Website | Glenn Ward

Integrating Online Video into your Digital Marketing Strategy

Also see,
Introduction to Search Engine Optimisation
Beyond SEO – The right traffic to your site
An Introduction to Google Webmaster Tools
Introduction to Google Analytics and other website analytical tools
Introduction to Pay Per Click Campaigns
PPC Pay Per Click Marketing and purchase process
Integrating online video into your digital marketing strategy

Everyone is banging on about the power of video and how companies can use it in deliverables, and as part of their Marketing collateral and I agree, it is a powerful tool, without it I would be jobless, but before you start to plan your next epic, pause to think about it’s delivery and the cost implications of this.

I have spent a year now developing a video service in a company and to some extent an industry that until recently could not see how video could benefit the product. The main issue has not been producing the video or encouraging execs to come up with new ways in which to use video, it has been the means of delivery. Like any digital marketing there is absolutely no point in producing something that is not viewed by a high volume of people and more importantly, performs a function. Similarly to the everyone creating a Facebook page merely because they can mentality, putting video out there and doing it badly has the adverse effect on proving your understanding of the landscape and damages the brand rather than enhances it.

So what are your options? Well of course you can invest in a bespoke video delivery platform, buy something off the shelf that meets the companies needs but this is large initial step and a large spend, especially if you have not been involved in video in the past. Much like eBay is no longer an online garage sale, blogs are no children’s online diaries, Youtube is definitely not an online repository for unprofessional home videos, in fact Youtube is now one of the largest online search engines and any digital marketer cannot ignore this.

So how do you make it work for your product? Well, while you cannot set out to make a viral video, you can maximise the exposure you receive from your production by setting clear objectives and planning far beyond that of uploading your one video to an account on YouTube and hoping people might come across it. My biggest rule is allowing people to decide upon their own browsing habits. Don’t dictate to them how they should arrive at your product because you’ll loose them at the first awkward click routine or navigation that takes more than a few seconds of their time. Although many of the online spaces provide a quick and easy means of providing link building to your website, pay every one due attention, think about the usability issues and make sure there are no awkward, dead or complicated links to your pages. Don’t presume that a person will take the time to navigate to the correct page on your site if you dump them on your homepage. More often than not they won’t complete this part of the journey.

So, back to video. Take time producing your online space whether it be on YouTube, Vimeo etc. Remember that just uploading it is not enough, promote your video with appropriate means, social media, press releases, email marketing etc. If you have produced your video well and it does the job then send the user to the relevant page on your site and to your product.

If you are in doubt about your video, usability or quality of the landing page then don’t do it! Unfortunately it’s far easier to damage a brand than it is to build it.

iPhone apps or Online apps? What is the future as new smartphones emerge?

I am very much into my iPhone apps but a website I visited the other day made me stop and think. I always check the weather on Windguru but it not always accurate, so I went to the XC Weather site using safari to have a second look. XC advertised their new iPhone app on the homepage but with a web address rather than a link to the iTunes store.

I stopped to think and realised that soon at this rate I would have an app for nearly every website I visited on a regular basis and that would be ridiculous! The thing about XC Weathers development was that although just a webpage, it looked and behaved just like an app. From the vendors point of view, as other mobile phone catch up (lol) then the need for development in order to satisfy the entire Market will be high. With an efficient browser and bookmarking the tried and tested web application might not be such a bad idea.

An issue may arise with the software / website accessing key functions on the mobile phone such as the GPS which sets applications on the iPhone far apart from any website but i’m sure it’s very easily overcome.

I was never a fan of web design for specific devices and actually got frustrated when my iPhone reverted to a .mobi when I wanted to browse the original site. I thought .mobi was a minefield of errors but with the iPhone setting such a precedent and with with full screen browsing it might be a way to go!

What I learn’t about QR Codes, their success in Japan and their business application

Back in July 2008 a friend of mine, Joel returned from Japan. Knowing me he thought I’d be very interested in a breaking technology in Japan. Everywhere he went he said he saw little square barcodes and more importantly people pointing their phones at them. I quickly hit the Internet and discovered they were QR codes or Quick Response Codes, the codes were originally produced to monitor stock control on automotive production lines but given the recent technological breakthroughs of mobile phone hardware and the ability to manipulate this hardware with customisable software the code readers found their way onto your devices. In Japan QR readers are one of the most widely used applications on a mobile phones (here’s some stats) and have been embraced by businesses. So, what Are their uses and how are they being used? Well, following the success on tiny URL’s we see a need to fit into limited fields large amounts of information and QR Codes provide this without the need for a database of stored information or a connection to the Internet to decider a code, it’s all there stored in the code. Fortunately, unlike many software revelations the concept has been governed from the start to avoid deviation from the theory, read more on Wikipedia. This means that (in theory) although their a couple of different types of code, the reader you decide to install on your phone should read any code and their are plenty of tools to create your codes both on the Internet and on your phone / mobile device.

The function of the QR Code is to store large amounts of information in a small space. Much like tiny URL’s didn’t make much sense to us until the popular acceptance of micro blogging QR will probably not make much sense until industry shows us the application for real. Where this concept excels is the ability to automatically call a function on the phone, in times where we are continually trying to streamline our lives this really does pay dividends.

Functionality
The QR Code can automatically open your browser at a web page, open a pre filled text message with respondent ready for your to hit send, it can pass contact information including phone numbers, email addresses etc to your phone and place them directly in the address book. Like many innovations we are in a catch 22 situation without big companies swing the benefit to there use and investing in it users will not install the software and with limited downloads of the software business fails to see the ROI. So, outside of the box, what possible applications do we see. Again, like I always say, the greatest power comes from a combination of technologies. On a basic level, imagine you are at a bus stop and you see a poster for a movie you want to see. You scan the barcode which automatically launches your browser on your phone, a simple HTML page loads and you are asked if it can access you current location using the phones built in GPS, you are forwarded to another page and within a matter of seconds you know where the local cinema is, the showings and price, you could even request directions to see google maps launch and take you there. Of course this has advertising implications and data collection. You are reading the local paper and see an advert in the classifieds, rather than be restricted by the 60 words that will fit onto the given space, you scan a QR Code and navigate directly to more information and possible images of the goods, or even better directly to the sellers eBay advert where you can follow the transaction through to the point of sale. Again offering marketing opportunities and the monitoring of consumer habits. Final example as I don’t give away all of my ideas, your retail packaging is cluttered with nutritional information, health and safety advise and you are missing you marketing message through lack of space, a simple barcode might solve this problem, allow consumer to record what the look at, compare prices and much more. This requires far more than outside the box thinking to reach it’s full potential but hopefully I am getting that across.

QR + Existing technologies = A very powerful tool

So how does it work? the squares within the image allow the device to read it in 3D space meaning it is not required to be flat, software calculates the trim and tilt and works out what the square image should look like. The code must conform so that it can be read across readers, this also means that developers have the opportunity to exploit the concept, creating their own codes and not relying on a few software suppliers.

Devices
I first tested the software on a HTC Touch Diamond with great results, no need to take a photo and then analyse it, it automatically handled the code when it saw the image. The iPhone App store has recently seen the arrival of QR Code readers although many require you to take a picture first then ask it to be read.

Software Application
NeoReader
Kaywa Reader
QuickMark Mobile Barcode
zxing
…and more popping up on the iTunes store

Create your codes
Kaywa