It’s 2017 and as usual in early February, Oakville companies of all sizes are hitting the ground running launching new marketing campaigns for the opening quarter of the year. Thanks to the winds of change and modern technology, marketing tools and trends today are very different than they were in the past. With so many media platforms available in 2017, the attention span and patience of your audience is limited. Your target customers need to be able to engage your content quickly and understand your message in double time if you are to have any hope in converting them. And no other form of content is as effective in pulling this off as quality video content. Video as an integrated part of your marketing campaign ensures that your target customers will absorb your message in a way that will leave them wanting more.

Statistic – According to Forbes Insight, 50% of executives who viewed an online marketing video went on to make a purchase for their business.

If this statistic alone isn’t enough to convince you of the importance of video in your marketing campaign, here are 5 more reasons to make video marketing part of your company’s 2015 New Year’s resolution:

1. Captivating – Nothing holds attention better than a quality video. From animation and motion graphics to real-time demonstrations and interviews… the creative possibilities of video are endless.

2. Accessibility – Video enables you to communicate with your audience in a way that is engaging as well as easy. Whether on social media, YouTube, or on your own website, customers like the idea of a video that tells them exactly what they need to know and which also combines compelling images, narration, and music for a fuller experience.

3. Time Saving – Video has the power to communicate complex ideas in a quick and powerful way. As mentioned earlier, the attention span and patience of your audience is limited (in the social media world in particular). Very few people are willing to give the time of day to read some dry, long-winded case study about how a client saved 15% (or more) by switching car insurance providers. But deliver the same message in a 30 second to one minute online ad that is both amusing and informative and you’ll notice a huge difference in engagement.

4. Cost Effective – Seeking a strong return on investment? Video is the investment for you! When produced properly, video is the next best thing to personal selling and depending on the abilities of an individual sales person, video is often better. Online video has the power to sell people on your products and services on a global scale, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You would need a sales force of epic proportions on the level of sci-fi to be able to match this impact.

5. The Power of Storytelling – Customers buy from people and companies they know and trust. Getting to know you better and understanding who you are and why your company does what it does, helps to build trust. When produced properly, video tells your full story in an honest and highly complimentary manner that not only converts more customers but can also allow for your brand to even become iconic in time.

It’s 2017 and with broadband capabilities continuing to increase throughout much of the world, the scene has been set for more exponential growth of video consumption to an ever increasing number of platforms and devices. Video is no longer just some luxury marketing tool in it’s infancy utilized by early adopters. Video marketing is essential NOW. And those who aren’t already on board or who aren’t planning to get on board, will soon come to the realization that their marketing tactics will have been left in the dust of the early 2010’s allowing for your target customers to laugh and say the old cliche … “That’s so 5 years ago”!

In our 11 years of producing video production content in Oakville, we’ve come to understand one important fact: Oakville is a great city in which to do business. You’d be hard pressed to find a business professional in Oakville that disagrees. Between the treasure trove of corporations, industries, co-operative networks, and of course the large population, the opportunities for success and innovation in Oakville are truly endless. And let’s not forget all the business enabling venues: great restaurants, boutiques and cafes on every corner; exciting sports, activities, and a nightlife that attracts Hollywood stars. Oakville has all the furnishings to accommodate today’s business professional in almost every way.

That said, this abundance of industries, companies, and business professionals also makes for stiff competition regardless of your industry. Beyond maintaining high quality standards and methods, you must also be effective in communicating your company’s excellence to your target market and be successful in converting them into customers. This is where marketing plays an integral role. And as regards to marketing, according to latest statistics, no other marketing tool is as effective as video production for the conversion of new customers. Don’t believe me? Check out these 3 statistics provided by Brightcove:

• Using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80%.

• Visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not.

• Video in email marketing has been shown to increase click-through rates by over 96%. In response, the number of marketers planning to use video in email campaigns has increased five times since the beginning of 2009.

Corporate video production has become one of the top marketing tools in the world today. With world wide brands increasing their video production budgets to unprecedented levels, online audiences and social media users are being converted through highly entertaining videos with celebrity interviews, professional acting and direction, incredible animation, effects, and even top notch hollywood style action stunts – as seen in the Volvo Trucks “Epic Split” video with Jean-Claude Van Damme:

But that said, one does not need a multi million dollar budget to create powerful video content. It is true that a high level of video production quality is needed to capture and hold your audience’s attention but you certainly don’t need Hollywood production companies to create compelling video content.

All you really need is a trusted professional corporate video production company with many years of a experience, supported by an extensive and diverse portfolio and testimonials. The company you choose must also have an excellent creative team with vast knowledge of video production procedures and content marketing trends. When you find the video production partner that fits your individual needs and can provide  all of the above, then you are ready to move forward.

In short, Oakville is a major part of the golden horseshoe of Ontario. It is a vibrant entity with countless moving parts helping to create a strong Canadian economy and quality of life. At this moment, companies are being built, deals are being made, and countless successes are being attained. With the right vision, the right company, and these effective marketing tools, you’ll be on the fast track to finding your own success in the big city!

When it comes to your business – hire a professional

In 1985, a year after the Apple Macintosh computer was launched, the first desktop publishing program, Pagemaker, was released for the Mac. It launched a world of professional page layouts and home-made garage sale flyers, all on a home computer.

Suddenly everyone was a graphic designer! The number of brochures being produced soared, but the number of bad brochures soared as well.

Today we see the same phenomenon in the world of video. Small, HD video cameras and inexpensive desktop video editing software have legions of people producing and editing videos.

It’s certainly suitable for hobbyists to edit short videos and post them on YouTube for fun, but in the business world that can lead to disaster. A poor quality video can lead to an unsatisfactory impression of your company and brand. You can’t go back and make a new first impression.

With video becoming an increasingly vital component of  commercial websites, your business requires the production values that a video professional brings to the job.

VR & 360 Video (Part One)

All it took was one epic James Cameron movie to cause a huge hype for 3D video viewing in Oakville. More than 15 years in the making, delayed in part by the need to develop the needed technology to make the film, Avatar was a visual masterpiece, and fundamentally changed expectations of the viewing experience in theatres throughout Oakville and the world.

It was also the first film to gross more than $2 billion, making it clear that 3D films were financially compelling as well. With its tremendous success, Avatar helped ignite public interest in 3D film and video production in Oakville. Consumer technology struggled to keep pace with early 3D TVs costing a fortune for home theatre enthusiasts. Yet 3D TV just never took off in Oakville for household viewing, and for good reason. First, you’d have to spend a lot extra on a TV that supported the technology, then you’d have to invest in enough glasses for everyone present to wear, and finally, you’d have to find content worth watching in 3D – all of which combined to be too big of a hurdle for most Oakville consumers. Recently, Samsung, the biggest TV manufacturer in the world, stopped producing 3D TVs. Other manufacturers have severely limited the number of models that will support 3D technology. The handful of TVs that do are really expensive, making it impossible for the average consumer to purchase a 3D TV, and leading many analysts to announce that 3D TV is either dying, or is already dead.

The new growing trends in Oakville in terms of video production are VR (virtual Reality) and 360 Video. Although these two new mediums seem to be a newer version of the old 3D format, there are many important differences between virtual reality video production, 360 video production, and 3D video production:

Virtual reality video production, when done correctly, is truly immersive and allows for rich interactivity within the video, plunging you into the midst of the action as a self-directed participant.

360 video is only interactive in the sense that you can change your viewpoint, and is not as high tech or as immersive as virtual reality.

3D video is not interactive, and isn’t dramatically different from regular video for viewers other than that it appears to be 3D instead of 2D.

Those important distinctions have significant ramifications for how videos are produced and stories are told through these different mediums. Virtual reality is uniquely suited to video games where the viewer is not passive, but fully engaged and participating in the storyline. 360 video production is ideal for allowing someone to explore a space and uncover elements of the plot for themselves, without becoming a character in the story. 3D video is best for your classic Hollywood storytelling format, just with some extra bells and whistles.

Click here to read part 2 of this article where we’ll take a look at some of the similarities between VR, 360 Video, and 3D… and not all of these similarities are good for the growth of these mediums!

VR & 360 Video (Part Two)

In part one, we aimed to explain and highlight the distinctions between Virtual Reality video (VR), 360 video, and of course… the ever failing 3D video. In this week’s article we’ll be touching on the important similarities between these platforms. These particular similarities could be the deciding factors as to whether VR video and 360 video will take off in the consumer market and change the way the world views video or whether these new technologies will crash on take off… just like with their 3D video counterpart.

Similarities between VR, 360, and 3D video:

First of all, in Oakville, the cost is significantly higher to produce and consume virtual reality video, 360 video, and 3D video compared to regular video productions. Whether it’s the camera rig required to film it, the software needed to stitch the footage together, or the headsets you have to wear, it all adds up to more money for everyone involved in producing and watching these types of video.

There is a lack of quality content for these mediums. Although some Oakville brands have made big strides in recent months with 360 video production, there is a substantial lack of quality content available for each of these formats. Until there is a large, unique, and compelling library available, consumers probably won’t make the switch from standard video; as was the case with 3D TV.

Between the quality of the videos, the viewing mechanism, VR video, 360 video, and 3D video have all been known to cause motion sickness. Until you can be assured of a nausea-free experience, it might be hard to consider adopting any of these technologies as your regular viewing style.

With each of these formats, special accessories or a certain amount of space to move around in are required for optimal experiences. So, if you’re walking down the streets of Oakville, you can’t just participate in a virtual reality experience, and if you forgot your glasses, you won’t be seeing that video in 3D. It’s true that 360 video does a slightly better job with accessibility, especially when viewed on a desktop computer. However, if you’re viewing on a phone, you have to change the orientation of the phone by physically rotating it around you, while the headset experience is lacking in terms of quality. The accessibility of these technologies to potential viewers is a problem that needs to be solved before any of them can become mainstream.

Finally, due to design, the virtual reality and 360 video viewing experience is completely individual. You can’t sit down and watch a virtual reality video with someone; you need your headset and then you experience it completely by yourself. The same is true for 360 video. Even if someone is watching the same video, you might not choose to explore it from the same angles, so you won’t walk away with the same experience as anyone else. This takes away the social aspect of watching a video or a movie, and puts these technologies squarely in the realm of things you might do by yourself when you’re bored rather than a fun activity to experience with friends. By shifting where the viewing experience fits into our lives, the technology moves even more into niche territory.

Given that there are major obstacles to widespread adoption for virtual reality and 360 video production in Oakville and the rest of the world, what are the chances that these technologies will succeed commercially? At least for limited use-cases, there is definitely some hope. Virtual reality is a natural fit for video games, many of which look increasingly cinematic in terms of quality, and it could definitely become the new 3D cinema experience for movie-goers. That might help revive cinema in Oakville, and would allow people who aren’t willing to invest in their own headsets to still experience virtual reality in a controlled environment. 360 video has fewer challenges because it hands control over the perspective to the viewer, but isn’t truly interactive. Given that the barriers to entry are substantially lower than for virtual reality, it’s more likely to become more accessible in the future than virtual reality.

Being corporate video producers here in Oakville, we’re excited to see how these technologies evolve in the next few years!

Online video is the business card of the 21st century

As Canadian businesses shift more of their attention online, it’s more important than ever to understand the key trends being seen across the internet.

10 Online Video Trends Every Marketer Needs to Know

1. According to ComScore, Canada continues to lead the world in online engagement,  with visitors spending an average 45 hours per month online, representing a fertile ground for digital marketers and advertisers.
2. 181 million US internet users watched nearly 40 billion online videos in January 2012
3. Smartphone penetration has reached 45% in Canada. Mobile content and online videos are finding new followers from the corporate world.According to Forbes Insights: “59% of executives prefer to watch video over reading text. Younger executives in particular appear more inclined not only to view video, but also to share it over the business-oriented “social” web. Their growing influence is likely to make business-related video even more prevalent in the coming years.”
4. Nearly 85% of the internet audience viewed online video.
5. 90% of shoppers find video useful when purchasing.
6. People who view an engaging online video are 64% more likely to buy or explore the brand.
7. Video traffic on mobile devices is now 50% of wireless network traffic.
8. People using mobile devices – such as iPhone, Android, Blackberry and iPad – view online videos two and a half times longer than desktop users.
9. In a keynote address at CES in January, YouTube’s VP of Global Content, Robert Kyncl, predicted that video would soon be 90% of internet traffic.
10. More videos are uploaded in 60 days than the three major US networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) produced in 60 years

If 90% of all internet traffic will be for video – will people really bother with a website without video? Companies that don’t embrace video are at risk of being left behind.

Online video is no longer “the future”. Online video is here and it’s the newly accepted norm.

Video to drive foot traffic to your trade show booth

So you’re thinking about marketing your products or services at a trade show, conference or expo. You’ve designed your booth, complete with company banners, flyers, brochures and hand outs.

But how will you drive traffic to your exhibit? Video is ideal for the trade show environment.

Image two adjacent booths: a video playing at the booth on the left, no video at the one on the right. Which direction will heads turn? Research shows that a booth with a video gets more attention.

• A video will increase the amount of time a potential client stays at your booth.
• A video can remove the discomfort of establishing eye contact and gives your audience a less intimidating environment for them to view your company’s products and services.
• A video helps to engage attendees who are passively walking past your booth by allowing you to gradually connect with them.
• A video is also an ideal way to illustrate “before and after” results.

Set your booth apart from your competition at your next trade show with a video! Enhance your brand. Promote product visibility. Generate excitement about your products/services.

In Short … Keep it Short!

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from our clients is: How long should my corporate video be?

There is no magic answer. Ten minutes in real life usually flashes by like a nano-second, but ten minutes on video can seem like an eternity, no matter the subject. In our experience a standard length for your average video production should be 2 to 3 minutes. That’s all. Better to have easily digested chunks of information stacked on a web page in multiple 1 to 2 minute video segments, than to have one 10-minute video that is not watched to the end. Few decision makers will have the time to watch an 8 to 10 minute video about your company.

Keys to a successful 3-minute corporate video:

1. You want your videos to be brief and to the point. Your target audience requires information. Quickly.
2. Keep your audience’s attention with a stylish, attractive video utilizing high-quality film-making skills. A successful video production does not need to be a big budget event. Music, great sound and lighting, crisp and clean images, fast-paced editing in a whiz-bang fashion that suits the image of your organization or business . . . these are the things that will help keep your viewers interested.
3. Stay relevant, with a clear message. Stay laser focused. Your video should point out how your products or services will solve their problems and satisfy their needs.

Bottom line: leave your audience wanting more.