Welcome back!

I have to tell you, I am a huge movie fan but am not really crazy about all the hoopla surrounding the awards. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome to celebrate the achievements of the filmmakers that change cinema with their creativity. The awards have just gotten so…BIG.

What I will say is, any BIG event, is a chance to go viral. The Fine Brothers do a great job by incorporating the topical Oscar subject into their latest post. For those of you who don’t yet know the Fine Brothers, I’ll give you a brief lowdown (right from their Youtube Channel description). The Fine Brothers are one of web video’s original pioneers and continue to be one of its most popular filmmakers. Their videos have been seen over 23 million times and featured on every major video site.

At NATPE the bothers explained their process for going viral and exhaustive. The results speak for themselves.

The Stats:
Uploaded Feb 17th 2009
Views: 183,464
Comments:546

Not bad!

What can you learn, on the journey to creating your own viral marketing campaigns?

Choose topical subjects. If you need inspiration, look to news sites, Google trends, and Twitter to find hot topics that you can tie into your brand.

Funny is a gift of talent. If you’ve got it, use it. If not, consider how you might be thought provoking or even controversial.

Steadily build your audience. It’s getting harder everyday to get noticed on Youtube. Find other sites you can post to and find your niche.

As always, have fun.

Happy Video.

When I think of video email, I think of video, playing inside an email. Several companies offer video email services and I’ve gotten excited only to find that what actually happens when I send the email, is not what I wanted or expected. 

A few companies embed video into the email with code that calls the video file to display and run in the email itself, but unfortunately, most email clients and webmail services block videos from playing this way.

So what’s a marketer to do?

I use Aweber and they have some powerful email marketing solutions available. They also have a great tutorials and demos that they share regularly. Here is a tip for video email that came from their arsenal of resources.

Use Animated Gifs:

1. Record or capture video
2. Convert video file to GIF
3. Upload GIF to your website
4. Put GIF into your email just like any other image
5. Turn the GIF into a link.
6. Add remaining email content
7. Test and send your email!

Ok, you miss out on sound with this selection, but it’s still pretty darn cool. Before you trash this option because of the work involved, consider that A/B tests by BlueFly, found an animated email pulling in 12% more revenue than the non-animated equivalent.

Don’t have the resources to create an animated gif?

Use Images:

1. Put the video up on a website or video share site.
2. Take a screenshot of the video playing. Choose the best frame in the video possible.
3. Upload image to your website
4. Put image into your email just like any other image
5. Turn the image into a link.
6. Create ALT tag in case email client refuses image
7. Add remaining email content
8. Test and send your email!

Send video email using an IMAGE linking to a page is currently the best practice for many email marketers.

Use Text:
Happy Valentines Day! Watch this positively HILARIOUS VIDEO!!

1. Create some great copy, entice people to click on the link because text is just not as sexy as it used to be…
2. Turn the copy into a link
3. Add remaining email content
4. Test and send your email!

Boring but currently, THE most surefire way of having your video email reach everyone on your list.

So, while video email is not where we may think it should today, technology is moving at the speed of light and the prediction is that in 2009, some amazing new tools will emerge.

I found this fascinating quote today:

NOW. Here’s the deal…the big boys are coming. According to the The New York Times‘ business section, the William Morris Agency is about to get in bed with YouTube to have its talent produce films for the service. Ever heard of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, J. J. Abrams and Michael Bay? Well if the Youtube /WMA deal goes through, they’re gonna be competing for eyeballs online too.Angel, Feb 2009

Well I wrote it so I’m not sure how fascinating it actually is but producers should check out my social media blog at BeSceneMarketing.com You should read the whole article.