create, launch and track interactive video squeeze landing pages with web forms for paid search marketing with instant reporting for lead generation. Edit, move or resize the landing page content in seconds. What is a flimp? A flimp is a hosted video brochure or lead capture page with built-in viewer analytics tracking and reporting used for marketing, sales prospecting and communication. Using flimps, anyone can quickly create, distribute and track audiovisual brochures for direct marketing without any programming or coding. Create, interactive video brochures for blogs and social media distribution with automated viewer tracking and distribution reporting. A linked image of a flimp video brochure used for marketing is shown in Exhibit 3. It was created without the use of any programming skills using the drag and drop FLIMP brochure builder. Flimp video brochures meet the three primary requirements for web video marketing they are interactive, easy to distribute and measurable. Flimps also meet all five of the important components for effective direct marketing discussed earlier: 1. Engaging content 2. Portability/universal accessibility 3. Intuitive viewer controls 4. Viral capabilities 5. Ease of use and modification for marketers Exhibit 3. Graphic image and link to a flimp video brochure created with a FLIMP Account. The FLIMP video brochure technology is an exciting example of the emerging technologies that will make video marketing faster, easier and less expensive than in the past. Further, these emerging technologies will increase the accessibility of video direct marketing to the majority of marketers by eliminating the need for expensive programming and technical skills.

7 5 ONLINE VIDEO BROCHURES A POWERFUL NEW DIRECT MARKETING APPLICATION Conclusion. Video brochures are part of the evolution of new direct response and sales applications that allow marketers to engage target audiences with captivating, interactive, online media experiences that can be developed and delivered: At a low cost, due to the reusability of the components of the message and economies of web distribution With shorter production and distribution times With improved and automated lead capture With customization and personalization With viral, self-propelled distribution, and Without geographic limitations. The benefits of video brochures for marketing are inherent. From a practical point-of-view, online campaigns are some of the most simplistic to launch. With the right tools, such as the FLIMP rich media technology, direct marketers are able to develop powerful campaigns on their own quickly, eliminating the need to involve IT resources, and programmers. Distributing video marketing messages through , paid search, blogs and Web 2.0 social media outlets offers potential to leverage the rampant growth of one to one networking channels with engaging, interactive video content that is accessible, viral, measurable and increasingly affordable. Web video brochures extend the power and popularity of online video to direct marketing and communications. Future technological advances may result in new distribution channels for interactive video brochures that we cannot yet imagine, and create a whole new category of direct response marketing, sales and communications.

8 About Flimp Media Inc. Flimp Media is a pioneer in the development of rich media and web video marketing and analytics technology and solutions for online direct marketing, communications and sales. FLIMP, which stands for Flash Interactive Marketing Platform, enables non-technical users to quickly create, edit, distribute, track and report Interactive Video Brochures using rich media and video without any programming or IT resources required. The Flimp platform offers users a simple, easy to use solution for video brochures, video , video landing pages and rich media web marketing with viewer analytics. For more information about Flimp Rich Media: Visit our website at or us at info@flimp.net or Call us at Flimp Media Inc. 2 Hayden Rowe Hopkinton, MA 01748