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Video for Legal Practices – 7 tips

Fergus —  May 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

You’ve probably worked out already that we think video presents many great ways for different businesses and industries to engage with customers. In this post we will focus on just a few tips that a legal practice might employ – And through in a bit of a freebie at the end :)

1, Promote Your Authority

There are hundreds of resources online for finding answers to legal questions. Understanding whether these sources are reliable or not is another matter. Video presents an ideal channel for a lawyer to engage their audience with answers to questions whilst doing so in way that carries more authority than an anonymous Q&A site.

Step 1 – Scour forums or sites like Yahoo Answers, LinkedIn Answers or Quora to see what questions are being asked.

Step 2 – Film your lawyers answering 10 of these questions. (Malpractice concerns can easily be avoided whilst ensuring comprehensive answers are given.)

Step 3 (a) – Start adding these videos to your YouTube Channel. Link them together using annotations to ensure maximum engagement with your channel

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Step 3 (b) – Create a video landing page on your own site. Use a player such as Wistia to upload your videos and optimize for SEO and rich snippets.

Over time you will build up a large bank of answers that will either drive engagement with a YouTube channel or generate traffic and enquiries through search engines.

2, Tent Pole Programming

Predicting when a client will need your services on a day to day basis is all but impossible BUT there are certain general dates that you can play to with your content output. For the same reasons scary movies get released just before a Halloween and the relationship experts turn up on chat shows just before Valentines Day, ‘Tent Pole’ programming can work for your legal practice.

The key here is to look for predictable diary events that you can leverage content creation against. (For example, the end of a financial year may create a surge of inbound calls from clients old and new. What are the chief concerns these people have?) Create a calendar of dates and events that you can play to and create videos in advance. Release just before these dates. Such content ensures that you are relevant just when your audience need you to be.

3, Meet your team

Legal firms are knowledge businesses. There is no product that can be shown off. Essentially lawyers are working with the same raw materials (i.e. the Law!) as every other business – so how can you differentiate your team?

Produce videos that showcase your team. Who are you? Put a face to a name. This will build confidence and engagement with your firm before a client even walks through the door.

Capture your team talking about the culture of your business. Explain how you help clients, your processes, your offices, your specialties. Allow clients to get to know your business. The mere fact that you are prepared to expose your team to the camera shows openness and builds confidence with your prospective clients.

4, Meet Your Clients

Even better than meeting the team is meeting some clients. What better way to find a trustworthy and competent legal firm than through recommendation?

Have you got three or four clients that will talk about the work you do? Make it fun for them – encourage them to participate. Promote their business too in exchange.

Nothing builds confidence more than a client that will stick his hand up and talk positively about your business.

5, Educate / Webinar

Run a live Q&A session online. Pick a topic such as tax and deliver a live webinar series featuring your lawyers and have an online community ask questions. Limit it to, say, 40 minutes and take pre-registrations.

Allow participants to ask questions via Twitter using a hashtag to gain extra exposure.

Once the webinar is complete take the recording and split it into several videos for each question.

Post these video clips to your YouTube channel or again to your own video landing page. After your webinar be sure to run an email campaign that includes links to your videos.

6, Add video to your Email

Start adding video to your email campaigns. It will not only increase your open rates dramatically but it will also increase the engagement with your services. Use a hosted video service such as Wistia so that you can track who is watching your videos and how they are engaging with them. Are they finding particular sections interesting? If so concentrate other videos on these areas.

If you have run a live event be sure to include video in your post-event mailout.

7, Feedback

Use video analytics to assess what to make. Are certain videos doing better than others. If so why? Is it a particularly difficult topic or one that is relevant at a particular time of year?

Take these trends and build on them. Can you expand on these topics?

Look at in-video metrics. Are certain parts of videos getting repeated? Again, Wistia in-video analytics is a great way to determine what people are watching. Can this a particular topic be broken off to a new piece of content?

8, Pay Per View – Guaranteed views for your videos

Perhaps one of the best ways to quickly and directly engage with prospective clients is using LinkedIn Video and Google Video Ads.

That is a whole new post but as a tester – Promote this article and receive a $100 LinkedIn Video Ad Coupon.


In Buyer, Tips n Tricks, Video Marketing Tools
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Using Parody the Legal Way in Your Videos

Ricardo —  May 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

In the quest to create a hit video for marketing purposes, many companies decide to parody a popular or well-known bit of media to catch the attention of viewers with short attention spans. However, using the name, images, or likenesses of a competitor or individual could get you into big trouble. It’s important to understand how to create an effective and legal parody video before you invest in recording and editing.

The Right Tone

A video showing your competitor’s logo with negative narration over it won’t qualify as a parody. Humour, sarcasm and commentary are all important aspects of parody. You don’t have to make jokes that everyone finds funny, but there does need to be some clear attempt at humour in the clip. Your right to use copyrighted material is only protected when you create commentary around it with mockery. If you don’t maintain that kind of tone, your material could be considered a misrepresentation of the truth.

Fair Use

That humorous focus is also crucial when it comes to fair use. Copyright law protects the creations of your competitors, but you still have a right to use them for parody videos. The power of the First Amendment overrides these protections when you are creating a joke around a specific cultural icon or company. However, it is still best to use variations on the logo and name of another establishment rather than copy them directly, to avoid disputes. Mocking Youtube by calling it BooTube will ensure your company won’t come under fire for using trademarked materials, without completely losing the interest of your audience.

Use a Disclaimer

If you want to avoid any confusion, add a quick disclaimer to the beginning of the video to make your intentions of parody very clear. You can also add a notification about your humour in the text description below the clip. It is best to consult with your company’s legal team or lawyer before you use any legal terms in your disclaimer. Your expert can quickly write a disclaimer tailored to your company’s video marketing efforts that will keep you out of hot water.

Parody requires a good sense of humour. If you are creating video for marketing purposes, you will need to have a strong sense of what you want to accomplish before using humour in your content. A parody can bring in a lot of new attention, but only if it is genuinely funny.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , , ,
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Three Companies Utilising Video for Better Customer Service

admin —  May 3, 2013 — Leave a comment

Video may play a strong role in your marketing efforts, but do you utilise it for customer service solutions? There are dozens of companies spread across various industries finding that video is just as useful for solving problems with products or sharing updates with customers, but these three stand out from the crowd.

iRobot Corporation

This company helps customers to keep their Roomba floor vacuums running smoothly with a full library of support videos. Professional technicians demonstrate basic maintenance and simple repairs for common issues in a way that everyone can understand.

AT&T

Telecommunication issues are frustrating for consumers. AT&T designed a set of troubleshooting videos to help users fix their own problems or narrow down the cause before a technician comes. The one-on-one format makes each customer feel like they are receiving personal assistance, but these videos are pre-recorded.

Sprint PCS

When you’re having an issue with your smart phone, you can turn to the Sprint PCS knowledge base for help. Enter your phone’s model number or name and discover a resource that seamlessly combines videos, articles and images that are all related to your device and the issue you are facing.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , , , , ,
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Tips for Boosting Search Rankings of Your Youtube One Channel

admin —  April 30, 2013 — Leave a comment

Youtube recently created the One Channel programme to help content producers unify their efforts rather than splitting them. Many video makers were using a dozen or more different channels to keep content separated for their viewers. The One Channel provides these sub-categories for you, taking a lot of the work out of managing multiple streams. However, switching to the One Channel means a new approach to getting highly ranked in searches. Try to focus on quality and keywords equally to see more attention for each clip.

Expand Your Channel Title

Don’t be afraid to write a longer and more informative channel title when using the One system. Try dropping your most important keyword phrase and your organisation’s name together with a dash separating the two for a title that draws in the viewer. Provide context so visitors don’t have to guess your focus or affiliation with a company or business. Many channel owners completely forget to put their company name on the channel at all, which causes them to miss out on a lot of extra traffic that comes from social media.

Associate with Others

Search out other content producers that share your niche without being outright competition and then feature some of their videos on your channel. This builds a connection that Youtube finds, usually when creating dynamic search results. You can trade featured slots with fellow producers for mutual gain. This tactic doesn’t necessarily provide big boosts in search alone, but it will help you enjoy more recommended placement due to the associations you are building. Any tactic that gets your content in front of viewers is worth adding to your arsenal.

Complete It

When setting up your new One Channel, spend plenty of time filling out a well-rounded description. Treat it like a conversation with a potential customer and take a friendly tone. Weave together plenty of information about your company into the description to help visitors understand the benefits of your content. It’s much easier to convert the views you receive into actions, such as purchases, when visitors know exactly what you do. Keep away from keyword stuffing and ensure every sentence is correct and accurate. Avoid outrageous claims; these could be held against you, so stay honest for the best results. Adding unrelated but popular keyword phrases won’t help you rank higher in searches either.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , ,
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Generate Hundreds of Video Ideas in a Snap with Mapping

admin —  April 24, 2013 — Leave a comment

Coming up with a brand new concept for a new video release can be challenging whether you are making your first clip or your thousandth. If you want to create a clip that isn’t simply a copy of your competitor’s content, try some new brainstorming techniques to get the ideas flowing in new and surprising ways. Experimenting with mind mapping could make your work feel more like play and provide you with dozens or even hundreds of concepts to base videos around. Mind mapping involves drawing a map consisting of many circles connected by lines. Each bubble contains a concept or idea and the lines show how they are connected. Write down a few concepts related to your business and watch as they branch into complex hierarchies of new video ideas.

Getting Started

Whilst there are many options for building these maps online or on your computer, the simplest method requires only a sheet of paper and a pen. Start by putting your product or company name in the centre of the page and then circle it. Think of four benefits, functions, or other concepts related to the centre point. Write each one a small distance from the centre, then circle it and link these bubbles with a line back to the centre. Pick one concept and start expanding upon it in the same way. For example, you could start with Widget A in the centre. Four features could include low cost, low maintenance, high wear resistance and cute packaging. Expanding on just the low maintenance concept could provide you with video ideas like cleaning tutorials and minor repair tips.

Organising Your Ideas

Once you have your video concepts completed, you will notice that the mapping technique keeps the ideas relatively organised by related category. However, you may want to further reorder the concepts before saving them for use. It may be best to collect the ideas by type of video, especially if you already know what format you want to use for executing them. Try grouping tutorials, product summaries and social engagement clips together. This will help you vary your releases so you aren’t dumping a dozen closely related videos on your viewers all at once. Drafting a year’s worth of video development and release is easy when you have dozens of new ideas all organised by type and concept.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , ,
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Four Ways to Quickly Generate a Great Library of Content

admin —  April 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

When a company first discovers the wide world of video marketing, all of the options and challenges can become quite overwhelming. Many feel that they are already far behind the trends and can’t catch up. However, you could easily have a full library of clips drawing attention and sparking conversations with consumers in less than six months if you are serious about using this type of marketing. Try some of these four fun ways to come up with a well-rounded collection of informative and entertaining videos.

Spread it Out

If you come up with a great idea or format, you don’t have to use it for just one clip. A new product release could result in a Questions & Answers clip, a short teaser before the release and real consumer testimonials to create more interest. Expand concepts and ideas across multiple releases to fill out your channel or account without tapping all of your creative reserves.

Plan Your Releases

Major movie producers stick to a tight schedule when releasing their newest creations to the public. Take a page from their book and draw up plans for clips over the next six months or so. Holding yourself to a specific release schedule will ensure you reach your content goals each year and produce constant interest in your company throughout the year. Don’t forget to work in extra time for professional assistance in the creation of your video content.

Find What Your Audiences Want

The usefulness of the comments section can’t be overemphasised when you are building your video brand from the bottom up. Without feedback, it is much harder to guess what viewers want to see in the future. Requests from concerned or intrigued consumers could give you hundreds of helpful ideas to keep you going on with production for years. Don’t be afraid of the occasional negative message. You can either remove them or respond to demonstrate your professionalism and willingness to help dissatisfied customers.

Build a Creative Team

Even if you are the sole proprietor of a very small business, build yourself a team of helpful and creative people to bounce ideas off during brainstorming sessions. Big businesses should invest in the help of experienced consultants or an in-house team to keep the ideas coming. Leaving just one person in charge of all the ideas for a video library will only lead to repetition in the end.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , ,
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Balance Out Your Short and Long Term Viewing Goals

admin —  April 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

In the world of Internet video, the short attention span of the average viewer has most larger producers pushing to release new content at an insane pace. For many people, this focus on nothing but the initial interest in a video is causing a lot of wasted time and energy. Data dissected from some of Youtube’s biggest hits show that viral videos can continue to gain large numbers in the weeks and months following their release. Failing to keep promoting your older content will only cost you attention in the long run.

Go for the Long Tail

When a video continues to bring in hundreds or thousands of hits as time passes, it’s considered a long tail hit. Some of the web’s biggest hits have gained 80% or more of their total views long after the initial release date. If a clip garners 50,000 views in the first three days, it may gain another 500,000 over the next six months if it is properly handled and promoted in that time. ReelSEO reports that a long tail hit can have a far greater impact on your business than a dozen clips that only have a short burst of interest.

New Ways to Renew Interest

If you have built a sizable library of content but are disappointed in the sheer number of views you have received, consider bringing out your older clips for new rounds in the social media. Good techniques for renewing interest in a video include:

- Featuring the clip in a Facebook page.
- Linking to the video from your Twitter stream.
- Remixing older pieces into new playlists and groups with your newest releases.
- Putting all of your existing content onto Pinterest.
- Creating video responses to answer questions created by the original video and then linking them together.
- Writing a blog post updating or reinforcing the message in the clip and then linking to it.

Getting new views on content that is simply sitting idle will usually take less effort than promotions for a brand new clip. Dedicated viewers can send traffic trickling in for years if they remember to come back to your library every so often. Keep moving old content out in front of new fans so everyone can get a full appreciation for your video creation skills. A quick post on Facebook can have surprising effects.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing
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Turning Your Video Library into a Community

admin —  April 17, 2013 — Leave a comment

Building a well-rounded library of video content is quite a feat on its own. However, a lot of clips and videos won’t necessarily boost your bottom line by themselves. Video is usually used as just one part of a larger social marketing scheme, especially when it is being leveraged by a large and competitive corporation. Video success relies on sharing, discussion and other social media activities. Look into techniques for turning a Youtube page into an instant community if you want amazing returns on your investment.

Embrace Comments, Even Bad Ones

Keeping spam and inappropriate content out of your comment sections does require a little extra work. For most producers, the interaction provided by commenting can’t be beaten. Encouraging feedback from viewers is the easiest way to learn what your visitors want to see in your next releases. If you don’t have the time or staff to respond personally to every comment on your content, pick a few for each week and send off quick replies to show that there is a human behind your company.

Encourage Early Activity

Snagging a high spot on the Youtube search rankings requires a lot of social activity on your page. It’s best if you can get comments and shares early on with each clip. The biggest boost in rankings will come from the attention your video gets in its first 48 hours. As soon as the upload ends, send links through all of your distribution networks. Companies without social distribution plans should create a basic model of sharing content before developing very many video clips. Failing to share your content properly with viewers you already know are interested could cause you to fall behind your competitors when searchers look for keywords related to your content.

Get Talking

Setting up a separate account that is clearly linked to your company could help you kick off the conversation with viewers in the comments section. Use this employee or branded account to make an initial comment and break the ice. Many times a single comment is effective at starting a deluge of notes and recommendations. Don’t try to hide the connection between the account and your brand or you run the risk of appearing to fake interest in your own content. Kick off a lively discussion by asking a question or requesting feedback from people who watch the clip.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing ,
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Measure the Potential Popularity of Your Video with Unruly

admin —  April 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

It is still practically impossible to predict how popular a specific video might become over the weeks and months. However, certain metrics can be measured when videos are viewed. These metrics seem to be tied to the action of sharing content on a social network. Since social sharing is a major part of making a viral video hit, Unruly has created a tool to provide insight on the “shareability” of a specific clip. Investing in the information provided by this company could be worthwhile if you’re sure you need a viral hit to spark up business.

The Chart

This new algorithm for predicting the power of a video was released by Unruly in February. The company designed it as yet another part of their full testing and analysis lab for video popularity. They have developed multiple techniques for social tracking to create a chart that shows the rise and fall of viral video trends. The Viral Video Chart contains data on all of the metrics the company has found linked to success after release. This chart includes data from more than 300 billion streams to provide a quick glimpse of the entire industry.

What You Get

The ShareRank programme involves real viewing tests with over 150 people. At least 100 people used for the test will be from the target demographic of the company. This provides a greater view into the mind of the customer you want to attract. Viewers interact with the content and report about its good points and unattractive features. If you notice a constant theme in the comments, you can quickly adjust your video marketing efforts to see greater returns in weeks. This kind of flexibility is rarely provided by other kinds of video analysis. Finding out your ShareRank is one step in the journey towards creating your own viral hit. The company reports an 80% rate of success among the companies that used the data gathered to create a content strategy for video.

Building Bridges

Use the ShareRank information to change both new and old content for maximum effect. Make existing clips more visible by determining why viewers aren’t finding your content when searching the web. Ensure new material fits the needs of consumers and determine which social networks to target, with one round of intensive testing. You should ultimately integrate the information from Unruly with other research to create a complete distribution plan across multiple platforms.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , ,
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Three Ways to Use Vine to Your Advantage

admin —  April 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Twitter’s native video sharing application is certainly limited in its abilities. Vine can only support six second clips and the videos are cycled endlessly on the pages of your followers. However, marketers can use this platform for their own benefit if they use these limitations to their advantage.

Request Interaction

Try announcing a contest or requesting short viewer testimonials by creating your own quick Vine clip. You could show off the prize for a competition or share the pertinent details of a big event. Motivating a specific action is much easier with an engaging format like video.

Demonstrate Your Product

Nothing can beat a quick 360 degree view of the very item you are hoping to sell. A short glimpse into a service is just as tantalising when viewed by a motivated consumer. Visual communication is very effective, so use Vine to capture real footage of your product.

Get Cheeky

Humour is often harder to pull off in a longer video. A six second flash of a silly idea is less likely to stray into staleness or veer towards a shock factor. Capture a visual pun related to your company or product, such as the gecko used in ads for GEICO.

In Buyer, Creative, Online Video Advertising, Tips n Tricks, Video & Rich Media, Video Marketing , , ,
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