How Businesses are Using Video Marketing in 2010

Posted in: Services @nl ♦ Thursday, August 26th, 2010 , 11:44 am ♦ Comments Off

There are still debates going on about how business owners can use social media marketing, but the number of CEOs using social media to engage customers is still very low, even among technology companies.

In 2010 it seems that businesses have either grown comfortable, or have been forced to accept sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare.. For instance, there are many impressive CEOs using Twitter to reach out to consumers by creating a personalized touch to their business. Tweeting CEOs like Tony Hsieh of Zappos and Guy Kawasaki of Alltop are well-known for their successful social presences and large followings as a result.

There is more to the buzz than just Twitter and Facebook, and you can see this in action by watching how business owners are using video marketing. We took a look around the web to see how CEOs and founders are leveraging video to educate and engage consumers.

Once again, we found that the number of executives active in the web video space, as in the social media space, is quite small. But for those business leaders taking an active role, we’ve uncovered some great successes. Here’s a collection of 9 CEOs and founders leveraging web video to promote their unique businesses.

1. Tom Dickson, Founder & CEO, BlendTec

Tom Dickson, Founder and CEO of BlendTec, an appliance production company that specializes in blenders, host’s his own Youtube channel – Will It Blend? In the series, Dickson tests his blenders on everyday items to see if they will blend. Popular items that were blended include an iPhone, a vuvuzela, and an iPad just to name a few.

Dickson’s YouTube series is a massive accomplishment. With just over 100 videos submitted, total video views presently total almost 131 million. We’d be shocked if that level of visibility wasn’t affecting the bottom line.

2. Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder, Winelibrary TV

Gary Vaynerchuk is the founder and host of Winelibrary TV, a daily wine video blog in which Vaynerchuk reviews wines and updates the world on the latest wine news.

Vaynerchuk uses Viddler to host his daily video messages, and he also maintains an established personal account on Viddler, where he uploads videos on social media, technology, and branding, among a range of other topics.

Business owners with large personalities should pay attention Vaynerchuk’s openness to be straightforward. He’s a straight shooter with an honest mouth. That’s what keeps his fans coming back for more.

3. Mitchell Harper, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an e-commerce platform that provides on line stores for businesses big or small. Mitchell Harper, co-founder and co-CEO of BigCommerce, posts videos to BigCommerce’s YouTube channel around once a week, focusing on topics of interest to his primary market, e-commerce professionals. His videos take an educational point of view while maintaining a down-to-earth, yet professional tone. He says:

“I think it’s important to use a whiteboard to explain concepts, and it’s kind of become my trademark in the videos. I could use a proper studio but I want the videos coming off as genuine and not professionally made. Even when I make a mistake, I don’t edit it out, because I feel it takes away from the authenticity of the message.”

Harper appears to be adding value to both his community and business. Since launching the channel about six months ago, they have garnered nearly 420,000 video views.

4. Tim O’Reilly, CEO, O’Reilly Media

O’Reilly Media, a media company that publishes books, magazines, websites, and produces conferences on technology topics. With 1,000 videos and 2.5 million video views, the O’Reilly Media YouTube channel is a well-updated source for the business.

The channel frequently has speeches by and interviews with O’Reilly. We applaud O’Reilly Media for re-purposing helpful content that would have otherwise been lost in the great unknown.

5. Kevin Rose, Founder & CEO, Digg

Kevin Rose, founder and recently appointed CEO of Digg (Digg), a social news website, co-hosts a weekly video podcast named Diggnation, together with Actor Alex Albrecht, in which they explore the top stories from Digg. Diggnation currently has over 3.3 million video views, proving that promoting your business can sometimes be as easy as shooting videos that discuss what is happening in your community.

Rose also has fairly active personal accounts on YouTube and Vimeo, in which he posts on technology, travel and food, and hosts The Random Show with Tim Ferriss, writer of The 4-Hour Work Week.

6. Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO, Mint.com

Aaron Patzer is the founder and CEO of Mint.com, and currently the vice president & general manager of Intuit’s Personal Finance Group, since Mint.com was recently acquired by Intuit (makers of the popular personal finance apps Quicken and TurboTax). One of the best contributions that a company can make to an online community is educating its users on how to use its products. That doesn’t mean you have to create hundreds of videos, keep it simple and to the point while providing value.

Mint.com’s YouTube channel does a great job of providing valuable information on how to use its products. With just over 20 videos uploaded, many of which Patzer appears in, Mint.com has gained almost 700,000 video views. Congrats to the Mint.com team for keeping it minimalist while still increasing video views. Their channel proves that quality always trumps quantity.

7. Pam Liebman, CEO, Corcoran Group

There are numerous real estate professionals diving into social media, and Corcoran Group, the biggest residential real estate firm in New York City, is on top of the pack. Corcoran has an in depth social media presence, and their video presence covers to YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv.

The videos showcase CEO Pam Liebman addressing issues posted by Facebook and Twitter followers relating to the state of the housing market and New York living suggestions. For example, in the video above, Liebman answers a question posted by Inman News‘ Rob Hahn via Twitter. These types of videos allow the Corcoran team to truly engage with potential customers, as well as showcase their expertise in New York City real estate.

8. Rob Banks (Co-Founder), BuildDirect

Rob Banks, Co-Founder of BuildDirect, a manufacturer and wholesaler of flooring and building materials, has a very active role in the companies marketing strategy. He is in hundreds of videos on BuildDirect’s YouTube channel, speaking about a variety of flooring and building materials. The videos occasionally also feature Jeff Booth, President and CEO of BuildDirect.

BuildDirect’s mission for the YouTube channel is clearly stated: “We want to educate, to entertain, and to let you know who we are as a group of people.” The occasional Pancake Day video certainly gives us a glance into their lively company culture.

Are you ready to put your company in front of potential customers with the power of video? Talk with us and lets get started before your competitors take the lead.

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How Businesses are Using Video Marketing in 2010

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