January 2009

Dear Reader,

Website visitors are a fickle bunch. If you don't grab their attention within 10 seconds, chances are they'll click away and you may have lost them forever.

So making your website stand out from the crowd is more important than ever now. And online video marketing is fast becoming the must-have for 2009, which is why we're focusing on it for this first issue of the New Year.

As always, we'd like to hear from you – your comments, feedback and suggestions for making See View even more useful are most welcome! Just send me an email at info@oceanwake.co.uk.

Best wishes,

Gill

Up Close and Personal – and Online

Time was when the marketing mix was a teeny concoction of just four elements – product, pricing, promotion and placement. Then things changed, and there are now three more parts to the mix – process, physical evidence and people.

Having an online video can address all these things – especially the people part – and give your website the lift and sticking power it needs. How? Let me explain…

What better way to show your personality to your potential customers than talking directly to them on your video? You're the best person to talk about your company, your brand and your product or service.
If you're an independent professional, you can demonstrate your expertise and range of knowledge in an engaging and enthusiastic way.
You've got an innovative product or service – why not demonstrate how it works on your video? It'll give potential customers an insight into the process and give you a head start on the competition.
You can use your video to inform customers and explain aspects of your business that are just too wordy in print. Show, don't tell!
If your product or service lends itself to providing a guide, perhaps you could give some added value to your customers by offering an online video version.
And why not get some satisfied customers to give you some video testimonials? It's always better to get someone else to talk about how great your company is – and it provides physical evidence and reassurance for potential customers.

Still Not Convinced?

Search engines seem to like videos and give higher rankings to websites that include them. According to YouTube (owned by Google), Americans stream 11 billion videos online each month. The huge popularity of Web 2.0 social networking sites like YouTube and MySpace means that online video is now mainstream and not just for fun.

Online video used to be the preserve of the multinational company with zillions in the marketing budget. Not any more! At Oceanwake, we can make you an I-Catcher – a snappy one-minute video – without fuss and at an affordable price. Or think about the other options I've mentioned. It's easy and fun – you could be making the best decision of 2009!

Have a look at an example of an I-Catcher we've created to get the idea. If you'd like to find out more about making the right first impression with online video, please drop me an email or phone me on 07751 622482.

And finally…

I've just started leading a project called Switch, which aims to create opportunities for those who need them and sustainability for all of us, by getting businesses to sign up to saving energy. See Chantal Cornelius talking about it – in an I-Catcher on YouTube!

To officially launch Switch, we're holding a candlelit dinner on Friday 20 February at the Shillingford Bridge Hotel in Wallingford. It'll be a great chance to network with other business people and get involved with the project. Find out more about Switch and buy tickets for the dinner by visiting our blog. Hope to hear from you soon!