Local Search Engine & Online Video

We all know that television advertising is not typically used by the Small Business market, but why is this when studies indicate that people remember only 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, but 70% of what they both see and hear? Shouldn’t video be the major component in the marketing mix for converting shoppers to buyers?

For the vast majority of small businesses (SBs), television advertising carries too much risk due to the high costs of production and media, the lack of ability to target behaviorally and demographically, and its lack of accountability. SBs are less interested in the long-term benefit of brand awareness and more interested in reaching the “shopper” with their value proposition. The old adage that “50% of my advertising works; I just don’t know which 50%,” is especially true with television advertising and represents an unacceptable risk to Small Businesses with limited marketing budgets and the need for short-term results.The Barriers Tumble Down

The Internet now provides a video platform that not only has critical reach but is accountable, economical and reaches a high density of active shoppers. More than 65% of U.S. households now have a broadband connection and 68% of Internet users now watch online video advertising at least monthly (Online Publishers Assoc. Online Video Advertising, Content and Consumer Behavior, June 2007). Combine this with the fact that 52% of online video ad viewers take action and 16% saying they purchased2, and you have the arrival of a compelling video advertising platform.

We think a new term is needed to describe this rapidly emerging form of video promotion that is largely used online and displayed in directories or search results. We call it a video “searchmercial;” that is, a video commercial designed specifically for online search and directories. Unlike online video display ads or in-stream video ads that are designed to demand attention and create a brand preference, the purpose of the searchmercial is to appeal to the active shopper by providing the information sought. There is no need to cut through the clutter or generate effective reach; you simply need to tell your story and communicate value.

But be careful, you can't play many tricks to fool your reader about what you really have to offer... your reader is going to find out in a matter of seconds. In fact you shouldn't even think in terms of making it worthwhile for them to stay, since today's web users know already what they are looking for... nobody goes around "surfing" in a serendipitous style anymore ... what you instead you really need to address is the desire from the user to get at what she is looking for in the least time possible and in the most effective way (from a communication viewpoint).

In this article I am showcasing an example of a well crafted video marketing approach, while dissecting the unique characteristics and traits that make this video marketing approach so effective., and what you need to be doing to replicate it.<!-- FA -->

<script>// <![CDATA[ var sA = ''; function ss(w,id) {window.status = w;return true;}function cs(){window.status='';} function jcc(a) {pha=document.getElementById(a); nc=pha.href.indexOf('&jca='); if(nc>=1) return; jca=(300)+(6038)-(156); if (a=='aw0') {jca+=(743);} else if (a=='aw1') {jca+=(-507);} else if (a=='aw2') {jca+=(636);} else {jca=0;} phb=pha.href+'&jca='+jca; pha.href=phb;} function ha(a){ pha=document.getElementById(a); nhi=pha.href.indexOf("&nh=");if(nhi < 1) {phb=pha.href+"&nh=1";} pha.href=phb; jcc(a); }function ca(a) { pha=document.getElementById(a); nci=pha.href.indexOf("&nc=");if(nci < 1) {phb=pha.href+"&nc=1";} pha.href=phb; jcc(a); top.location.href=document.getElementById(a).href;}function ga(o,e) {if (document.getElementById) {a=o.id.substring(1);p = "";r = "";g = e.target;if (g) {t = g.id;f = g.parentNode;if (f) {p = f.id;h = f.parentNode;if (h)r = h.id;}} else {h = e.srcElement;f = h.parentNode;if (f)p = f.id;t = h.id;}if (t==a || p==a || r==a)return true;pha=document.getElementById(a); nbi=pha.href.indexOf("&nb=");if(nbi < 1) {phb=pha.href+"&nb=1";} pha.href=phb; jcc(a); top.location.href=document.getElementById(a).href;}} function google_ad_request_done(google_ads) { if (google_ads.length < 1 ) return; sA += '' + '<div style="text-align:left;font-size:12px;width:100%;">'; if (google_info.feedback_url) { sA += '<a href="' + google_info.feedback_url + '" mce_href="' + google_info.feedback_url + '"><font style="font-size:12px" mce_style="font-size:12px" face="Arial" color="#000000">Ads by Google</font></a>     '; } else { sA += 'Ads by Google'; } sA += '</div><div style="width:100%;"><span style="font-size:10px" mce_style="font-size:10px"><br></span></div>'; if (google_ads[0].type == 'text') { for(i = 0; i < google_ads.length; ++i) { var first_line=google_ads[i].line2.split(" "); var new_f_l=''; for(l = 1; l < first_line.length; ++l) { new_f_l += " "+first_line[l]; } sA += '<div style="overflow:hidden; width:580px; padding-left:2px;padding-bottom:3px;">' + '<a id="aw0" onclick="window.open(\'' + google_ads[i].url + '\',\'_blank\');" onmouseover="window.status=\'go to ' + google_ads[i].visible_url + '\'" onmouseout="window.status=\'\'" style="text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;" mce_style="text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;">' + '<b><font style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px #000088 solid; color:#000088;font-size:17px;line-height:17px;font-weight:bold;cursor:hand;" mce_style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px #000088 solid; color:#000088;font-size:17px;line-height:17px;font-weight:bold;cursor:hand;">' + google_ads[i].line1 + '</b></a></font><font style="line-height:3px;font-size:3px" mce_style="line-height:3px;font-size:3px"><br></font></div>' + '<div style="width:100%;padding-bottom:3px;"><font size=2 style="text-decoration: none;color: #000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;" mce_style="text-decoration: none;color: #000000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;" color="#000000">'+'<b>'+first_line[0] +'</b>' + new_f_l + '<br />' + google_ads[i].line3 + '<br></font></div>' + '<div style="width:100%;padding-bottom:15px;"><a id="aw0" onclick="window.open(\'' + google_ads[i].url + '\',\'_blank\');" onmouseover="window.status=\'go to ' + google_ads[i].visible_url + '\'" onmouseout="window.status=\'\'" style="text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;" mce_style="text-decoration:none;cursor:pointer;cursor:hand;"><font style="line-height:12px;font-size:10px" mce_style="line-height:12px;font-size:10px" face="Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;cursor:hand;" color="#000088">' + google_ads[i].visible_url + '</font></a><font style="font-size:10px" mce_style="font-size:10px"><br></font></div>'; } } if (google_ads[0].type == 'image') { sA += '<div>' + '<a href="' + google_ads[0].url + '" mce_href="' + google_ads[0].url + '"style="text-decoration: none">' + '<img src="' + google_ads[0].image_url + '" mce_src="' + google_ads[0].image_url + '" border="0"></a></div>'; } document.write(sA); return; } google_ad_client = "pub-1185284300475723"; google_min_num_ads = 3; google_max_num_ads = 4; google_skip=4; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_output = "js"; get_string = document.location; google_ad_channel ="6937888334"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_image_size = "300x250"; google_encoding = "utf8"; // ]]></script> <script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt; <script>// <![CDATA[ google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); // ]]></script> <script src="http://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-1185284300475723&amp;amp;output=js&amp;amp;image_size=300x250&amp;amp;lmt=1268138273&amp;amp;num_ads=4&amp;amp;skip=4&amp;amp;channel=6937888334&amp;amp;ad_type=mce-text&amp;amp;ea=0&amp;amp;oe=utf8&amp;amp;feedback_link=on&amp;amp;flash=10.0.12&amp;amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.masternewmedia.org%2Fnews%2F2006%2F10%2F20%2Fvideo_marketing_online_how_to.htm&amp;amp;dt=1268138295704&amp;amp;correlator=1268138273951&amp;amp;frm=0&amp;amp;ga_vid=540231868.1268138274&amp;amp;ga_sid=1268138274&amp;amp;ga_hid=2081458639&amp;amp;ga_fc=0&amp;amp;u_tz=330&amp;amp;u_his=3&amp;amp;u_java=1&amp;amp;u_h=1024&amp;amp;u_w=1280&amp;amp;u_ah=994&amp;amp;u_aw=1280&amp;amp;u_cd=32&amp;amp;u_nplug=10&amp;amp;u_nmime=62&amp;amp;biw=1263&amp;amp;bih=832&amp;amp;ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.in%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26source%3Dweb%26ct%3Dres%26cd%3D2%26ved%3D0CA0QFjAB%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.masternewmedia.org%252Fnews%252F2006%252F10%252F20%252Fvideo_marketing_online_how_to.htm%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dadvantages%2Bof%2Bonline%2Bvideo%2Bmarketing%2B%26ei%3DLkCWS6_0Kce9rAfdrqX4Cw%26usg%3DAFQjCNH3wHyi-SAI2ORbhUqSQk7OqWGm_A%26sig2%3DIVTSvW-W8ZP4jKqSZ8K2IA&amp;amp;fu=0&amp;amp;ifi=2&amp;amp;dtd=14"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;