Anyone who has ever worked with me, knows how much I stress the CTA for any video marketing campaign. Without it, all the hard work you put into your marketing efforts, go to waste. BUMMER.

Ever see the lower third ads that run on the the bottom of some videos? Most of them come from advertisers of products that are closely related to the video theme or at least video TAGS. Until last month, only certain partners and non-profit organizations could use this marketing feature. Now, Youtube now offers overlays to drive traffic to off-YouTube web pages for ANYONE.

Adding a Call-to-Action overlay to your video is easy.

First, run a campaign to promote your video on YouTube.

 

Next, go to the Video Details page under My Videos and fill out the fields in the section marked “Call-to-Action overlay.”

Finally, include a short headline, ad text, a destination url, and upload an optional image, and the overlay will appear whenever someone watches your video.

Of course you can check your click thru results in the awesome YouTube Insight Tool. 

Do you see the HUGE potential for this new feature? Go try it!

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Last week my buddy Sherman Hu hit me up to check out his video. I was happy to do so because aside from being a kick “butt” producer, Sherman is one of those people that just makes me smile. He hosts a weekly web TV show, the “Half Hour Huddle” at ShermanHu.tv, where he “simplifies and demystifies new media so business owners can profit from it.”

Of course he always blows me over when he candidly announces that he’s a husband in love and proud parent to 2 fabulous children who are home schooled! Sherman is one of the few people on planet earth that can make me feel like a slacker!

Sherman and I work with clients in similar ways. He’s a funny, geeky, early adopter of new media. I often think of him as a male, Chinese version of…me! And what’s not to love about that?

You can check out his clean, “shout out to the MAC” video commercial for yourself by clicking on the image above and don’t forget to visit ShermanLive

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There’s so much talk about the economy. Who to bail out. Where and how to spend the money we have. Money is a scary topic for some, even those who were on top just a few years ago…SO, if corporate marketing budgets have taken a beating, how’s the little guy to survive? Enter Social Media and the web 2.0 tools that make it an AFFORDABLE and EFFECTIVE marketing strategy. Never before have marketers had the ability to access an audience so quickly and directly. Whether it’s social networking on sites like Facebook, tweeting on Twitter or sharing videos on Youtube, ENGAGEMENT is the key.

So, how does one engage?

Well first we need to know our customer. Back in the day, I used to work for a huge market research firm and we’d do calls, take surveys, collect information, code data and provide a shiny package of stats to the client.

Today, it’s not necessary to spend that kind of time and money on market research because WE are the recipients of a gift. This gift comes to us in the form of some tools from a great defender of the entrepreneurial spirit…YOUTUBE!

Yes Youtube. I’ll be the first to say, Youtube is not THE best video share site, but they sure provide some cool tools. Known as the grand-daddy of video share sites (which is ironic since it’s not even ten years old!) It’s pretty much understood that anyone who makes a video for marketing purposes should upload to Youtube.

The market research tool from Youtube is called INSIGHT. Do you want to know the best time to upload your new videos? Would knowing the age, sex and geographical location of your viewers change your marketing strategy? Ever wonder how the heck people are finding your videos? THIS TOOL WILL HELP YOU!

Check out the video, then be sure to go to Youtube and check out the Insight on your videos.

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