Meryl's Notes Blog

YouTube, Google Video and other related video sites aren’t just for hobbyists anymore. Businesses post their videos on these sites, too. BtoB Magazine looks at how video has grown and whether it has a place in B2B marketing. I admit I’m no pro at video nor do I follow it much since I’ve taken the fact that most won’t be captioned for granted. However, I still keep one eye on the use of video just to stay on top of how they’re used especially for business.

Videos add something words in an e-mail or on a Web site can’t: emotions. These come through in the presenter’s voice and facial expressions. Like blogs and e-mail newsletters, the Web contains numerous videos. Since videos can take a little longer to view depending on the viewer’s Internet connection speed and the network, keeping the videos within a couple of minutes long suffices.

Better yet, have a text-based entry that covers the same material as the video and give viewers a choice. A business that can take the time to create a video — one business told me it takes an hour to make a five minute video — can take the time to write a short summary covering the important points. You can reach a wider audience using this approach.

Make sure visitors know what’s video and what’s not. Some sites don’t do a good job of this. You click an entry to get its details only to see text accompanied by loading video.