One way to get more attention is through the power of online videos. Online videos are a great way to get your company more exposure and to get noticed. With the onset of sites such as YouTube, and Twitter, a video can be viewed by hundreds if not thousands of people in a very short period of time. Sometimes referred to as a “viral” video because people like it so much they share it with their friends.

Both consumers and small business owners go to online videos for three main reasons:

1) To find tutorials for learning new things
2) Product demos and reviews
3) To find answers to their questions

Source: Enterprise Council on Small Business

They may be looking for how to videos to help them along with a complex problem or they may be looking to view a product demo prior to spending the money on a new product for their company. It is always important to research any purchases prior to making them. Someone, somewhere will have done your research ahead of time, saving you the hassle of countless hours figuring out which product is best for you.

As YouTube has become a phenomenon around the globe, millions of people make, upload and view videos on a daily basis. YouTube has now surpassed corporate sites as the number 1 source of finding videos. And something you may not realize is that YouTube has become a sort of search engine overnight. If you need to find information on a topic there is likely a YouTube video that you can watch to learn more.

Uploading video to your company site is still important, but uploading your videos to YouTube is even more important. Make sure if you have are posting a video online that you use popular keywords that will ensure you get noticed within search results. Here is a list of some key pointers when using the power of video as part of your marketing.

A) Always keep your videos as short as possible !

People for the most part have short attention spans, if the video they are watching is not short and to the point they will lose interest quickly. Time is important and if your viewer feels as though watching your video is wasting their time, they are less likely to come back and view more videos by your company in the future.

B) Focus

Keeping your videos focused on your topic and reaching your point quickly will enable your viewer to feel that your video was informative and likely keep your company in mind for a future purchase. Just like in presentations the less information you convey in a short time the more people will remember. This is not the time to tell us everything about your product or service. Keep the viewer wanting more.

C) Using social media to your advantage

With the help of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc videos have a chance of going viral or at the very least attracting other’s attention. If your content is entertaining or light-hearted in the form of a short funny skit, informative demo or even a multi week webinar will keep your fans interested and coming back for more.

Possibly Related Posts:

• When Should you Update your Website Design or Layout?
• Customer Acquisition – Hunting or Harvesting Leads
• Content Marketing is key for Small Business in 2010
• Need Help Marketing? Now available on Facebook
• Getting your Marketing ready for the New Year

Most small businesses go hunting to find that next new customer. Meaning that they put either a lot of energy, money or both into finding their next customer. When we say hunting we mean you are cold calling prospects, knocking on doors trying to find that one in ten opportunity that you are looking to land. In most cases, you won’t be sure if the person you talk to is even a potential buyer or not.

In general this is where marketing helps, there are those who can easily find new leads and those that have to work harder. If you are harvesting leads than you have your pickings and have probably spent your time working on your prospecting or lead generation strategies so new customers find you without you having to go out and look for them.  Sometimes this technique is referred to as inbound marketing and involves producing distributable content. If you spend some time creating useful resources that are not overtly sales pitches, you can attract potential customers easily.  In other words, they do not look like sponsored articles you have probably seen in magazines and newspapers, but instead provide useful information, such as benchmarks, market research, and even checklists.

If you put the time into creating these “satellites” people will find you and you will spend less time hunting for interested new customers.

Lets try to illustrate this concept using an example, let’s say I am looking to find a home inspector for my new home that I am considering. I will probably try to find information on local inspectors in my area. If I go to my favorite search engine and type in “home inspection checklist in california“., assuming I know nothing about inspecting a house I would probably be seeking out this information.

Now put yourself in the position of a home inspector in knowing that consumers are looking for information. Your satellite marketing could include a list of homes damaged due to local conditions such as drought, or heat, etc.  You could provide guides on what to look for when walking through your house or even how to choose your inspector carefully.

At first glance these informational products might seem trivial, however, if you think about it people looking to buy and those who are close to making a purchase will be reading these types of resources. If you have written them in such a way to make your business sound legit and knowledgeable then you will have customers contacting you when they are ready to make the next step and will identify themselves as a new lead.

Things to Keep in Mind

• Remember to ask how your new lead found you so you can focus your energy on effective resources
• Try to maximize the usefulness of your resources. Think about who may want to distribute this information, such as real estate agents who already are a trusted source of information, etc.
• Searching LinkedIn,  forums and twitter conversations,  you can usually find people looking for help or information.
• Record where possible who you sent information to, or if they asked for a consult. You may not have thought of this as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) but it really is fundamental to continuing your conversation with a prospective new customer.
• Videos travel fast on the internet, and also are shared frequently. If you can record a few videos 2 minutes or less in length on specific tips related to your industry you will have access to an estimated 100 M visitors per month on YouTube watching videos. You may not have realized there are a lot of educational related videos and tutorials on YouTube. All of these videos link directly back to you and establish yourself as an expert.

If you try to adopt this simple satellite marketing technique in your marketing more people will find you rather than trying to buy advertising in your local newspaper  where new customer potential may be limited.

Image Credit: foxypar4 (via Flickr)

Possibly Related Posts:

• Using Online Video for Marketing
• Content Marketing is key for Small Business in 2010
• How to collect email addresses on your Facebook Page
• Should a New Business start Marketing?
• Yahoo is launching a DIY AD System for Small Business