TurnHere Blog

What mobile app stores offers now is just amazing. It seems that there is an app for anything imaginable. With high quality video cameras on iPhones and app’s that bring postproduction to your fingertips, creating a great video can all be done in the palm of your hand! Devices like the Flip Camera are only capable of recording video at the moment.  However, an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch can be used to edit the video and share it on the go.

#1 iMovie Costs: $4.99

“Designed for the Multi-Touch screen, iMovie puts everything you need to tell your story at your fingertips.” This app is incredibly easy to use and lets the user make a fantastic video quickly by tapping to add video, photos, music and sound effects. Look like an expert and add a theme, titles, and transitions. There are eight themes that each have a set of titles, transitions, AND music. Users are also able to record audio directly into the timeline. When the video is polished it can be published in HD straight to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, & CNN iReport.

#2 Qik Video Camera Pro Costs: Free

Qik Video is made by Skype and compliments Skype’s main features. Like live video chat and sharing Qik video allows the user to add filters, edit and video chat. The editing tools in Qik are a little simpler than the options in iMovie, but still produce great results. Once you finish the video it’s extra easy to upload and share HD video recorded on a iPhone. Unlike iMovie Qik also allows video chat over WiFi and 3G.

#3  CinemaFX for Video Costs $2.99

CinemaFX for Video has a lot of amazing features that will make a homemade video truly your own. This app includes several effect packages that bring a new look to videos with stylistic themes such as Egyptian Gold, Charmed Glow, Dark Comic, Surveillance Cam, Vampire World, WWII, Indian Summer, 70s Dusty, and many more. You are able to compare the new video loaded with effects with the original untouched video. Videos can be uploaded to YouTube (in full HD on iPhone) directly or emailed to friends and family.

#4 Animoto Videos Costs: Free

Animoto takes the pictures from your photo albums and turns them into a beautiful music video. This app is extremely easy to use and allows users to make a photo slideshow in no time at all.

#5 Splice – Video Editor Costs: $3.99

Splice lets you create and edit all aspects of the video. By cutting together clips with an easy-to-use drag and drop timeline. The user is able to add music from itunes, photos from your albums, visual effects (like, slow & fast motion), transitions, text, audio mixing. Splice also has a store with hundreds of sound affects, music tracks and boarders that can be bought to enhance the video.

Borrell Associates reports in the article, “2011 Local Automotive Advertising Outlook” that in the last few years’ auto dealers have been shifting ad campaigns to gear more towards audiences on internet. From 2009 to 2011 the auto industry spent 32% of the advertising budget online at approximately $7.3 billion. Next being newspapers at 22% with $5 billion and TV at 10% with $2.3 billion. Considering that the auto industry is the second biggest advertiser (first place going to cinema), where they put ad’s up is important information for all businesses.

So, who’s looking at these advertisements?

In the article “Mobile and Video Speak to Luxury Shoppers” by eMarketer.com, wealthy people are more likely to watch video advertisements on a phone than the general population. When considering purchasing a car an affluent consumer tends to research a product using video on a smart phone. In a survey conducted by NowResearch, in April of 2011 42.6% of affluents making $500K+ annually access the Internet on their mobile phones every day. Whereas decently well off people making $200K - $500K annually access the Internet via phone 37.5% daily. And a considerably less percentage for the general population at 20.3% surf the web on a phone every day.

 “An automotive study by Google, Compete and Polk supports this. The research found that 30% of luxury car shoppers watched videos on their mobile phones prior to a purchase. And luxury car shoppers were twice as likely as volume car shoppers to watch consumer-generated online video on their PC and on their mobile device.”

Over the last few years the importance of online videos has grown exponentially. Video marketing has proven to reach new audiences in a captivating and dynamic way. However, there are several misconceptions about what happens in the world of custom video producing. Here are seven myths to expose the truth of how promoting business with internet video has endless benefits. 

ONE: Video Production is expensive

Not at all!  The cost of making a video online has significantly dropped over the past few years.  Video equipment and the tools editors use are much cheaper and easier to use now.  In fact, most consumer computers come preloaded with video editing software.

TWO: I Need to be an Actor to Make a Video

Not true! Many small business owners are nervous about going in front of the camera, but you don’t have to be a professional actor to make a great video! Skilled filmmakers are used to working with regular people, just like you. Just be yourself and talk about what you know best: your business.  Passion about a topic goes a long way in selling a product. Think Tony Little.

THREE: No One Watches Video’s Online

YouTube is the third most popular site on the web, and the second largest search engine in the world. In fact, 30 billion videos are viewed every month on YouTube. (ComScore)

FOUR: Traditional Advertising is More Effective

Traditional media outlets such as TV, print, and radio all carry high cost, which is why more people are turning to the internet. Producing a video at a single cost and being able to distribute it across multiple social networking sites reaches a wider audience. The internet also allows people to view content at any time they want. Traditional media outlets have a specific schedule to follow. 

FIVE: The Viewer Wants to Know Everything

When the camera starts rolling that’s your opportunity to talk directly to your viewers, tell them what is MOST important. Make a short list of ideas and topics you want to convey in your video. Usually people will begin by discussing what they are most passionate about and this organically evolves into them talking about the business.

This guest post was written by Brian O'Connell who is President of CPA Site Solutions, a web design firm providing websites for accountants and other marketing services to accountants, CPAs, bookkeepers, and tax preparers nationwide.

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You bought a website, and now you're hoping it draws in new customers. You've invested both money and time into building it, so for that to pay off, you need your site to generate at least 5 new clients per month.

But the more you check out the competition, the more you see a lot of professional websites out there. Although you're glad to be counted among those businesses with appealing websites, you realize you need to stand out.

Having a professional website is sort of like meeting the minimum requirements: without it, a lot of potential clients won't even consider you; but just having it is not necessarily enough to get you the job.

So, what does make the difference?

Showing your prospects that you're a real person with real clients.

And the best way to show them this is with a one-minute video.

Why Video Is So Effective

Video is simply the best way to reach out to new clients with your website. This is because clients want a personal connection to their service provider before making that initial call.

"Personal connection" doesn't mean sharing intimate details about your personal life, or even demonstrating shared traits or interests with your prospects. It simply means the prospect needs a sense of who you are as a person - how you dress, what you look like, how much you smile, even how you decorate your office.

You might think that a one-minute video isn't long enough to make an impact on a prospect. But humans have the ability to make snap judgments. A few seconds is really all it takes. (This is the premise of the best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell, Blink.)

Video is so successful that a recent study showed it raises response rates by 4 to 7 times over landing pages with text and images alone (SearchEngineWatch, February 2010).

"Behind the Scenes" Works

Another reason video is successful in engaging your leads is that it shows them what your office is like "behind the scenes."

People love having inside knowledge. It actually makes them feel closer to a person or company. It gives them an immediate "buy-in" to see the staff working at their desks, dealing with clients, and talking to each other in the break room.

Although folks want to know you're professional, they also respond on an emotional level to seeing you doing real things at the office.

Incidentally, this tendency in people is one reason why social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are so successful. These days, we're oversaturated with advertising and promotional messages. Facebook, Twitter, and video put the human touch back in to business - which is a big relief to consumers.

Bonus: Generate Loyalty Right Away

If you're looking for at least 5 new clients per month as your ROI, adding a video is the smart way to go.

In fact, you may get more than you bargained for. Another recent study by BIA/Kelsey found that 1 in 5 people who view your video will give you a call.

If you get 20 views per week (which is conservative), that's 4 extra calls per week, or 16 per month. If you convert even half those prospects to new clients, you've got more than 5.

Even better, folks who do call you already have a measure of loyalty. They've seen your video, they know what your office looks like and who works there - they may even recognize a staff member from around town. Your video has done the hard work (and arguably the hardest job) of convincing folks to trust you.

Making the Most of Your Website

If you've gone so far as to get a professional website, don't waste it. Consider adding a short video to your home page. It provides that personal connection prospects need to take the leap into contacting you - making it the smart way to outpace your competition.

Connecting over the internet can have endless benefits for business growth. From blogging to tweeting to Facebook updates, having a personal connection with your customers can have immediate and long-term benefits.

Here are five reasons how your business can have measureable results from having a video in your social media efforts:

1. YouTube is the Second Largest Search Engine

People are using YouTube as a visual search engine. In the last year alone YouTube had over 700 BILLON views. It would take almost 37 years to watch 1 billion videos if one watched a video every second.

YouTube is not just for big brands. Did you know there are over 586,000 searches for restaurants on YouTube? Local businesses are missing a huge opportunity if they don’t have a presence on YouTube.

2. Increase Exposure

Get your business out to the public! Once you have a great video it can be published on various social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook and reach a wider audience. Video has proven to be a successful way to get your word out there.

3. Personalize Your Brand

Make your business stand out! Video lets customers identify with the business. It lets you tell your story about what’s important to the business and gives customers a inside look at what you do and why you do it so well.

4. Create a Community

Not only does video change the way you express yourself, it also changes how your audience responds to you. When someone can hear your words and look into your eyes while you’re speaking, it creates a much more personal connection than simply publishing words on a page.

Video makes your business personable on the internet. Viewers see what your company is really about and get to know your business on an intimate level. When people hear your words it creates a much more personal connection.

5. Increase Conversion Rate

Consumers make informed purchases when they see a video. For the online shoe store Zappos, not only did purchases increase by 10% when a product included a video description, but returns for the product also decreased.

Video is the ultimate communication tool and allows your customers to engage with your brand, make informed purchase decisions and maximize your exposure on the web.