Video Email Proves Successful

It’s no surprise that here at VideoBloom we think online video is a powerful tool. And last month, you proved us right. In last month’s newsletter almost half of all click-throughs were on the video link, proving that Web video truly is more dynamic and engaging than pictures with text.

Contentdig.com agrees. “In comparison with other existing marketing formats, the existing impact of video email marketing is at least four times greater,” they write, citing the ease of communication with the client as one reason for its success.

Major online retailers are also starting to see the value of Web video. Over the past six months at least 18% of major online retailers tracked via retailemail.blogspot have incorporated online video into at least one email (retailemail.blogspot, April, 2007). Companies are also beginning to contextualize the page around the Internet video with additional purchasing opportunities, further increasing their conversion rates.

All of which, makes us very, very happy.

To check out how your company can increase the click through rates of your emails and drive traffic to your Web site, click here and check out our video email templates.

Marketing in Action: Visionman uses Online Video to Reach Gaming Customers

When Visionman decided they wanted to start marketing with online video, they knew their Web videos would need to stand out. As a high quality computer company specializing in gaming PCs, they wanted commercials that would target gamers and, eventually, go viral. So, with VideoBloom’s help, they created two videos for distribution online and on TV through Google’s ad creation marketplace. The first video is a self-described, racy spoof on the Cialis ED commercials, and the second features a wacky professor explaining the features of the Visionman gaming PC.

While the Internet videos were very recently released to YouTube and various gaming sites, they already have already seen about 700 views for each commercial, which Visionman’s Director of Organizational Development Matt Baca says is “a great result for our first foray into online video.” Through Google, Visionman can also track when their online videos are being played and when people stop watching them; they are pleased to note viewers have been watching the entirety of their Professor commercial.

And Visionman has learned from their first set of videos. Baca says that Google’s content restrictions for TV commercials have been their biggest hurdle. He feels that “while the ED commercial is too racy for TV, it might not be racy enough for the Internet” and recommends that companies be “careful with the content you choose.” The internet and TV distribution channels have completely different standards for what will work best. They are also looking into using tags and other video SEO techniques for their online video ventures, as well as setting up a specific phone number or web address for each ad to further track results and have a better understanding of their ROI.

Baca says that Visionman will continue to use online video promote their products. “So much of the Internet is personal now, you can really create your own identity… People are now starting to use video as a tool to help construct their identity,” he says. And with the relative inexpensiveness of Web video production, companies can even develop different personas for different groups of customers. Baca notes, “We can direct a straightforward commercial for a server toward a military market and we can have an over-the-top video for gamers.”

While Baca has a strong network of videographers from his days as an actor, he decided to work with VideoBloom in part because of their Google partnership. The Google partnership was “a big plus for us because we knew you would be familiar with their process,” he says. And Baca is happy with the results. He says, “You guys (VideoBloom) were easy to work with and very professional and I’d use you again.”

Proffesor commercial

ED commercial

VideoBloom Does the Research so You Don’t Have To

We know you don’t have the time to sift through all of the online video data and resources that are out there. And since we’re, ahem, Web video junkies, we’re happy to do it for you. We’ve compiled the information into various sources to keep you informed and updated on the latest trends in online video.

VIEW Index:

Updated with a new study every other month, the VIEW Index highlights Internet video trends within specific industries (for example, travel, real estate, or automotive), as well as the NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones’ companies. The Index offers insight into who is using online video and how they are using it. Click here to see the latest VIEW Index.

Glossary of online video terms:

Not sure of the difference between a skin and a cut-out player? Our Web video glossary will keep you up-to-date on the latest industry lingo. View the glossary here.

Just Released from VideoBloom: Platform Updates

In a continuous effort to improve VideoBloom’s platform functionality, we released several important upgrades last week:

Multi-video upload

Now you can upload multiple videos at a time with our flexible new user interface.

Player / Playlist skins

We’ve updated the single-title and multi-title players’ looks and also removed the ‘powered by VideoBloom’ overlay message.

Tags module updated

You can now quickly and easily sort through a large number of videos with the new Tag cloud feature on the ‘My Videos’ page.

Auto-play feature

You now have the ability to start video play automatically (once the page is loaded), so your customers won’t even have to click a button.

General

Along with improvements in functionality, we’ve also improved general platform usability by: increasing the speed of new account creation, offering better information, and creating stronger warning and error messages. Get started with a new account here.

Thank you and remember VideoBloom is your source for reliable and innovative video solutions.