According to a recent article in the excellent online newsletter of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, Horowitz Associates released a report on "Broadband Content and Services 2007" stating that six out of ten internet users download or watch video content on a weekly basis, and 86% say they view video at least once per month. News and user-generated videos top the lists of what internet users are watching.
In 2007, we helped three of our clients (Barbara Llewellyn Catering & Event Planning, STORViNO, and Bavarian Professionals) create welcome videos to meeting the growing demand for online video. The video portion of their websites have become quite popular and confirm the popularity of video that the Horowitz Associates report found.
Here are six keys for a successful welcome video:
- Highlight the video prominently on the home page.
- Tell a compelling story.
- Focus on the entrepreneur and his or her values since people like buying from people they like.
- Use interesting footage of the business in action while the business owner speaks.
- Include customers talking about why they buy.
- Be brief (effective welcome videos are usually one to three minutes long).
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're lucky to have a great company that specializes in online video. For all the aforementioned videos we created for our clients in 2007, we partnered with Max Fancher of Maximize Video Productions. Max is one of the most creative and conscientious professionals with whom I've worked and enjoys my highest recommendation. His other customers are equally enthusiastic.
