Internet Marketing Strategy: Video Marketing

An Introduction to Video Marketing

If you are an internet marketer who has broadband access, you really need to consider vidoe as an outstanding way to market your products and services. The average internet user also has high-speed internet access to view and download video. As a result, video-enabled websites and blogs are more popular than ever before. The simple use of video can give you a competitive edge and allow you to offer something new and distinctive.

Video sharing websites are becoming more and more popular with YouTube at the top of the list of most visited websites in the world. Other niche sites are growing in popularity with internet marketing even being the focus of some sites. Video can be used effectively to promote almost any type of product or service.

If you want to ensure that your videos receive maximum viewing exposure, you need to make sure that they have entertainment value--creating a video commercial and expecting it to take off with viral appeal just won't happen. Videos that are funny, exciting, controversial or educational have the best chance of being viewed and unless you create a sales pitch that includes those elements, leave the commercials for someone else to peddle.

The best educational videos are those that offer plenty of free content. This is a sure way to get your video passed around by others and maximize your opportunity to make a ton of money from referrals to your website. Video is powerful because it's so much more persuasive than the written word. Video technology is influential and impressive. Because people learn and assimilate information through different methods, lots of people prefer the ease of audio-vidual message delivery versus reading text. Video is great for communicating to people who don't like to read or have difficulty with reading comprehension.

What if you're a marketer who is uncomfortable with the way you look on camera or if you don't have the budget to produce quality videos? Well, have no fear. There are tools like Camtasia that provide great alternatives to video recording and delivery. Camtasia is a program that allows you to make videos by taking video screenshots of your computer. You can select a portion of your screen to be shown, and then you can make your video by simply moving from through your online presentation. As you move through the presentation, you can use a microphone to narrate your recorded screen actions to explain the process as you go through the motions.

Camtasia's strenght is its ease of use which is makes it extremely popular for those who aren't technically inclined. In fact, most people make their first video within an hour of opening the software.

The opportunities for easy integration of Camtasia videos by a marketer are endless. If you're promoting an eBook about Twitter or Squidoo, then your video could be a short tutorial about one aspect of how to use the site - like adding images to a Squidoo lens or setting up a Twitter profile. You simply take a person through the steps using your computer screen and your own voice. The more popular the subject matter, the more likely your video will be viewed by others with greater awareness of your brand.

You don't have to post your videos on video sharing sites if you don't want to--you can post them on your own site or blog (but give it some thought, video sharing sites don't use up your personal bandwidth and can easily link back to your site. The video sharing sites will probably have more traffic than you own site as well). Video on your sales page will likely result in higher conversions. Video can be an important sales tool but it's also effective as the primary media you use to create your product if you learn to use it well.