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Audio and Video

Over the past decade, video on the web has exploded. As bandwidth has increased, and more people have access to high speed internet connections the likes of YouTube and Vimeo have gripped the imagination of web users. Before HTML5, the most common method for including video on a webpage was to render it using Adobe Flash. YouTube and Vimeo continue to use this approach by default, but both have started migrating to a more accessible and standards friendly HTML5 version <video> tag. The HTML5 <video> tag, <audio> tag are fast becoming the method for presenting rich media content in a way that is compatible  with all devices,  including smartphones.

More recently, many vendors including Apple dropped support for Flash from their mobile devices. The HTML5 specification has long proposed native video and audio in the browser, as part of its aim to reduce the amount of code and work required to deploy common media types to the web. As with other HTML5 enhancements, direct embedding offers numerous accessibility benefits, and search engine indexing improvements over Flash.

The usage is simple: use a <video> tag to embed video,  and an <audio> tag to embed audio, and nest within the tag links to the different formats in which you have encoded your media.  There are two competing standards H.264 and WebM and many more for audio.

In order to use HTML5 to render video, you need to encode your video and audio into multiple formats and link to each format within the <audio> and <video> tags ensure every HTML5 capable browser will be able to render your media. For older browsers that do not support HTML5, it is also safe to use H.264 encoded video only and provide Flash as a fall back for those who don’t support H.264 files.

Both new tags allow for fallback content, which makes it a simple process to upgrade your existing Flash embed code to make use of HTML5 without excluding older browsers and no direct need for browser sniffing scripts.

Geolocation

The growing market for location-aware applications, where content is specifically oriented towards both the user and their current position. These apps take advantage of a hardware enhancement common to most smartphones running software from Apple, Google and Microsoft.  HTML5 offers us the ability to query the user’s location and tailor our web content accordingly.

The geolocation element of HTML5 is made available through an API, accessible with Javascript. The location isn’t dependant  upon the device accessing the page having a GPS chip, so any HTML5 capable browser with support for the geolocation API will attempt to locate the visitor using available means Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth, RFID etc. The user has to explicitly choose to share their location through the API before any results are returned to the browser.

Current smartphones and tablets devices are typically running HTML5 engineered browsers, so are the most common devices able to use this functionality. You can request the user’s location with a few simple lines of Javascript code. The data is only useful if you do something with it like, a customised map that shows the location of nearest public convenience or a set of driving instructions to the office locations.

Translating the user’s location into something meaningful is made easier with the likes of OpenLayers, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps or Google Maps, and each of these offers an API allowing you to pass in a location expressed in latitude and longitude.

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How important is video in digital marketing? Has including video in email become a standard practice?

Brand sites and social media sites are the most popular channels for distributing video content, but just over half of those surveyed were actually using video content within their email campaigns.

Video is a powerful way to move prospective buyers through the conversion funnel. Video within email has a positive impact on campaign performance and email generate a higher click-through rate. Now a  whole new crop of email service providers and technology vendors now offer solutions that give marketers the ability to provide users with a richer experience within the inbox.

To make the most of video within email, marketers must understand the value proposition brought by open standards. Since HTML5 , is built into most modern Web browsers as well as most modern mobile devices, many mail clients (e.g. Hotmail) are actually now capable of displaying video directly in the body of the email when users view that email in an HTML5 compliant Web browser (e.g. IE9+, Chrome3 and Firefox3.5+).

To include video in email, it is necessary to use the HTML5 video tag. While the rate at which your own recipient list will be able to view and play video directly within email will vary,  it is imperative that your email service provider also offers the ability to “fall back” and provide either an animated .GIF/.PNG or a static image to the recipient, depending on the mail client in use.

Solutions from email service providers should be sophisticated enough to automatically know where videos work and provide fall-back support in real time as the message is opened. For example, while an email  with video won’t play in Gmail, it does support animated .GIFs ; whereas in Outlook 2007 or 2010, neither video or animated .GIFs will work, so you need a static image fall-back.

Many best practices remain that should be employed to ensure that video within email carries value for the campaign. Sending videos relevant to your audience should be given, as would indicating the contents of the email- in this case , that there is in fact a video.

Supporting copy should be included, along with some information about what will happen when the video is clicked.

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The key to marketing on YouTube is to lead viewers from your video on the YouTube site to your company’s website—where you can then directly sell your products and services.

Include Your URL in the Video: Unfortunately, YouTube doesn’t allow live links from a video to a third-party website. You can, however, include your website address in the body of  the video—and hope that viewers will remember it or write it down for future reference.

It is recommend starting your  video with a blank title screen with the URL prominently displayed. You should also end the video with a similar blank screen with the URL highlighted. Make sure the URL is big and easily readable; high contrast colors, such as white text on a black background (or vice versa), provide the best results.

You should also display your URL onscreen during the main part of your video. Use your video editing program to overlay the URL across the screen. The URL shouldn’t interfere with the main content, of course, but you should be able to do it in a way that isn’t overly intrusive.

Include Your URL in the Accompanying Text: You can’t link live from within a YouTube video. Unfortunately, you also can’t include a link to your website in the description that accompanies the video.  You can, however, include your URL in the text description, but just not as a live link. So when you write the description for your video, make sure you
include your URL or 800-number in the text.

Link from Your Channel Page: While you can’t include a live link in your video or accompanying text, you can
include a direct link to your website in your YouTube channel page. Anyone clicking your user name will see your channel  page, with the link to your website prominently displayed. When a viewer clicks the website link, they’re taken directly to your site—where you can sell them more of what you have to offer.

Close the Sale on Your Website: The URL you point to from your YouTube video should be a dedicated landing
page. That means that you don’t point to a generic page on your site or even to your site’s home page; either approach requires unnecessary work on the part of the customer to place an order. Instead, link to a specific product page on your site, one that includes information only about the product shown in the video.

Why design a special landing page for viewers of your YouTube video? It’s simple: You want to make it as easy as possible for them to give you their money. If you just dump potential customers on your site’s home page, they could get lost. Or they might have trouble finding the product they want and give up. In any instance, you don’t want them randomly browsing your site; you want them immediately responding to your specific offer.

For this reason, your product landing page should have the same look and feel of the video so that viewers sense the underlying connection. It doesn’t hurt to include a screenshot or two from the video or even an embedded version of the video in the case the customer wants to rewatch it. The page should also include more detailed information about the product than was possible in the video, as well as more detailed product photos.

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Online stores have a number of opportunities to generate revenue— some of which (advertising, in particular) also represent revenue opportunities for non e-commerce sites, such as media content providers or social networks.

Direct sales the revenue stream for e-commerce sites. The simple and straight-forward mission of an e-commerce site is to sell as many products to as many online shoppers as possible. Products can be tangible, such as shampoo, sneakers, and groceries, or intangible, such as digital music or the purchase of a reserved seat on a flight. Typically, the direct sale of products is made in numbers of units, with each unit multiplied by the advertised price (three bottles of shampoo at $5 each is a grand total of $15, plus any shipping, taxes, and other charges that may apply).

Typically, consumers who purchase products do so for one of three reasons:

–They have a need for a certain type of product. Although they may switch brands from time to time, they have decided in advance that they have a need for a specific product (for example, a new car if their old one is dying, or a tube of toothpaste once the current one is used up).

–They want a certain type of product. This want may linger for a while, depending on how expensive or frivolous the product is (such as jewelry), or may be satisfied more quickly depending on how great the want is (such as the latest video game console). In the mind of the consumer, the decision-making process in terms of where and when to buy is less urgent because there is not an absolute necessity to make the purchase.

–They are compelled to buy an item at or around the time of purchase. Some of the most valuable real estate in any traditional retailer is the space near the cash register, where consumers may make last-minute purchases of items that are within their line of vision. These items tend to be smaller, lower priced items, such as gum, chocolate bars, bottles of water or soda, batteries, and similar items that people are more likely to decide they want at the last moment.

A successful e-commerce company will consider each of these purchasing reasons in the development of its site. Because online stores do not have floor space for displays, salespeople to point the shopper in a specific direction, or signage hanging from the ceiling, e-commerce marketers have only two means of pushing their products to consumers: the page layout and a compelling presentation of their product.

In the presentation of the product, marketers generally rely on three elements:

–Copy, which can be used to describe the product, its attributes, its value, and any other important information that the marketer feels will be appropriate to boost sales. Copy also includes information such as the price of the product, size, weight, and other such vital info.

–Pictures, which are used to provide a visual reference so that shoppers can see what they are buying. In the case of products that might be less familiar, or whose appeal might be in the way they look (picture frames or decorative candle holders, for example), marketers may decide to show the product from a number of different angles. As with copy, smaller images, called thumbnails, are shown initially, and larger images are often provided upon further consumer investigation. Other times, application shots are provided to show how the product might look in its fi nal environment
or when being used by a representative consumer.

–Video of the product is sometimes used to demonstrate how the product works, market its benefi ts, or generally build excitement for the product.

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The key driving factors to Web 3.0 marketing include browsing habits, browsing methods, more intelligent information, the experience you are looking for, and the openness of the Web. Web 3.0 marketing is the convergence of new technologies and rapidly changing consumer buying trends.

Live, streaming video is outpacing static video, and companies like Twitter, Plurk, and Jaiku are growing much more
rapidly than Blogger, WordPress, or TypePad. The Web 3.0 marketing world is where customized, intelligent information
is available at our fingertips, on any device, from anywhere in the world.

Components of Web 3.0 Marketing

Microblogging: is the ability to share your thoughts with a set number of characters. People are busy with limited time, so why not get right to the point of the story in 140 characters or fewer? Examples include Twitter, Plurk, and Jaiku.

Virtual Reality Worlds: are places users visit to interact with others from around the world in a 3-D setting. Meetings are being conducted in these spaces, and trade shows are being replaced with virtual reality shows. Examples include Second Life and Funsites.

Customization/Personalization: allows visitors to create a more personalized experience. They are starting to expect their name to appear at the top of Web sites, personal e-mails, and even advanced checkout options that suit their buying habits. As the Web becomes more and more intelligent, personalization will be the norm. Examples include SendOutCards, Google, and Amazon.

Mobile: plays on the fact that there are billions of cellphone users throughout the world. This number is much larger than those that use PCs. Consumers are surfing the Web and purchasing products right from their mobile phones. They are also using their phones and becoming instant journalists by shooting raw footage of random acts. Examples include iPhones and BlackBerrys.

On-Demand Collaboration: allows users to interact in real time by looking over documents, collaborating,and making changes in real time. Software as a service also fits into on-demand collaboration as it allows users to leverage only Web-based solutions. Examples include Google Docs, http://www.Salesforce.com, http://www.Slideshare.net, and http://www.Box.net.

Web3.0 Marketing Technology

-A system to send voice broadcasts to mobile phones, and one that will also send SMS (text messages). (www.trumpia.com).

-A Web-based customer relationship management system.  Salesforce.com.

-An all-in-one solution for capturing leads, managing sales, and garnering affiliates. http://www.amazingshoppingcart.
com is a great place to start.

-A solid team (or individual, to start), whether in-house or outsourced, that knows programming. This person should be able to develop applications, be able to work with open-source code, and ideally know how to program in Second Life. Check out http://www.RentACoder.com for ideas.

-platform to virtually communicate and collaborate across a company. My all-time favorite company is Google. For instance, Taz Solutions, Inc. company.

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Google+ social network  home page just like Facebook consists largely of a news feed or a ‘Stream’. The Stream is organized a little bit differently to Facebook though- stuff that you’ve hit +1 on commented on previously will rise to the top of your feed if there is a new comment. So Google knows that you are interested in becoming more visible.

Like Facebook, you can make a status update, or share photos, video and your location. Unlike Facebook, you don’t have to do it on your own profile to make an update. There is a drop-down ‘Share’ menu in the upper right corner which allows you to share from any Google+ page. So you don’t have to open a new tab to share something, or navigate from the page you are using.

There is another menu on upper right for notifications. This works similarly to Facebook in that it changes colour when you have a notification, and drops down when you click on it. Unlike facebook, you can reply to comments within that menu.  So you don’t have to navigate away from whatever you are doing.

Circles: Google  reckons that ;people have different “social circles”. When you add someone on Google+, you put them into at least one circle using a drag and drop down system. Sometimes you might want someone in more than one different circle,  ‘family and ‘friends’. You just need to drag and drop into a second circle.

Categorizing people into groups can be done on Facebook, but it is hidden within Facebook’s  settings. Google+ makes creating those filters easy, so you don’t have to share anything with anyone you don’t want to. Every time you share something on your Stream, you get to choose which people to filter in or out.

Sparks: You can search for anything that interests you, and any Google News that applies to that interest will show up in your Sparks news feed. In short, Google+ is doing some simple keyword and tag search

Hangout: is Google’s video chat feature. When you start a Hangout session on Google+ , it starts you default webcam and broadcasts  video to your circles. It opens up in a pop-up window.  You can invite people to join the video chat.

Google+ Android App: Android users can download an app to assist them while they are away from their keyboard. It has just five icons on the main screen- Stream,  Huddle, Photos, Profile and circles. There is a bar across the bottom of the screen that tells you if you have any notifications.

Using Huddle from the Android app is a handy way to communicate with a group of people- it is basically a reply to all email function.

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The market for video is vast and online video usage continues its meteoric growth. Video is big business and as users expect more from the ’Net experience, new demands will be placed on Web professionals.

The list of benefits that video marketing provides is long and the proof extensive. For instance, retail site visitors who
view video stay two minutes longer, on average, and are 64 percent more likely to purchase than other site visitors. When used in e-mail marketing, video has been shown to increase click-through rates by more than 96 percent.  Email Marketing Trends reveal, Rich media ads containing video increase purchase intent by 1.16 percent and drive success more than four times that of Flash animation (DoubleClick, The Brand Value of Rich Media Ads). If video impacts the e-commerce, e-mail and design industries, count on it impacting your industry vertical as well.

However, many questions about the efficacy of video marketing and development remain. Does metacafe.com offer a realistic portal for your video marketing ideas? What about user-generated video aggregators, such as YouTube  or MegaVideo , where users are consuming the majority of video content today? You will find services that enable live broadcasting, like Justin.tv  and ustream.tv , right alongside emerging video destinations like vodpod.com , and tools like TwitVid.

1. youtube.com 2. ehow.com 3. dailymotion.com 4. hulu.com 5. metacafe.com 6. vimeo.com                         7. megavideo.com 8. ustream.tv 9. veoh.com 10. justin.tv 11. collegehumor.com 12. buzzfeed.com             13. toptvbytes.com 14. youku.com 15. funnyordie.com 16. vodpod.com 17. stagevu.com 18. tudou.com  19. ted.com 20. wonderhowto.com 21. kendincos.net 22. videosurf.com 23. blip.tv 24. crunchyroll.com 25. livestream.com 26. jokeroo.com 27. viddler.com 28. truveo.com 29. current.com 30. yidio.com       31. livevideo.com 32. videojug.com 33. wisevid.com 34. grindtv.com 35. stickam.com                                       36. letmewatchthis.com 37. craveonline.com 38. ourstage.com 39. nothingtoxic.com 40. casttv.com   41. twitvid.com 42. vuze.com 43. flixxy.com 44. kontraband.com 45. trutv.com 46. crackle.com
47. revver.com 48. guba.com 49. slashcontrol.com 50. mevio.com

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You might not be ready for video advertising, but video advertising is ready for you. The unfortunate dilemma for millions of Web professionals is that the complexity surrounding video ads (from both a marketing and technical standpoint) is substantial. Video advertising proponents believe it to be the future of content, while others have hesitated to test the medium. Perhaps the most important reason to consider adding video advertising to your online promotional mix is that it will soon be a $4 billion dollar market by 2013.

Online video advertising provides a targeted (demographic, interest or intent), measurable (per creative, per site, per impression, per user) and real-time (dynamic optimization) means to drive underlying but important performance metrics —impressions, video starts, completions or (gasp) actual conversions. The most significant problem facing online video advertisers is not production; it is all the challenges associated with finding the right venue and/or publisher. Publishers struggle, too, with ways to monetize video, and advertisers are overpaying, thanks to poorly packaged video
advertising offers. Below are four video advertising networks for your consideration.

Google: While not exclusively a video advertising network, Google’s YouTube provides video advertisers the most viable opportunity out of the gate. Advertisers are able to appear on videos (in the bottom 20 percent of the viewing area) with Google’s InVideo ads, or in the video content itself through pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll on the Google Content Network. Click-to-play video ads are also an option, as well as Google Gadget Ads. Thanks to two acquisitions in Episodic (a live broadcasting platform) and On2 (video compression), the company is clearly giving video the proper level of attention it deserves. Click-to-play video ads are also an option, as well as Google Gadget Ads.

YuMe: This video advertising network’s ad management platform, ACE, gives publishers and advertisers the ability to identify, classify and track content to ensure brand safety, contextual relevance, controlled syndication and consistent delivery across all digital media platforms; including Web, downloads, mobile and IPTV. Key YuMe innovations include the first cross-platform ad solution and the ability to serve multiple ad formats and placements through a single, unified system.

SpotXchange: Performance-based video advertising network SpotXchange is presenting some progressive video advertising capabilities. Not only does SpotXchange offer traditional video overlays and video banners, they also offer pre-roll and pre-game video ads accompanied by companion banner ads. Auction-based pricing and a host of powerful targeting criteria includes geography (to the DMA or ZIP-code level), channel and sub-channel, demographics, dayparting and retargeting, making the solution a strong market player.

VidShout: One of the ways to beat the video learning curve is to consider inclusive packages — those aiding in the development process as much as they do syndication and reporting. VidShout lets advertisers create videos by uploading images or their own videos, add taglines, choose music, upload voice files and include transition effects, then automate the development of call-to-action landing pages, syndicate the video on more than 60 sites (including portals, directories and shopping sites) and provides activity and lead reports.

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An e-commerce sales tactic can be defined as any business strategy, technological tool or operational procedure that is implemented to generate conversions. Exploring new sales tactics, evaluating the ones you have in place and reexamining what you may have overlooked should be a frequent exercise that will help your company prosper. Below are five tactics that are worth taking a look at, along with information on how you can make each one of them work for your own e-commerce business.

Affiliate Programs: Diving into the affiliate marketing pool can seem like a daunting task, especially when you consider its sheer depth. There are affiliate networks that will offer to do the legwork (such as Share-a-Sale, Commission Junction, LinkShare and Google Affiliate Network); affiliate directories to help you find partners (Affiliate Scout, Associate Programs, Affiliates Directory and Affiliate Showcase), and affiliate software designed to manage the process (iDevDirect, Has Offers, Post Affiliate Pro and Direct Track), not to mention the millions of potential affiliate partners waiting in the wings. Affiliate marketing has become its own vast industry with unlimited resources. But many e-commerce merchants simply don’t know where to begin.

The good news is that if you can  get more than 10 percent of sales through affiliate programs, but the even better news is what the added links can do for your  search results. You simply can’t buy that kind of traffic. Even if that was all I got out of it, it still would have been the best $500  you  ever spent in my life. Now you can reap the rewards of hundreds of partners with links to your  site. If joining a network is simply not a viable option for your business right now, the directories and the software mentioned above are all valuable resources to help you get started.

Loyalty and Rewards Programs:Loyalty is a two-way street, and the most effective way to keep customers returning to your site is by instilling in them the same sense of loyalty that you hope to get in return. Developing rewards programs to direct shoppers back to your website can be a simple process with unlimited returns for merchants.

Loyalty is a two-way street, and the most effective way to keep customers returning to your site is by instilling in them the same sense of loyalty that you hope to get in return. Developing rewards programs to direct shoppers back to your website can be a simple process with unlimited returns for merchants.

A good example is the case of Netflix, which has built a community of millions of loyal customers who receive a variety of customized services through different levels of membership. But you don’t have to be a top 100 online retailer to make an impact through loyalty and rewards programs. The point is to let your customers know that you value their business and then to show them through quasi-personalized services. Examples may include discounts for returning shoppers or on orders of multiple items, providing coupons for referrals,  reduced shipping charges for qualified customers or creating a points system to reward frequent buyers.

E-commerce platform providers such as Volusion and Magento have begun to add loyalty program functions to their software packages , but it’s also something you can implement on your own with a little creativity and follow-through. It can be a fun way to build longstanding relationships with your clientele, and customer loyalty can become one of your company’s most prized assets.

Video: Video is the fastest-growing medium on the Web and on the cusp of becoming the most effective sales tactic in e-commerce. But it is still not uniformly accepted by consumers as a purchasing tool. This places smaller merchants in the awkward position of having to decide if, when and how to incorporate video onto their own sites, trying to walk the fine line between appearing antiquated on the one side and obnoxious on the other.

The solution, then, is to give customers the option of  watching a product demonstration, a media report or a testimonial
on video. All are powerful sales tools that can be viewed at the customer’s choosing, but you won’t chase them off of your site if video is not their thing just yet. It is not a difficult process to implement, and companies such as Invodo, Liveclicker and Video Commerce offer multi-tiered solutions. Using video to promote products and services online is
one of the most underused e-commerce strategies today.

User Reviews and Product Ratings: Customer reviews and ratings are becoming increasingly important criteria in the decision-making processes of online shoppers. It has been found that two out of three Internet consumers spend a minimum of 10 minutes scouring product reviews before making an online purchase, and that one in every three shoppers spends 30 minutes or more. This is a practice that has grown dramatically in the past two years, and it is only going to become more enmeshed in the online shopping experience.

Another interesting discovery was the influence that negative reviews were found to have on consumers; or, more precisely, the impact that a lack of negative reviews can have. Shoppers are relying more on user-generated reviews and product ratings to make their purchasing decisions, but the absence of negative reviews raises questions about a company’s trustworthiness. Managing your user-generated reviews, then, becomes a very important part of the equation.

Companies such as Bazaarvoice and PowerReviews provide a variety of different management tools. Of course, it’s up to the merchants to generate positive feedback about their products through quality and service, but all indications are that ratings and reviews have arrived as an indispensable resource for Internet consumers.

Live Chat:  Over the past few years, live chat has graduated from a useful customer service tool to a highly effective e-commerce sales tactic. Numerous companies that utilize live chat during the checkout process have recorded significant reductions in shopping cart abandonment as a result. Today’s consumers are looking for as much credible product information as they can find, and live chat gives merchants the ability to share their expertise and to separate themselves from the competition at a critical juncture in the purchasing process.

Live chat enables us to really enhance the customer shopping experience, and we’ve seen increased customer satisfaction, a higher rate of conversions and higher value orders as a result.

Bold Software is one of the leading providers of live chat platforms, and others include OnClick Solutions and LivePerson.
There are also a number of websites that offer free live chat software, which would enable you to test it out on a trial basis.