What about video marketing?

mSanders

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Jul 13, 2016
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Hi guys

Video marketing is a real trend and there is a huge buzz about its features and qualities.
Do you think it's a good way to raise my number leads investing on this kind of approach in general terms of B2C business ?

Thank you.
 

Krystsina

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Jun 21, 2016
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Hey there,

I truly believe in the power of such marketing channel, so I would definitely say yes. But it is not that clear for me how you see it in terms of the business you are in. As it depends a lot what is your product/service and what is your target audience. For example, I know the perfect example of such an approach of one european mobile operator: its audience is youngsters, so they launched its own vlog on YouTube that basically works as their biggest advertising at the moment.
 
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fisicx

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I truly believe in the power of such marketing channel, so I would definitely say yes.
Do you use it to promote your business?
 
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Krystsina

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Do you use it to promote your business?

If I would use it to promote my business, I would definitely say it out loud. Instead, I mentioned the example of a business that use video marketing to promote its services. I believe there is no rule that I should only write my thoughts only if I have it exactly in my own business. I also believe that I can provide a successful example to prove my point (200-300k views on every vlog is a good number to consider it as a successful example).
 
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Done properly, it can be amazingly successful and transform your business.

Done badly, it can destroy you.


Your local Cecil B. de Hi-Def is never the right person to make a corporate video. A good marketing video must be put together by people who understand marketing and how to sell a business, just as much as they understand lighting, framing and cinematography.
 
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A good video has to explain those things that simple text and pictures fail to explain. Sometimes that can mean to create an 'emotional proximity' that high production values and slick cinematography can create. But sometimes it is to explain facts that otherwise do not get communicated. It is at its most effective when it overcomes a communications short-fall.

To explain what a good video is, what I mean by a communications short-fall and how it can be overcome, let me tell you a story -

There was a guy called Justin (who in younger years looked like Shaggy from Scooby-Do) and he wrote an amazing piece of audio software and over a period of twelve years, he got others to help him develop this software. Soon it was hailed as THE insider tip by amateurs and professionals alike. All sorts people, from Bjork to the BBC, from big Hollywood post production studios, to some bloke in his bedroom started using it. As it only costs $60 for an amateur license and $240 for a professional licence, it soon managed to gain traction in the market.

I won't tell you all the things you can do with this amazing piece of digital wizardry, but it stands alone in speed, ease of use, flexibility and function.

There were however two big problems.

1. Justin refuses to spend one dime on marketing. No fair stands, no magazine adverts, no corporate events, no physical packaging, no glossy manual - not even a press-pack and some pictures. Nothing. Justin is a hippy-dippy kewl guy who keeps lamas, plays guitar (not very well) and (after a spell working for AOL) hates corporate America. He is the archetypical college drop-out success story! The competition (CuBase, ProTools, Logic and others) spends millions on advertising, fair stands, events, give-aways, glossy brochures and all have huge marketing departments. Justin ignores all that!

2. His software works differently to all the others. It looks the same, but under the hood, it is fundamentally different. That means that all the tools and 'work-arounds' that the user has to learn to record and edit audio in other programmes are just not necessary. This confuses many users who have spent a decade or two, using old-fashioned software that requires things like media-pools, edit windows and other hurdles, are just not needed.

Around 2014, this funky little programme had as many users as the so-called professional standard 'ProTools' that requires special hardware to make it work and is very expensive. The batting order was CuBase (Yamaha) with 19% of the World user base, Logic (Apple) with 18%, ProTools (Avid) 13% and Justin's programme 'Reaper' also with 13%.

And there is stopped. Despite adding notation, video editing, pitch-constant squeeze and stretch, auto-tune and many other tools and some 500 effects, the somewhat unfamiliar way of doing some things prevented seasoned professionals from using and understanding the software properly.

This was also not just frustrating for Justin and his team, but also for the potential users. They wanted to use this amazing piece of new software, but the unfamiliar way of doing things flummoxed them! Rather the devil they know, than have to take precious time-out to learn a whole new set of skills. But without the kudos of high-profile TV and film projects being done in Reaper, that push to the top was not going to happen.

At the same time, there was a guy called Kenny, who made really good explanatory how-to videos for all kinds of software and for Reaper in particular which he sold on-line. These videos lacked any kind of sexy production values and Kenny's voice (somewhat high-pitched and with a New Jersey accent) was not the typical voice-over you might expect. But they were just perfect for the task of explaining new concepts and ways of doing things quickly and easily!

Reaper already had an excellent 500-page manual that you could down-load, but it was really a reference work and did not show some of the new and exciting possibilities that Reaper offered.

Well, to cut a long story short, Justin bought the rights to all of Kenny's how-to videos this year and put him on a retainer, to explain difficult concepts in the forum and to make those excellent videos available to everybody.

Those very matter-of-fact videos are very, very different to the slick, high-production-values of the competition, but they were exactly what was needed to overcome a key communications short-fall.

On-line registrations are now beginning to accelerate significantly!
 
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R

Rockpapercopy_biz

absolutely - videos give you an opportunity to make a deeper connection with the buyer - after all it's more personal than text, or even static image - you can show your personality and build rapport. Better still, use storytelling when creating videos - that's another powerful marketing tactic
 
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fisicx

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Brand awareness is a fickle thing. It comes and goes very quickly. My daughter and her friends watch a load of youtube videos. When I asked her about the source of the video she couldn't remember any of them. I watch how to videos but have no idea who made them. Brand awareness is something marketeers keep harping on about but there are a lot of studies that show it just doesn't work. People online move rapidly from one thing to next, if they want something they will use a referral or search, that don't tend to recall promotional marketing unless it is constant. You need at least 7 impression to get your message to stick. Video won't do that. You need banners, adverts, sponsored content, TV, radio, magazines and so on if you want it to work.

PS: There is a new Simon's Cat video out. It will be shared by millions and watched all over the world. But only a very few people will visit the site and buy the merchasndise. It's a great brand but very difficult to monetize online.
 
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mSanders

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Jul 13, 2016
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Hey there,

I truly believe in the power of such marketing channel, so I would definitely say yes. But it is not that clear for me how you see it in terms of the business you are in. As it depends a lot what is your product/service and what is your target audience. For example, I know the perfect example of such an approach of one european mobile operator: its audience is youngsters, so they launched its own vlog on YouTube that basically works as their biggest advertising at the moment.

Hi Krystsina :)

Brilliant. I talked to a young entrepreneur from Manchester and he is starting a business which creates short lenght video marketing ( the whole thing is between 10 ~ 30 seconds ) for small business. That kind of work suits me very well because is not that SaaS bullshit (like wideo or powtoon ) and the price is amazing as well as the quality.

My business is about solving marketing issues for others businesses so you can expect a 25-45 old entrepreneur man to match my target audience. I truly believe that double 25sec video lenght per month is perfect for my video marketing strategy on social media as well for other kind of businesses like clothing stores. Do you agree? I really do not see the necessity at institutional 2min videos as well 2k investment for a small business like mine.

Thank you for answering.
 
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fisicx

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Social media has very little SEO power. Any video you post on any social media site will have a very transient benefit. Usually less than 24 hours. If you want longevity and sales, video marketing comes way down the list.
 
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Krystsina

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short lenght video marketing ( the whole thing is between 10 ~ 30 seconds ) for small business

Sounds great, short videos are saving time for people, as long as they are strong enough to deliver the thought you want to your potential customers. Especially if you are planning to use it for your social media. There is no obligation to make 2 min videos as they should be extremely interesting and creative to make people watch them till the end. So I wouldn't hesitate to go for short ones. Actually, you can also use short videos to make GIF's out of them to use as the part of your content on social media, they may attract more attention than static pics (you can just give it a try to see how it works specifically for you).

My business is about solving marketing issues for others businesses

This is the only thing that makes me a bit worried. You are in a very specific kind of business, so for now it is difficult for me to imagine what content you will use in those videos to promote your services. Do you have already any vision of it?
 
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Krystsina

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Has Youtube more SEO power than other social media?

I would say that YouTube offers some SEO benefits that may be useful for your business. I wouldn't judge how huge the power of it is, but I believe that there is no sense to ignore it just because of some prejudice.

Here is a thought from the article I'll give the link below:
Google knows that for certain queries, there are many people who will find a video explanation easier to understand and more helpful than a standard article. This means a well-optimized video can be displayed prominently on Google, drawing in even more traffic and helping you to establish yourself as the go-to expert.

There is a good article on this topic that explains the power of YouTube in terms of capturing its traffic, have a look for better insight: http://searchengineland.com/video-optimization-not-underestimate-power-youtube-234618
 
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fisicx

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That's very good to know, well it is for us. Do you happen to have this "list" to check whether prioritary means have been met in our PR efforts?
It all depends on what you are marketing. If it's cyclling clothes then adverts on a cycling forums can work well. If it's guttering then adwords and ebay may be the way to go. If it's my little pony then you can do well with facebook ads or fanfiction sites.

Basically, you need to be where your prospective customers hang out. Video sharing on SM sites is far too transient to return any useful leads. Very occasionally you can get something to go viral and get a zillion share + views but only a fraction of those watching the video will visit your site and even fewer will convert.

There is no list other than one that includes every possible way of marketing a product or service. I'd still put adverts at the top closely followed by SEO but you may discover magazine inserts or posters oroutperform anything else. You need to try everything.
 
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fisicx

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Visuals may have an immediate impact but they don't work in isolation. If you are selling cushions a video isn't going to work without imagery, descriptions and specifications.

Video and animations have been tried again and again over the years. We have had product video, 360 degree views, walk on presenters, talking heads and all sorts of other variants. They have all come and gone, none have been successful enough to stick.

This doesn't mean video isn't popular, thousands of hours of it are produced daily. But it doesn't convert well. People will share a video of a kitten in a box but you just don't get the same traction from a video of a tin of beans.
 
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mick&sarah

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I'd still put adverts at the top closely followed by SEO but you may discover magazine inserts or posters oroutperform anything else. You need to try everything.

Yeah that's true. What I hate the most I think it's article marketing, as there clearly are tons of fake articles out there made on purpose to improve SEO and commissioned to freelancers for relatively little money, I call that cheating. I hope Google will be able to sort out the good from the bad.
 
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fisicx

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They had a good stab at this few years back in 2011 with the Panda update. It effectively killed off the article sites. But 'guest posts' look over as an SEO technique. Google soon got wise to these as well.

SEO isn't dead, you can still rank really well in a niche or locally for little effort. But the best ROI is still reserved for direct marketing. If you have a special offer you can run adwords for a week and make a shed load of money - far more lucrative than posting a 20 second video on Facebook.
 
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Instead using articles, visuals impact more on individuals. So, I would definitely prefer to use video marketing.

It does not work like that!

There is no one 'better' method of communicating with customers - or anybody else, come to that.

A communication has to be apposite. i.e. it has to fit the occasion and/or purpose.

You would no more use legal terminology to explain how to start a car, than you would use a video in a 'Letter Before Action' (though, I have to admit, the idea of doing that does tickle my funny bone!)

Part of selling a car, is to tell the customer the technical details. This is best done with text.

Part of selling a car, is to show what the interior looks like. This is best done with pictures.

Part of selling a car, is to show what it feels and sounds like when driving. This is best done with a video.
 
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mSanders

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This is the only thing that makes me a bit worried. You are in a very specific kind of business, so for now it is difficult for me to imagine what content you will use in those videos to promote your services. Do you have already any vision of it?

Hello again!

Yes, I do: short videos (up to 40sec) for instagram account per week and 2min video for facebook/youtube accounts per month to explain a special promotion or political view (content marketing kind of approach).

(it is a clothing store for libertarians and austrian school of economics supporters)
 
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(it is a clothing store for libertarians and austrian school of economics supporters)

That has to be the most brilliantly bonkers thing I've heard in a while. What do you guys do, sit around and have a 'Methodenstreit' about what shoes to wear?

I must say that the events of the past 15 years or so (and the bust of 2007-8 in particular) have vindicated the Austrian School's views on the blindness of bankers and investors and the need to allow bad industries to fail.

Had we allowed the likes of RBS, BoA etc. to fail, they would now be the property of their foolish creditors, a move that could have initiated a major and global redistribution of wealth and reorganisation of the World's economic order. Painful, yes, but now we have now created this giant, septic parasite that sits on our backs and that we must serve, seemingly for ever!

I mean, all jolly meaningful, but I fail to see how such philosophies require one to wear a special style of pants!
 
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Krystsina

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Hello again!

Yes, I do: short videos (up to 40sec) for instagram account per week and 2min video for facebook/youtube accounts per month to explain a special promotion or political view (content marketing kind of approach).

(it is a clothing store for libertarians and austrian school of economics supporters)

Hey there :)

Well, that's quire surprising to see that your business is an actual clothing store, as from your previous replies I had a thought that your company provides some marketing services in a more non-materialistic way. Anyway, I believe that having some materialistic goods is even better for creating visual content.

To sum up, I would suggest you to give a try to video marketing and after a while to see how it works for you. If you see that there is no result, you can always stop doing it. We can make a lot of predictions, but the only way to understand if that will work for you is to try it.
 
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ethical PR

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    Hi Krystsina :)

    Brilliant. I talked to a young entrepreneur from Manchester and he is starting a business which creates short lenght video marketing ( the whole thing is between 10 ~ 30 seconds ) for small business. That kind of work suits me very well because is not that SaaS ******** (like wideo or powtoon ) and the price is amazing as well as the quality.

    My business is about solving marketing issues for others businesses so you can expect a 25-45 old entrepreneur man to match my target audience. I truly believe that double 25sec video lenght per month is perfect for my video marketing strategy on social media as well for other kind of businesses like clothing stores. Do you agree? I really do not see the necessity at institutional 2min videos as well 2k investment for a small business like mine.

    Thank you for answering.

    You can have the best video in the world but if you don't 'seed it' with your target audience you might as well have not made it.

    As a marketing person what is your strategy for ensuring your video reaches your potential customers?
     
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    mSanders

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    That has to be the most brilliantly bonkers thing I've heard in a while. What do you guys do, sit around and have a 'Methodenstreit' about what shoes to wear?

    I must say that the events of the past 15 years or so (and the bust of 2007-8 in particular) have vindicated the Austrian School's views on the blindness of bankers and investors and the need to allow bad industries to fail.

    Had we allowed the likes of RBS, BoA etc. to fail, they would now be the property of their foolish creditors, a move that could have initiated a major and global redistribution of wealth and reorganisation of the World's economic order. Painful, yes, but now we have now created this giant, septic parasite that sits on our backs and that we must serve, seemingly for ever!

    I mean, all jolly meaningful, but I fail to see how such philosophies require one to wear a special style of pants!

    No, no. Actually we don't need a "methodenstreit" beacause we are Keynes supporters, of course! Otherwise, how could we fall so deeply in love with our t-shirt printers?

    Well, that kind of corporativism it is corroding the wealthy of the nations. However, true must be said: who pays for restructuring (or government help pack) is the tax payer. What that "restructuring" creates by itself? Inflation! Who are the ones who suffer most ? Working and middle classes. Everything is wrong and the next bust is just coming.

    Economic arguments aside, my point is that people are willing to do not wear just pieces of cloths but ultimately are willing to wear what brings to the light their personalities. Why not wear your political views?
     
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    Eh??? I thought the Austrian School of Economics were directly opposed to Keynesian philosophies!!!

    What about Hazlitt's 'devastating' (according to the Washington Post) line-by-line destruction of Keynes' main work (The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money) called 'The failure of the New Economics'???

    Hazlitt introduced the Austrian School to the US and greatly influenced Reagan - so hardly a Keynesian by any means!

    Wearing your political views - hmmm. So I should go about with a T-shirt saying 'Social Pragmatist'! (Actually, I do very often wear a baseball cap with one three-letter word on it that reveals my political affiliations - and at the age of two, I am told that I wore a baseball cap with the words 'I Like Ike!' on it - that was the campaign to get Eisenhower to stand as presidential candidate.*)

    Next bust? Definitely!

    What we have failed to see, despite all that money printing that came 'quantitative easing' (if ever an ugly euphemism had to win some prize - that would be my nomination for BS words of the decade!) is that inflation. The pressure is there, but the dam has yet to burst.

    What we are seeing, is a severe fall in the prices of luxury houses. The most extreme I have seen is a property (well, a palace really) on our little one-mile long lane that cost £22m to buy and build, having to be sold for 'just' £7m. This may be the first signs of a bust to come.

    *It may have been a while ago, but IMO Eisenhower was the only decent president the US ever had after WW2. Ike, where are you now in this, our hour of need???
     
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    mSanders

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    Hey there :)

    Well, that's quire surprising to see that your business is an actual clothing store, as from your previous replies I had a thought that your company provides some marketing services in a more non-materialistic way. Anyway, I believe that having some materialistic goods is even better for creating visual content.

    To sum up, I would suggest you to give a try to video marketing and after a while to see how it works for you. If you see that there is no result, you can always stop doing it. We can make a lot of predictions, but the only way to understand if that will work for you is to try it.

    I'm sorry Krystsina! I think I was not that clear.
    In fact, I will start a digital marketing service as well as a virtual clothing store. Perhaps I had made a little confusion answering other members. For the clothing business, there is an other start-up that is able to receive the orders, to stamp the shirt and send to the customer. It will be a kind of a passive income.

    For my other business, my "leap of faith" would be based in the necessity of other businesses to invest in video marketing -- seems like the British market has that necessity, hasn't it?

    In the case of clothing stores, I will bet in short videos on Instagram.

    Thanks for the advice!
     
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    fisicx

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    The British market does not have this necessity. While there will be some who will benefit, most won't. It has been tried before in many guises and failed to deliver the required ROI.

    You may have more luck but as video will be your marketing medium it will be interesting to see how you can sell your services through YouTube and other video sharing sites.
     
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    It has been tried before in many guises and failed to deliver the required ROI.

    That is in no small part, because nearly all videos are rubbish - and that sullies and muddies the market for everybody.

    During the evening, we are exposed to videos of extraordinarily high quality. They are mostly well framed, colour graded, perfectly lit, done using cameras that cost about the same as a family car and edited and scripted by experts who have been doing that gig for decades.

    We call these pieces of brilliance, television programmes.

    Ranged against these, are a motley collection of amateurs, graduates from dodgy college courses in media and television - and a select few professionals working for big corporations, producing videos that actually are worth watching.

    A competent camera person costs at least £400 a day. A competent lighting tech costs at least £350 a day. A competent sound guy costs at least £250 a day. An editing suite costs at least £500 a day. It costs at least £500 to commission the most simple background music, a few thousand for something decent.

    Making a two-minute how-to video is every bit as much work as making a 25 minute programme on the same subject for Quest or The History Channel. You still have to set the lights up, hire or own lapel mics, radio links, camera, jib, boom mic and edit the thing.

    In fact, in many ways, it is harder. On Quest (or wherever) you have 25 minutes to get your message across. A how-to video on YouTube has to achieve the same thing in one tenth the time. No time to draw the viewer in, no time to set the scene, create emotional proximity, explain the possible dangers or complexities or get a good mild running gag going.
    .
    Very large corporations have their own media departments, responsible for anything and everything from product placement in movies, to two-minute YouTube videos. They have their own studios with every toy a commercial production facility anywhere would have.

    Either that, or they hire in professionals and end up using the same guys that the BBC, ITV or UKTV are using.

    Unfortunately, far too many so-called corporate videos are made Cecil B. de Hi-Def, using DSLRs or home video cameras. The sound comes from the on-camera mic, the poor thing is hand-held and no trace can be seen of lighting, framing or grading. Most commentaries and talking-heads do not even have a script and the most often heard words are 'Um . . .' and 'Er . . .'

    That's why they don't work!
     
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    Krystsina

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    I'm sorry Krystsina! I think I was not that clear.
    In fact, I will start a digital marketing service as well as a virtual clothing store. Perhaps I had made a little confusion answering other members. For the clothing business, there is an other start-up that is able to receive the orders, to stamp the shirt and send to the customer. It will be a kind of a passive income.

    For my other business, my "leap of faith" would be based in the necessity of other businesses to invest in video marketing -- seems like the British market has that necessity, hasn't it?

    In the case of clothing stores, I will bet in short videos on Instagram.

    Thanks for the advice!

    That's ok, you are probably right that it got mixed with your answers to other members :) Now it is quite clear for me.

    Concerning your clothing business, I believe that promotional videos might be helpful to show your product. I believe there are a lot of similar businesses, so you can do research to see if they use videos and how it works for them.

    About your second business - I see that there are quite a lot of agencies that provide similar services of video marketing. So I'm not sure if it will be right to say that British market has the necessity in it. If you are sure that your business will provide some innovation that will distinguish it from all other similar businesses, then of course, you should go for it.

    Good luck!
     
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    fisicx

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    How is 20 second video going to help to market a blouse?

    And you will not be able to determine if a video works or not for a competitor.
     
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    Krystsina

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    How is 20 second video going to help to market a blouse?

    And you will not be able to determine if a video works or not for a competitor.

    First - young people love creativity -> creative videos will attract attention -> people will know about your product -> some of them will want to buy it from you. It is such a basic stuff that I don't see much sense to go deeper in it and participate in debates, I understand what you think about it from your replies, I don't support your point of view, but I don't want to spend my energy on talking about it, you can just stay disagree with me and continue proving your point ;)

    Second - by the amount of views, likes and the content of comments.
     
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    Krystsina

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    How is 20 second video going to help to market a blouse?

    And you will not be able to determine if a video works or not for a competitor.

    If you are interested, you can read more about the benefits of video marketing here:

    http://www.wirebuzz.com/video-benefits/

    http://www.chiefmarketer.com/7-benefits-video-marketing/

    http://mavsocial.com/video-marketing-tips-stratgey/
    benefits-video-marketing-640x1675.png


    video-marketing-statistics-infographic.jpg
     
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