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Category Archives: Internet Video Marketing

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Fathom Remembers the 100th Anniversary of The Titanic

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“This Day in SEO History” pays tribute to the 100th Anniversary of the tragic sinking of the Titanic, built in Belfast, Ireland, and designed by naval architect Thomas Andrews – a man with two first names!

Captain of The Titanic

Websites can be like The Titanic, too

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from England to New York City when it struck an iceberg that punctured its watertight compartments. In less then three hours it sank to the bottom of the icy ocean and hundreds of lives were lost.

Websites can be like the Titanic, too. They can be unwieldy with too much content and unnecessary pages and features. Visitors get stuck in the lower decks of the site, or get lost in the fog bank of bad branding – and want to abandon ship (or website)!

Watch the fifth volume of “This Day in SEO History,” starring our very own Amanda “Rose” Jerele, and learn how SEO and Design & Usability are like life rafts that can fix a sinking ship (or website).
Visit us today to learn more about the vast depths of online marketing tools that can help save your website from sinking!
And be sure to stay tuned for a SPECIAL SURPRISE FEATURE at the end!

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video | Tagged , , , , , , ,

 

Fun with Google Search: Profane Political Documentary Edition

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Longtime readers of this blog might remember (OK, probably not) 4 years ago when I wrote about the power of a popular video to show up in Google’s organic search results based on a random string of characters in the URL (“1-f”). The result in question then was the music video (on YouTube) for George Michael’s “Careless Whispers,” which, naturally, had no logical relevance to the search for “1-f.” Today, it’s an hourlong Adam Curtis BBC political documentary with a profane title … that has nothing to do with “1-f.”

That’s right, you read that correctly. See the screenshot below:

Unfortunately, this result cannot be replicated in real time because a new irrelevant video—”kitten vs TWO scary things”—has supplanted The Trap, the result I first saw a few weeks ago. As for the Curtis BBC documentary, its YouTube title (“The Trap – 1 – F*k You Buddy”) does not suggest any semantic connection to pink noise, asteroids or other potential meanings of “1-f.” Any human with 4th-grade literacy could probably interpret that the “1″ in the title (pictured above) refers to the edition of that particular film and that the “F” is nothing other than the first letter in the phrase “F*k You Buddy,” which happens to follow the 1 after a hyphen, which has space on each side of it, clearly separating the “1″ from the letter f. (The editor in me would also tell you that technically, there should be 2 asterisks there, one for each missing letter, but that’s a bonus observation.)

One conclusion is unequivocally clear: search has evolved significantly, but it still can’t substitute for human intelligence. While Google is making rapid advances in the notoriously tricky field of speech recognition, the good old-fashioned written word can still confound. Which irrelevant video will Google serve up next? Or will this issue be solved by the time my next search experiment takes place? Stay tuned to find out.

Posted in Google, Internet Video Marketing, Search Engines | Tagged , , , , , ,

 

Mr. Hymen Lipman, “The Father of Modern Content Editing” – This Day in SEO History: Vol. 4

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Welcome back for another educational and whacky edition of “This Day in SEO History!” Did you know that March 30th marks the 154th anniversary of the patent for a pencil featuring a built-in eraser, invented by Mr. Hymen Lipman in 1858?

I know what you’re thinking; Slymenstra Hymen was that woman (?) who used to sing and fire-dance for the heavy metal band, Gwar. Well, my friend – that is incorrect… Although she may have had a built-in-eraser attached somewhere to that costume…

Before Lipman invented the pencil-with-eraser, people were having big trouble when they created content. The SEO world owes Hymen a big shout-out because his content-editing tool was the beginning of word processing & content management systems. Today, online marketers edit website content to increase search engine rankings and to add-in strong keywords.

Check out This Day in SEO History: Vol. 4 – “The Father of Content Editing,” written and starring our own Father of Content, Daiv Whaley, and produced by the most rockin’ production intern in the world, Victoria Wilhelm.

Happy unofficial Annual Pencil Day, everybody!

Shoot us a comment below to give us your take on SEO History! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for more educational <and historical> content from Fathom!

Posted in Content Creation, Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, SEO | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

 

Fathom Now Offers Interactive Video Experience – INGAGE: Interactive Engagement

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INgage LogoDid you know that Fathom now offers an interactive video solution? We call it Fathom INGAGE: “Interactive Engagement.” You may be asking yourself, “What, exactly, is an interactive video?”

Interactive videos are clickable video players that allow the viewer to choose an individual path throughout the video, leading to heightened view times up to 5X  longer than linear business video, and increased conversions by an average of 35%.

So, how is this done? Interactive clickable objects within the player itself allow the user to choose the next preferred video to view. And not only do these buttons provide viewers with complete control of their video destiny, but they also can be hyperlinked to external websites, such as product pages, checkout pages and even landing pages.

And the best part? These applications are designed to convert! The implementation of form fields within the player itself tie leads directly to the video!
Through detailed analytics, you’ll gain valuable insight into audience viewing behavior, such as number of views and average length of time spent watching.

You’ll access critical-path and decision-point information, such as:

INGAGE Path Analytics, Decision Points

Gain insight into viewer decision points

  • Percentage of viewers who requested more information
  • How many users stopped viewing from each individual clip
  • The most and least popular path taken from each clip
  • (Most importantly) Conversion rates per clip.

Check out the interactive player above, and shoot us a comment below to let us know how you think an interactive video solution could help enhance the user experience of your site! And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for more educational content from Fathom!

Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Analytics, Fathom Company News, Internet Video Marketing, Online Marketing, Online Video, Sports/Entertainment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

The Process of Production

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For most of us, video has become something we see on a daily basis. With the overflow of amateur video flooding social media outlets, the art of professional video production is often taken for granted.  Professionally there are three very important stages when creating video: pre-production, production and post-production.

  • Pre-production is more or less the “planning” part of a production; it is an integral part of how the production itself will run. The pre-production stage includes thinking of everything that will be needed for the production itself. A few major steps included in pre-production consist of conceptualization, scriptwriting, and storyboarding.
  • Production is the stage where the actual filming of the video begins. It’s taking all of the preparation that was involved in the pre-production process and applying it. There’s a lot more involvement in production than just filming, though: for example, lighting, staging, audio, etc. This is the bulk of the three stages of production, where the vision really starts materializing.
  • Post-production is the stage in which you collectively gather all of the footage that you’ve filmed to begin the editing process. There are other aspects besides footage involved in the post-production process. For instance, audio, color correction and optimization. All of these techniques are instrumental to creating a finished product for delivery.

A lot of time is dedicated to each of the three stages of production. I’ve only mentioned a few out of many assets that are included in each one of these processes. So, the next time you watch a professional video, it’s safe to assume that the production process was at least twice as long as the actual video itself.

Tip: If you want to stand out against the amateur uploads across social media platforms, don’t skip the small stuff and use every step of this production process for a better quality of video.

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Video | Tagged , , ,

 

Building Better Business via Online Video

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We continue to tell everyone who is listening about the effectiveness and reach of Internet video, especially now in the YouTube era. For those of us who work in the world of digital/online marketing, this is, as they say in the slang vernacular, a “no-brainer.” (Note: this phrase has never made much sense to me – if you have no brain, the least of your concerns is making decisions about your business strategies. You’ll just be hoping to keep those autonomic body functions operating!)

Anyways, as big proponents of web video for businesss marketing goals, we’re delighted when we come across stats like these from a Network World article touting video for business pursuits: Internet video today makes up about 50% of Internet traffic, and is expected to grow to 90% by the end of 2013. This does not surprise us at all – as producers of web video for many clients across the country, we see this fascinating medium being used to communicate all sorts of value propositions as well as to demonstrate how products and services really work.

What I find personally exciting about online video is its flexibility and multiple applications. As I tell clients who are interested in Internet video to communicate their brand message or show the ease or excellence of their goods and services, “Web video gives your website wings.” What I mean by this is that a video made for a business website doesn’t have to stay on that website. Savvy marketers will take that video and also upload it to YouTube, where it will get indexed by the proud parent of YouTube – Google! In this way, folks who come to your business website can view your video but also web surfers can encounter your video while searching for a pertinent subject on the mother of all search engines. Talk about multi-purpose marketing!

Case story after case story attests to the high-value efficacy of communicating with moving pictures and sound as opposed to using text solely. When the world finally realizes this in all its multitextural glory, what an interesting place we’ll be living (and working) within indeed.

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Video | Tagged ,

 

We Caught You Google! Online Video Changes Coming Soon?

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It happens every so often that Google, the master of the search engine world, gives users an unexpected (and often unintentional) sneak peek at what’s to come.  Today, while doing some spot checks on the keyword “asbestos lawyers”,  an unexpected surprise popped up – a normal results page showcased videos.  And not 1 video result…or  2.  ALL 10 results in the regular SERPs were videos!

If you’re an online marketer or SEO expert, you will appreciate this finding, because we all know how difficult it is to get our video of choice to rank in the SERPs.  Although these video results were gone as quickly as they came, we at Fathom can’t help but wonder what’s in store for the near future.  Already, you can see that Google has replaced its generic “video” tab in the top tool bar with “YouTube”.  This move, coupled with the wonky video SERP results we happened to catch this afternoon, indicate that video is here to stay, and will likely have a larger impact on search results in the months to come.

Don’t jump on the video bandwagon when it’s too late to stand out – now’s the time to bake online video into your online marketing plan.  If you need help getting started, feel free to contact our video team – we have a lot of cool new things in the works.

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Video, Search Engines, SEO | Tagged ,

 

Solving the Video Marketing Equation

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For those of you who are not big math fans, bare with me for a moment because the formula for a successful video marketing strategy is more than 1+1=2. It’s a complex equation that multiplies more than just the video itself. It adds everything that’s outside the player as well.

It is important to understand that what’s outside your video player is just as crucial. Today you have to design for a rich interactive content world. Each variable in this equation is just as imperative as the next and I’m going to explain why:

Video: This is the easiest variable to understand. Your video has to match your brand promise and convey your intended message to the correct audience while keeping their attention on your page. A boring or irrelevant video will cause you to lose your viewers and potential customers.

Context: Your surrounding content has to match the message of your video. If a user is on a page about a certain product, the video on that page better be about that product. The design of the player should blend in well with the rest of the content and be part of the page as a whole, not just thrown in any empty space.

SEO: Video and SEO go together like bread and butter. One without the other isn’t a comprehensive approach. Video is a great way to drive traffic and improve ranks if you include video site maps with descriptions and meta tags. It’s a great way to get people to your page and increase their time on site.

Call to Action: Your video should present a clear action for the viewer to take, whether that’s fill out a form for more information, sign up for a newsletter, etc. and they should be able to take that action on that same page as the video. A lot of marketers doubt the impact of video because it’s too hard to measure ROI, but including a call to action in the video combined with a contact form is the best way to gauge the video’s success.

Active User Experience: It’s getting more and more important to keep the user engaged in your content because attention spans are getting shorter with each new generation. No longer are people passively consuming your content. This is an active world and your video and surrounding content must reflect that.

Though this equation isn’t the only way to compute an effective video marketing strategy, it challenges you to sum up all your online tactics into one calculation for the best possible video solution.

Posted in Internet Video Marketing, Online Video

 

Fathom Video Takes Their Talents to South Beach – 2012 Business Video Expo

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Business Video Expo 2012
Last week the Fathom Video Team took their talents to Miami Beach, Florida – the city of LeBron James (traitor), Will Smith (Miami, his second home) and Tony Montana (Scarface was based on a true story, right?) – for the second annual Business Video Expo.

The #BizVidExpo featured some phenomenal topical conversation and panel discussions among thought-leaders covering various hot-topics in the online business video realm, including; video production for online video, hosting and management solutions, video training, automated video delivery, mobile commerce and social media.

Fathom attends the 2012 Business Video Expo in Miami Beach, FL

Fathom attends the 2012 Business Video Expo in Miami Beach, FL

Steve Vonder Haar and Paul Beaudoin of Interactive Media Strategies led outstanding panels consisting of key industry executives who now depend on utilizing online video to leverage their marketing, retail, customer management and e-commerce solutions, including: Ed Youngblood of Alcatel-Lucent, Deno Hairston of AT&T, Michael Kolowich of Knowledge Vision, Theresa Szczurek of Radish ChoiceView, Jeff Malkin of Encoding.com, and David Boyll of Oracle.

With so many great statistics, presentations, outlooks and predictions provided to an audience consisting of video producers, marketers, vendors – and those just hungry to dip their toes into online video – it was tough to pick only a few takeaways from the #BizVidExpo. But, there were some key points that just appeared to stand out above the rest, painting a virtual picture of the world of business video, and where the industry is headed. Here is a list of our favorite stats, predictions and online-videoisms!

  • 63-80% of potential mobile customers are lost due to poor experience? – Theresa Szczurek, Radish Choice View
  • High-quality, professional video is – and will always be – a more engaging platform to convey your message and brand strategy then amateur, user-generated content
  • When producing a video for the Web – always remember – content is king!
  • Online video success can be measured through unique analytics set to a specific goal, such as social followers gained, rather than specifically focusing on monetary numbers when measuring ROI for your video campaign.
  • “Video delivery is simple. Managing it is hard.” – Ed Youngblood, Alcatel-Lucent
  • What makes a video a “smart video?” A video that is automated, personalized and optimized for content. It is personalized, real-time and scalable to attract the viewers to a high-end objective: converting that viewer into a customer.
  • When producing video, you must educate, create awareness, and adapt to your audience. Aggressive engagement drives viewership, and cause marketing appeals to the humanistic side.
  • Video is the common denominator between all smart devices. TV, Web, Mobile, and Telecommunications all utilize video to enhance the user’s experience
  • Only half of the competition is utilizing the number two search engine, YouTube, to market themselves. Jay Berkowitz ,”The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing.”
  • What’s outside the video frame is just as important as what is inside the frame – if not more.

 

Posted in Fathom Company News, Internet Video Marketing, Online Video, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , ,

 

Navigating YouTube Analytics – Engagement Edition

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Today I’m continuing my “Navigating YouTube Analytics” series to talk about the second section of YouTube Analytics: The Engagement Report. If you missed my previous post, you can learn about the Views Report here.

The Engagement Report is broken down into five sections: subscribers, likes and dislikes, favorites, comments and sharing. Each part offers insight into how your viewers interact with your videos.

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Subscribers: This section shows the change in the number of subscribers to your channel. It also shows from where people are subscribing – whether it’s from your channel directly or from a specific video.

What You Can Learn: It’s important to gain relevant subscribers so that your videos can reach a better and larger audience. The crux of this section of the analytics is in understanding which videos produced the most subscribers. If a certain video gained more subscribers, you know that video is relevant to people and it’s something that motivates them to keep up with your channel.

Tip: To help boost these subscription numbers, consider adding a “subscribe” annotation button within your video that makes your viewer a subscriber when clicked upon; this facilitates more subscriptions effortlessly.

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Likes and Dislikes: This section shows the likes and dislikes your channel received as a whole as well as each individual video.

What You Can Learn: The more likes you get, the more you can tell whether or not your audience likes your content. The number of likes can impact your YouTube and Google rankings, so it’s not an element you should ignore.

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Favorites: The favorites section shows how many people added or removed your videos to or from their favorites list.

What You Can Learn: Similar to the Likes and Dislikes section, the net change in your Favorites can show which of your videos your viewers like enough to make a favorite.

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Comments: The comments report maps out how many comments your channel received and how many comments each individual video received.

What You Can Learn: Comments are another big component to YouTube and Google video rankings. They are also the best way to communicate with your audience about your content. It is important to keep up with your comments and respond to viewers who take the time to engage with your videos.

Tip: Try providing extra information or goodies (perhaps a link to some relevant video they won’t have seen) when responding to viewers to make sure they know that you appreciate their time and business.

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Sharing: This section outlines how many times viewers have shared each of your videos. It breaks the data down into the date each share took place as well as on what platform people shared the video (Twitter, Facebook, Linked In. etc.).

What You Can Learn: Shares may be the best way to measure your viewers’ engagement with your content. The only way a video goes viral, or just becomes successful, is if people share it. If your share numbers are low, that tells you that your video content isn’t inspiring viewers to share it.

Tip: To make something worth sharing, it either has to be entertaining, very informative or strike some kind of emotional key with the audience. If your videos don’t do one or more of those things, they will never get shared and never be successful.

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Audience engagement with your videos is the best way to know if you’re successfully using video marketing. Even though it may be hard to put a monetary value on YouTube videos, you can set social goals surrounding audience engagement to know you’re successful.

Posted in Internet Video Marketing

 

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