As online video is still a fresh tool for PR pros, it might be difficult to figure out how to approach video ROI. Dane Frederiksen, principal at Digital Accomplice, a company that develops brand content, has some tips on how to ensure you’re not entering the video forest blind:
1) Figure the costs of not. Ask yourself, what might video do to help me get my message out and what’s the cost of not doing anything? This helps give a framework for how valuable video can be as a part of your strategy.
2) Humans are visual animals. People like to see how a person they do business with looks like, and see their expressions when describing how a product works. It builds familiarity and trust.
3) Video boosts sales. Video product demos can boost sales by 20%-40%. Zappos, the online shoe retailer, is creating another 50,000 product demos for this reason.
4) Video enables optimal SEO. Produce video content regularly and you will float toward the top of organic search results.
5) Video has legs. Fresh content is critical, but in the right situation a video could be used for months or even years. Smart organizations plan a one-day shoot and stockpile evergreen content to be used for several videos and distributed over time.
PR News Subscribers can read more about spicing up PR efforts with video in: "PR Video: New Production, Distribution Options Abound, But Old Adage Remains."