Show and Tell: Adapting to the New Video Culture

If you’ve still got the mind-set that YouTube and streaming video is a bunch of nonsense, 2010 will be sure to pass you by.

Yes, we’ve all seen videos of babies, cats, dogs, parakeets and more doing silly things over the last few years on You Tube. And yes, it’s true that the most viewed YouTube video of all time is still “Charlie Bit my Finger,” with over 150 million hits. But what can we learn from something as simple as two British toddlers complaining about a finger biting incident?

The lesson is that the best marketing strategies revolve around showing, not telling. CMA’s veteran copywriters will even agree—sometimes words alone can’t move your target audience to take action and when appropriate, it’s important to entertain as well as inform.

For example, in order to showcase the many energy-saving benefits associated with the introduction of an LED light bulb to the residential market, CMA created a video representation of the product’s revolutionary features. This video was to be previewed at a major lighting trade show and then streamed on the company’s website for archival use.

The video was designed to reflect the significant impact this product would have on the environment, on users’ wallets and on the industry itself. By appealing to the target market’s emotions, the video accomplished the mission of making the big splash needed to set the company’s product apart from other attempts in this technological space.

It used to be that TV commercials were the only means of communicating video, but sites like YouTube have created a more “do it yourself” culture that marketing teams should seriously consider, especially when it comes to appealing to a consumer audience.

Next time the opportunity presents itself, give us a call. CMA writes, coordinates and produces all aspects of video presentations, which can enhance sales and marketing efforts, and also hold possibilities for training and employee communications.

Erin Higgins
Client Services Manager
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com