How one client uses their animated, explanatory video..

This is a video we did for a client. Check it out then read below about how the client is using the video and how it helps them communicate their message.

We interviewed Bob Walters of Burroughs Payment Systems and this is what he had to say:

Switch: How does this video help you meet your business objectives?

Bob: We like the video because it helps explain a business process that people are generally unfamiliar with. The process itself really isn’t complex, but it’s a dry topic that can be explained in just a couple of minutes, and upon seeing the video, most people say ‘oh I get it now’.

Switch: How are you using the video?

Bob: We are re-vamping our Burroughs.com website, so we hope to have the video posted on there by next week. In the meantime we have it on YouTube and I’ve been sending that link to those who are interested. I have discovered some corporate systems do not allow their employees to access YouTube, so having the video on our corporate site will help promote it.

The video is also a good opener for presentations. When I am speaking to a group for the first time to explain the concept, I start with the video; it loosens up the audience and gets people in a more open frame of mind and you can still see that hint of a smile on their face when I fire up the PowerPoint slides.

Switch: Who is your target audience:

Bob: This product is deployed in retail establishments, and a part of the prospect base is the retailer, so the whimsical approach fits well in this model because it’s partially a B2C model. The other part of the prospect base is banks, and that’s purely a B2B model with probably more conservative thinking and maybe less effect.

So that’s how Burroughs uses their video and just one example of how you can use yours too. Video helps to explain things in a more fun and engaging way that works in both B2C models and B2B models. If you’re interested in a video for your business just fill out the short form to the right and you’ll hear from one of our Web Video Specialists in no time.

Win a Free Animated Marketing Video!!!

Welcome to Switch Marketing’s First Ever Video Contest!

Video is the most engaging marketing method online and we think everyone should give it a chance and see the results it can bring. So we’ve decided to launch a contest on Twitter where the company with the most votes WINS A FREE VIDEO!

All the details are below along with contact information should you have any questions.

If you’re wondering whether this is a contest worth trying for, we’re obviously going to say yes! There are more than $11,000 in prizes to be won so we’ll leave that up to you.

When:
March 1 - 15, 2010

Grand Prize: A FREE 2-minute Plus, animated web video for your company. The video will be produced by Switch Marketing in the 8 weeks after the contest ends. This package is worth $8,000 !

Second prize: A 1-minute Plus screencast video for the business that comes in second. This package is worth $3,000!

Why:
Video is the most effective communication and marketing tool online. Having a professionally produced video that explains what you do, who you are or how to use your product(s)/service(s) is a great way to brand your business, increase traffic to your website and boost your conversion rates.

How:
To get started follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/switchmarketing

Then send out the following tweet to your followers:

Win a free animated marketing video! Follow @switchmarketing & RT this to your followers. http://twttr.me/dbqR

Once you nominate your company by following us and retweeting this message, we will DM you with a link to fill out a short form with a bit more information.

Once you fill out the form you can start asking for some Twitter love from your followers.

Ask your followers to vote for you by Tweeting the following message on Twitter:

I vote for @company to win a  free animated marketing video from @switchmarketing because….
That’s it!  So easy!

The Rules:

1. All votes must be received by midnight EST on Monday March 15, 2010 to count.
2. All nominations must come from a @switchmarketing follower.
3. Your followers can only vote for you once each.
4. The winner of the 2-min Plus Explanatory web video from Switch Marketing will be announced on Tuesday March 16, 2010 at 2 p.m. EST via Twitter.
5. Video projects that we are currently working on are not eligible to win this contest.
6. Switch Marketing reserves the right to use the winners’ videos on our website portfolio and video sharing sites.
7. The winner can then contact Shelby at 1-877-297-6090 ext. 725 to claim their prize.

All questions can be directed to Shelby at videomarketing@switchmarketing.com

Tax Credit Video on TV!

We are very excited to announce that this Switch Marketing video is going to be on TV!!

In partnership with Time Warner Cable Media, the Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS® (WRAR) has helped to launch an OnDemand channel called Carolina Homes OnDemand - designed for people to watch segments on everything to do with homes and the real estate market. These segments will also be on regular TV under the Cape Fear Now channel!

To promote these segments and their REALTOR® members, they will be using the customized NAR (National Association of Realtors) commercials to get consumers in their local area to check out their public MLS site THEwilmingtonMLS.com.

Here’s the best part:

The NAR Commercials will air across several different local channels like HGTV, Food Network, Lifetime, LMN, News 14 Carolina (the Time Warner News), Oxygen and TLC!

This tax credit video is being incorporated into WRAR’s TV Awareness Campaign to make the public aware of the opportunities available to them and to let them know that now is a great time to buy a home.

Brian Pilon, Director of Marketing Communications at WRAR, says, “Our mission is to support the careers of our members, and this partnership and TV Awareness Campaign will help us achieve that. It will function as our own local public awareness campaign much like NAR does nationally for all REALTORS®. We also hope it drives more traffic to THEwilmingtonMLS.com which results in more exposure for our member’s listings and increases their business.”

The first segments, scheduled to air in two to three weeks, will focus on the Extended Tax Credit and Affordable Housing Opportunities. So expect to see this video soon on a TV near you!

Use Your Noodle - A Video

We first started chatting with Noodle on Twitter and it wasn’t long before we began to create this video about their crazy cool program!

Noodle is a work oriented social networking platform designed for efficient and fun communication within the workplace. That’s right!  A program that uses Facebook and Twitter like applications, discussion forums, team blogs and other great collaboration tools that enable employees to share documents, thoughts and ideas with each other. Cool, right? Like always though, the video does a far better job of explaining it than I do.

As the animator on the project, Eric Martucci said, “They left room for a lot of creativity and offered continuous feedback and communication, which helped move the project along quickly while still maintaining a high level of quality. They were open to ideas and suggestions and we worked well together.”

If you’d like to see how Noodle used this video you can check it out at http://www.vialect.com/

So what do you think of Noodle’s new video? We think it’s fantastic, but we tend to be a little bias so please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Producers of Explanatory Videos

A couple of months ago as you may remember, we posted a blog that listed some explanatory video producers following a TechCrunch article titled “The Underutilized Power of the Video Demo…” that got a lot of attention.

Well, after attempting a little market research and realizing that it’s still quite difficult to search for and find explanatory video producers, I thought this is a list we should keep updated over time. So here is an updated version that I will continue to add to upon request.

If your company should be on this list but isn’t please just add a comment with a link to your portfolio and pricing if available.

So here it is! We will rightfully begin the list with the Common Craft Explainer Network which includes the following:

Switch Marketing: Portfolio - Pricing

Say it Visually:  Portfolio

Lilipip:  Portfolio - Pricing

Splainers:  Portfolio

1/29 Explainers:  Portfolio

Animated Explanations: Portfolio

Other explanatory web video producers include:

Nutintuit:  Portfolio

Video Army:  Portfolio

Transvideo Studios: Portfolio

EyeView Digital:  Portfolio

Epipheo Studios: Portfolio

Simpleshow:   Website

Howcast:   Portfolio

Wheelhouse Communications:   Portfolio

RapidFire Video:    Portfolio

Please let us know what you think about our list and follow us on Twitter for access to our web video Twitter list as well!

Short Videos vs. Long Videos

It`s probably no surprise that short videos are more engaging and effective than long videos. Heck, we’ve built a business on this knowledge, but the stats recently reported by Wistia, a hosting service  for thousands of videos, are out of this world!

They first compared two videos by one of their clients. “The red line in the graph represents the engagement of their 30-second video. The blue line is the engagement graph for a 90-second video. It’s expected that these two videos would have different engagement graphs, but what’s odd is that the first 30 seconds of both videos are identical!”

The results? “Even though viewers were exposed to the same exact content, the drop-off rate of the 90-second video was much higher. By the end of the 30-second video there were about double the number of viewers than at the same point in the 90-second video.”

This means that just knowing the video is longer is discouraging enough to viewers to quit watching earlier on than they will if they know the video is short. It’s really a fear of commitment!

It’s also interesting how Wistia measured these results on a larger scale including many of their clients to see how many people watched videos of different lengths all the way through.

While viewing length continues to drop after 30 seconds, the big drop begins at two minutes plus. It seems that this is the point where many attention spans timeout and lose interest. If it’s important that your viewers make it to the end of your video for say, a call to action then this two-minute time line is one to aim for.

Depending on your goals for your video the length will vary, but the better you can simplify your message into a shorter, more engaging video - the better the response you’ll receive.

Check out the full article titled Does length matter? It does for Video!

Positive Predictions for Web Video

Yesterday Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer released his annual seven predictions for the New Year and we may be a bit bias, but we think his predictions are great!

Focusing on the elements of the article that speak to web video, here is a short summary of Mr. Ramsey’s predictions for 2010. (We’ve bolded the parts we like best).

“During 2010, as US ad budgets crack open just a little, look for an accelerated migration of ad dollars from traditional to digital media. According to Forrester Research, 59% of US marketers plan to increase their budgets for digital by pulling funds from traditional outlets. Other sources support this shift, including a recent survey among Association of National Advertisers members and a separate study from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.”

(more…)

Psychology Behind Simple Video

There’s no doubt that videos are cool and fun to watch - certainly more fun than reading page after page of text let’s face it. It’s become rather well known that having a video on your website that explains what you do, what you offer, why people should choose you or how you work, will get a better response from your audience.

But, why?

Aside from being more exciting than text, there are underlying reasons hidden deep within the brain that make video an extremely valuable tool for business owners.

Let’s start by looking at it in terms of time. You have about 8 seconds to capture the attention of a visitor to your website. If they don’t leave by then what are the odds they are going to leave understanding, let alone remembering your message?

Well, if you only provide text or audio, your visitor will only remember 10% of what they read 72 hours later. How much will they remember if they watch a video? Wait for it…..

68 percent!   

To understand this a little more we looked into recent research being done in cognitive psychology and found out that the brain works in a pretty fascinating way. We discovered that when trying to captivate an audience’s attention, keep their attention and send them home with a message they remember, there are three important factors to keep in mind.

1. Keep it simple.

Only include relevant information and movement. Our brain stores working memory, which only has a certain capacity. Non essential information will take up that space and distract from the learning and this is why we make sure our videos aren’t too busy - to keep the viewer focused on the message.

2. Know your audience.

Your viewer’s prior knowledge is important to know. That’s because new knowledge is built on that foundation. Also it’s much easier to retrieve at a later time, when it’s attached to   something they already know and understand. This is why we use analogies in our videos so often. 

3. Use powerful learning tools.

Dual coding theory is key! What is it?
Combining audio and visual information together for the purpose of learning.

Don’t forget that your viewer will remember 58% more when you teach through both these senses.

As our attention spans get increasingly shorter, the time you have to captivate your audience and explain what you do also becomes shorter.

That is why simple, explanatory video is such a powerful business tool.  Don’t forget to check out our final video on December 10th that you can share with all your video friends!

Web Video for B-to-B Marketers

If you take a look at our portfolio you’ll notice a lot of videos produced for business to consumer marketers, but you’ll also see some of the videos we’ve created for business to business marketers.

B-to-B companies are utilizing the power of simple video to boost business and increase sales, and it’s working!

Recently, Daniel Sevitt wrote a blog for ReelSEO that included Brightcove’s recently published “Top 6 Reasons B-to-B Marketers Need Video”

1. Grab people’s attention instantly
2. Tell your story in less time
3. Bring your ideas to life
4. Make your site stickier
5. Create a buzz with viral video
6. Bring your website into the 21^st century

Parsing that list into three types of video based on their natural homes – embedded offsite, on the site’s homepage and within the site – helped to identify the three kinds of online video for business:

• Viral Video
• Conversion Video
• Educational Video

Check out the full blog post on reelseo.com to learn more about the three types of video mentioned above.

We Don’t Pay Attention to Boring Things

This is Brain Rule #4 in Dr. John Medina’s New York Times Bestselling Book ‘Brain Rules’ - We don’t pay attention to boring things.

Obvious, right? We think so, but most teachers and learning institutions still teach the majority of their lessons orally without visual stimulation or effective visual stimulation. Medina, a Brain Scientist and Developmental Molecular Biologist, says that anywhere between one third to one half of the brain is devoted to visual processing! Now, you might be thinking that many people use graphs and slides in presentations but Medina says that’s not good enough. He says the brain wants a “rotating, moving, three-dimensional image.”

Watch this interview with him on YouTube to learn more about the significance of visuals in a learning atmosphere.

He also performs an experiment using the McGurk Effect to prove that the more senses involved in a lesson, the more the learner retains. He says, “When multiple senses are stimulated simultaneously, the brain begins to experience an information rich learning experience and laps it up like ice cream. Watch the experiment to see how he demonstrates this point.

Web video uses animated illustrations to engage the viewer and provide them with information that is not only enjoyable to watch and learn, but information that will actually be remembered for longer than a few minutes. In Brain Rules, John Medina writes that, “If information is presented orally, people remember about 10 percent, tested 72 hours after  exposure. That figure goes up to 65 percent if you add a picture.”