August 30, 2011
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Affordably Build Your Brand
FedEx Global Brand Management Director Monica Skipper shares a cost-effective way to build a bigger brand for your small business.
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YouTube is one of the most popular marketing channels online today. Business owners can be negative about Twitter, Facebook or Yelp, but I’ve never heard anyone say that YouTube is a bad way to get in front of customers.
So, I put word out and heard from over 58 business owners who use YouTube to varying degrees. It was tough to narrow it all down, so I tried to pick the stories that had lots of traffic—meaning they are doing something right, and we should pay attention. Here are three great examples.
Dan Nainan
Dan Nainan gets top billing in today’s post because he makes people laugh. He is a former Intel employee turned comedian, and with over 1,000,000 views, his videos are one of the top ways he gets traffic to his site—and invitations to share his clean comedy act. If you’re a speaker, coach, or business owner where you are the brand, then YouTube is one of the best ways to share your message.
In this case, it is simple. Tell your story: Make people laugh or cry or give them tips that make them visit your site to sign up for more on e-mail or your blog. If Dan had an e-mail newsletter, I’m certain people would sign up in droves giving him an opportunity to further spread his message, but he’s already booked out pretty far in advance!
Big Apple Pet Supply
One of the greatest uses I've seen of YouTube comes from Big Apple Pet Supply and owner Steven Spitz. Next to many of his product entries, there is an educational YouTube video to go along with it—it is a simple, but elegant reason why his YouTube channel drives sales. “So what?” might be your response, but if you think about it—it is no easy task to create a video for each of your products.
When a customer clicks on an item, there is a video right there to inform them about the product they are about to buy, and it even demonstrates how the product works. Sure, people will possibly leave your site to watch the video on YouTube (if you haven’t embedded it), but here’s the kicker: Big Apple Pet Supply has seen 300 to 400 percent increases in sales on products that have videos attached to them. If you are wondering if you can leverage YouTube into more profits, then you need to visit Big Apple Pet Supply and study his e-commerce store.
This effort has made Steven Spitz into a pet expert and public figure in the social media world under the trademarked name Vegan Petman. In less than 10 weeks his Twitter account achieved over 2,500 pet followers, and in less than eight weeks his Facebook page has more than 1,700 pet fans. His corporate Facebook page stands at over 11,000 pet fans and continues to grow at a rapid pace. Steven's YouTube channel and pet related videos have been watched more than 800,000 times.
SquareTrade
SquareTrade has created a YouTube sensation not unlike the famous “Will It Blend” from the Blendtec team. Electronic devices are often the victim of a slippery hand or other mishap, so SquareTrade, a major seller of warranties for electronic devices, created a series of “Drop Videos” to do informal drop tests on the world’s most popular devices, such as the iPad and Motorola Xoom. It is akin to reality television programs—who can avoid watching as an iPad is dropped onto a concrete sidewalk with and without the smart cover?
According to the statistics on YouTube, these videos have had almost a million views in just a few months—they appear to be quite effective at generating customer traffic for SquareTrade. Like Nainan, a bit of humor goes a long way to keeping a customer’s attention and winning you a loyal viewer who will return again, if you keep producing good videos.
If you’re looking for inspiration to create your own YouTube video or channel, consider these success stories and sites as you plan your next script.
Drop us a note in the comments with your favorite corporate video and how you have used YouTube to build customer relationships.
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MSNBC Your Business 8 months ago
Tips on making a Your Tube Viral Video for your small business from MSNBC's YOUR BUSINESS:http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/video/getting-customers-viral-videos