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Bringing a Story to Life through Video
December 19th, 2011
Watch this example, and you’ll see why we aim to produce videos with simple messages that come to life through the power of video and the power of words — the messaging.
Yes, this is more like a commercial produced by a U.K. agency, but the simplicity and emotional hook can come through when we help you tell your story.
Bob Kaplitz is Senior Vice President for Content Marketing for AR&D. Content marketing uses the Power of Story to get your message across in a compelling way, driving your revenue and your brand. Content Marketing is the art of communicating with consumers and prospects without direct selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes a consumer more intelligent.
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Testimonials Won’t Work Without This
December 18th, 2011
Testimonials can convince prospects whether your product or service is worth it for them.
They’re powerful persuaders especially if they make an emotional connection with the people who watch. This one for our Kids R Kids Learning Academy client in Las Colinas worked as you’ll see below the background info.
Bob Kaplitz is Senior Vice President for Content Marketing for AR&D. Unlike traditional commercials which interrupt people, content marketing pulls people in. That’s because the content is valuable. People learn something, don’t just get pitched.
Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media, Social Media Video | No Comments »
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Analytics Improves Your Chances of Success
December 5th, 2011
Content Marketing is based on strategy. And strategy is based on deep knowledge of how consumers respond to video — from content to production values.
What does that mean exactly? It means AR&D utilizes more than three decades of insights into what video and audio elements engage viewers.
We measure engagement on a scale of zero to ten with ten representing full attention. Viewers start at the neutral score of five, then score engagement second by second. We conduct most of our surveys online.
It comes down to engagement peaks and valleys. Maximize peaks and reduce valleys, and you’re connecting with viewers.
For example, in this case of testing a news commercial for a special report about car seat safety for kids, viewer interest was high. But the problem was the video failed to engage viewers during the first few seconds. If you can’t grab attention from the start, most viewers don’t stick around.
The set-up was too long. You must engage from the start. In producing Content Marketing videos for our clients, immediate engagement is one of our imperatives.
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Key to Your Success: Get Real
December 3rd, 2011
Be yourself on camera. Authenticity sells.
Notice how this video produced by our Content Marketing division shows business owners Thom and January as the real people they are. Videos capturing authenticity cut through, allowing you to make an emotional connection with prospects so they’ll want to buy from you.
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Crucial To Your Success: Know “Why You?”
December 3rd, 2011
Notice what sets this video we produced from many others. Our client, chiropractor Yaron Lohr, clearly communicates his competitive advantage. And he does it in an inviting way as part of a tour of his new Dallas office. This is a key element of a successful content marketing strategy along with capturing the real person so they come across as authentic.
Many of our clients have to think a lot about what separates them from the pack. It’s something we require in the planning process. After all, if you don’t know what makes you special, how will your prospects know?
Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media, TV news training | No Comments »
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Make a Personal Connection
November 30th, 2011
Although a dentist invested a lot of energy into this video promoting her practice, an important element was missing: The dentist talking directly with viewers.
Other videos include this key element, but you can’t tell prospects “You saw the wrong video.”
On the positive side, any dentist who has produced videos about their practice is a step ahead of those who limit their marketing to text and photos. Video brings you story to life. See our comments about RabileDentist.com, and contact us with questions about how Content Marketing with video can build your practice and your business.
Posted in Bob Kaplitz video, Multimedia Journalism, Social Media Video, TV news training | No Comments »
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Capture the Fun in Your Content Marketing
September 2nd, 2011
Capture the joy of an event to build your business. Especially if your business is about people having a good time.
For our content marketing video project for The Four Seasons Sports Club in Las Colinas, a suburb of Dallas, we wanted to capture the experience of a tennis membership. And that’s more than just playing tennis on beautiful courts, which we captured indoors and out. The goal is to help viewers see the value — from the fun of the sport to the job getting together with friends.
If you just stick a camera in people’s faces, they don’t feel comfortable. In fact, if they’re at Racquets about to enjoy a snack, they’re ready to eat.
TAKEAWAYS
So the key was to acknowledge that, give us a minute to capture the fun, joke with them briefly hoping for a small, and roll. I held the camera at a low angle to capture it. Instead of showing the entire video here, this frame captures one of those fun moments.
The wide shot that follows here is helpful to provide perspective, but you should look for those defining moments that capture emotion. You should etch them in the hearts and minds of viewers.
We know the power of that from our more than three decades of experience gaining insights into what TV viewers like and dislike in video storytelling.
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Multimedia Minutes: Overcoming a Big Challenge — No Action
July 24th, 2011
How do you overcome the challenge of virtually no action in a story? Say just a guy in a chair. Here’s one approach.
Learn more to create engaging storytelling. Click on the links to the right under “Recent Posts.”
Posted in broadcast journalism, Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training | No Comments »
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Capture the Love
July 17th, 2011
Capture the love.
If you ever tried to shoot video of dogs that had bad experiences with people, you know the challenge. They’re afraid of you, they run, and they don’t make a good first impression. Not all, but most.Of course, that hurts their chances of getting adopted.
When shooting video for the DFW Humane Society to help place these dogs with loving families, my colleague Regent Ducas and I ran into this challenge. And since we were getting shots of more than a dozen dogs, our time to make each one comfortable on camera was limited.
We discovered one solution: Find a person the dogs are familiar with even for just a few days. In just a few minutes, you might capture a shot like this instead of a scared barking dog.
Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media, Web Video | No Comments »
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Great Example of Making Your Point Clearly and Compellingly
July 11th, 2011
The key is always to separate yourself from the pack. My colleague Regent Ducas and I like to ask new clients the question, “Why YOU?”
We keep asking questions until we get an answer that can convince consumers to come onboard. This video does a good job of that for the insurance category. The competitive advantage is clear and the person communicated it convincingly.
Posted in Multimedia Journalism, Social Media Video, Web Video | No Comments »