Posts Tagged online video
Selecting Background Music For Your Company Video
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on August 24th, 2010
Choosing background music for a company video is a personal choice. However, my own examination of the background music for a series of short plumbing videos, revealed the fact that there are at least three approaches to selecting background music, and the owner of a company, in conjunction with a video production team can initially simplify their decision by deciding which of the three roads they wish to travel along.
The videos suggest that the three differing musical poles are: music which suggests or sounds like the service activity being performed, music which suggest or sounds like the plumbing problem, or music, which suggests a positive mood, related to the successful flow of life both before and after the occurrence of the problem.
Most people feel good about life. Life has its daily struggles, but on the whole most people feel the daily struggles are tasks meant to be completed, challenges meant to be overcome, so they can enjoy the good times. In this light, consider what happens when something goes wrong, e.g., a plumbing leak, and a service company is called? At first, something is not working right, the order of daily life is a bit disturbed and the service company, such as a plumbing company, steps and restores order, and the good times march on.
We can see from this analysis, that there are three phases of a service intervention. In the first phase, something goes wrong, i.e. an electrical short occurs, which shuts off the flow of electricity to the house. In the second phase the service company steps in to right the problem, and in the third phase life order is restored and the good times roll on. As we will see, these three phases of a service intervention correspond to three different types of background music that are used in service videos. Consider examples taken from videos which I examined when writing this report.
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4770485/12735726 This video presents music imitating the sound of a dripping pipe, along with a video of the drip and a narrator encouraging the viewer to get help. This is background music imitating the sound of the breakdown.
http://espanol.video.yahoo.com/watch/4466979/11977280 This video presents driving music with a rapid almost industrial beat which imitates the on screen display of a plumber making repairs to a sink. This is background music imitating the sound of the repair process.
http://www.graspr.com/videos/Richmond-BC-Plumbing-Company-1 , http://www.in.com/videos/watchvideo-plumbing-company-in-valencia-7960332.html These videos present feel good background music. The type of music which suggest the ongoing flow of the good times of life, which existed before the plumbing problem, and which will be restored as soon as this small disorder is repaired. The listener associates this background music with the ongoing flow of the good life which re ensues after the restoration of order.
The question which a company owner and his videography company must address is which of these three types of background music will make his video most effective in winning customers. All three types of music have advantages and disadvantages, a search on the web, however, will show that most people choose positive mood music for their background.
Music which imitates the problem, may capture the attention of the viewer because it reminds him of his current state, which is on his mind at the moments when he searches the web for a company to fix the breakdown. This type of sound seeks to win trust by giving the viewer the feeling that the company understands his predicament. One problem with this approach is that it can only portray one type of problem. A video portraying the sound of a leaky faucet may not appeal to a surfer looking for a company to fix his blocked sewer.
Sounds of the service repair process are bound to instill hope in a surfer seeking a company to do just that. The positive musical message of hope will instill trust in the company that produced the video. On the other hand, how many people like to stand over the shoulder of a plumber as he solders pipes together or drains filthy water from a toilet. Most people prefer to wait in another room until the plumber finished everything, including the cleanup. Consequently, most people may not be that interested in a video that musically portrays the repair process.
Upbeat background music, brings an assurance to the listener that the company they have found will solve their problem and restore the good times. This type of music wins viewer trust, because that, in essence is what surfers seek when they go online, a means for restoration of their former order.
Which of these types is likely to work best? While all three types have some appeal, it is clearly type three that most addresses the human condition. Because while humans stoop, in their daily labor to various mechanical tasks to solve various ongoing challenges and problems, it is the restoration of humanity and the good life, at the end of the day, which keeps most people going, and which is most important. Therefore use of background music that appeals to this fundamental human goal is most likely to net results.
Making A Landscaping Company Website Video
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on July 1st, 2010
More and more businessman with company websites are realizing that a web video, which greets visitors to the web site, makes the web site more personal reaches out to visitors in a stronger way and increases the conversion rate. What are the essential elements of a web video that will turn clicks into customers. That is the central question.
Every profession has its own unique requirements, which go into producing a quality web video. However, many of the qualities which make a video work for one profession will also apply to website videos in other professions. In this article, I will be comparing three web videos that were made for the landscaping profession and are posted on You Tube.
The ATC website video posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYIpt0JebTc tells the story of a day in the life of the ATC company. The background music of this video is the song Takin’ Care of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The song describes the 9-5 daily schedule of workers who push the time clock. The video describes the story of a typical day of ATC landscape workers. In the morning, the workers conference, they stand around the foreman who gives then a pep talk. Then they clap hands and head to the trucks. Then one by one the trucks pull away. Next we see workers busy with various landscaping chores, mowing the lawn, trimming a bush, and setting up a wooden fence behind a garden. The scenes feature good quality landscaping work and attractive lawns and gardens. When the video is over, we have come to feel that the workers of ATC are decent hard working fun-loving guys. And we would trust them with our landscaping.
The second web video, is constructed of amateur video footage and still photos, arranged and set to music by a professional video production company. This video is compounded of stills and video segments of landscapes the company has made,along with some shots of company workers actively engaged in landscaping. The video features still and video shots of landscapes the company made, and some shots of company workers at work. The music is upbeat universal style background music. The video is not as personal as the first video. It seeks to build trust with the viewer by presenting the quality of the company’s landscape work.
The third web video is also professionally made. The well captioned product is introduced by a narrator, and then features before and after photos of various landscaping jobs the company has done.
Marketing studies seeking to discover what factors enter into a shoppers decision to do business with a company, have found that trust inspired by initial contact with the company features high on the list.Trust, it has been shown can override considerations of the quality of the work the company will produce. And for obvious reasons, a company may do quality work but if not trustworthy could cheat an individual customer. Whereas a trusty company will always be expected to do well for a customer. So which video wins more trust? Clearly number one. At the end of that video, we feel like we know the company and the workers. Whereas in video two the workers appear in a few still life shots, and in video three not at all.
What other factors are essential parts of these three videos, clearly the shots of quality landscaping. While the first video may inspire trust by introducing the crew as decent hard working and fun loving guys, the shots of quality landscaping, manicured, well cut lawns, well trimmed beds and a sturdy garden fence are also necessary, as they allow the viewer to connect his faith in the workers with the quality work they do. Both the second and third videos also present the quality landscaping work the companies do.
General statements we can make about these videos, which apply to other professional include the observation that a website video which develops trust in a company is more likely to win customers. Also, in landscaping as well as other professions it is important to show that workers perform quality work in their profession, so that the viewer can connect his trust in the company with a belief that the workers will perform quality work.
The Effectiveness Of Repetitive Motions In A Website Video
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on June 29th, 2010
For the last three years, eLocal has been creating generic mini-website videos that can placed on the website of anyone in the profession for which the video was made. The videos are produced in quantity and are sold at whoelsale prices and have made website videos affordable for even the small businessman. This strategy has made the businessman feel good, but the question is whether these little mini website videos are drawing in the traffic.
Assuming the videos work, an important question for anyone working in the field of video marketing, is to consider which type of content is most effective in getting the greatest click to conversion ratio.In this article, I will be looking at the eLocal Garage door video # 2 found at: http://www.youtube.com/elocalvideoexamples#p/u/5/pd0xn7w5VD
This video might be aptly called the garage door dance video. In style, it is patterned after a number of videos, which use either repetitive sequences or motion graphics to display the product making a repetitive motion. If the motion is one that people enjoy doing or seeing, then they might become hypnotized by the video, as they gaze at the product dancing around the screen.
The repetitive motion featured in this video is the rise and fall of an electronically controlled door. The door motions are triggered by the finger of an off screen person, pushing on the control button, on the wall console of the door. The door moves up and down to the rhythm of a funky repetitive synthesizer tune which plays in the background. On close examination, it appears that the 20 second video was made by splicing 3 segments of the same segment together, with some added material. The video closes with a dark background on which the name and phone number of the company is displayed.
So would this video attract customers? A point in favor of that contention is the fact that the motion of an electronically controlled garage door along its runners is one that people tend to enjoy. People finger the button before leaving on a trip or vacation or a visit to a movie or restaurant. They finger it again to close the garage after returning satisfied from a dinner with friends or a movie. They finger it before going out to earn money. Admittedly, at times it can become a nuisance, and because of this we now have electronically controlled garage door buttons. But in general, the electric garage is one of the modern conveniences that people appreciate. And they part they like the most is when they hit the button and the door begins to move in the direction they want. This video decided to capitalize on human enjoyment of this motion, by presenting it in a video which repeatedly displays only that motion and almost nothing else.
One way this video might have increased its effectiveness is if they had presented a completed garage door move. People like the completion of the garage door close as well as the start. The part they hate is the long time it takes to get to the end. This video only shows a short segment of the move, albeit the exciting moment when the door curves around the guiding rails as its motion changes from horizontal to vertical or visa versa.
In addition to failure of the video to have presented a more complete move, the display on the screen is a little cramped. We see a finger pushing the button, we see a close up of the door rising up and down and its reverse and little else.
Aside from questions of the cinematic effects, is the concept of this video a good one? Assuming the video was successful at displaying a fun aspect of operating a garage door, will it sell the garage door? Logically, it will. I conclude that the idea of this video has some merit, but the cinematic effects are incomplete and cramped.
What ideas can be inculcated from this eLocal video Showing a fun aspect of owning or operating a product a company is trying to sell can be a good one. The display should be as more complete than this display both temporally and spatially.
The Generic Mini Web Video By ELocal
Posted by SEO SERVICES in Video Production on June 16th, 2010
eLocal, always a step ahead of the competition in the Local Search market, has pioneered the use of the generic mini web videos for business promotion. I call them generic, because each of the 10-15 second online videos can be used by any business in the profession for which the video is made. eLocal markets them as “custom” web videos because each one is made for one particular profession.
The mini videos are appropriate for mounting on a web page or landing page, and have adapted well to eLocal’s local search marketing strategies for the small businessman. It is interesting to examine the videos, and see what content eLocal is using to attract customers.
At http://www.youtube.com/elocalvideoexamples#p/u/1/HCbsWFgCPE0 you can see eLocals #1 auto body repair video. The video depicts cars riding down a country road. It is a bright sunny day, a pleasant day to be out on the road. Along comes a convertible sports car, with a driver in a driving cap, only one little detail is out of kilter. While sports cars are always small, this one is so small the driver can’t fit into the driver’s seat. He is forced to sit on the back of the car, with his feet in the driving area, as he leans over to grasp the steering wheel.
The scene is accompanied by modern jazz guitar music featuring chords with 6’s and 7ths. 6s and 7ths, especially 6’s are notes of the scale not usually found in a chord, and they amplify the theme of the video of something not quite fitting in. On a grander scale, the old open air sportscar riding down a country lane is reminiscent of earlier days in the automobile revolution, when cars still did not quite fit into roads meant for the horse and buggy. The video caption reads, “Having car troubles?” As the clip ends, the music fades out.
This video contrasts with eLocal’s other auto body repair video, which depicts, in 3D motion graphics, a car breaking down on a dark deserted freeway at night. While that video focuses on a common emotion of fear, which motorists can identify with, this video attempts to downplay the fear and panic element often associated with a car breakdown. The soothing music invites viewers to calm down and take a stoic look at their car troubles. It seeks to minister to the victim of a malfunctioning vehicle, and in this way to attract them to make contact and use the services of the advertising company.
While the two repair videos depict contrasting scenes, they both address emotions related to the event of a car break down. The first depicts the fear associated with breaking down on a deserted highway. The second attempts to soothe and make light of the emotional distress which often accompanies a car breakdown. In this way the online video attracts the customer, who can feel that this company understands how he feels.
