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Wedding Videos – Is a Must not a Maybe

“The only regret I have about our wedding is not having a videographer. The day goes by so quickly — you really miss so much of it. I look back now and wish I would have spent the money for it.”

— VikkiandSteveZaus

“I was really worried that I might regret not having a videographer — not only to capture my fiance and me, but mostly our family members. I know it’s kind of morbid, but I know they won’t be around forever and I wanted to capture their voices and mannerisms.”

— rmweinstein

“While we are very pleased with our photographer, I’m now starting to have second thoughts about not having a videographer. I guess there’s nothing like having a video to capture the details, people’s faces/expressions, our vows — things that I might miss during the day as a busy bride and that don’t necessarily get captured in even the best quality photos.”

— caramelmunoz

“DO IT!!!!! I promise you will not regret spending the money. You may not think you want to relive every minute, but after the day you have been meticulously planning for months flies by in what feels like seconds, you will be desperate for a way to remember it!”

— rachaelk72366

“I just got married in June, and we had both a photographer and a videographer. I am so, so, so thankful that we ended up going with the video. It was something we almost cut to save money, but it was so worth it! When we got the pictures back, there were many guests and moments that were missed — and thankfully were caught by the video. I hate being videotaped, but I never even noticed him throughout the day.”

— megan65

“You can replay the most special moments in your life if you have a videographer.”

— susannakrowsky

“Our videography was some of the best money we ever spent. It’s true that it goes by so fast, and you do see things you didn’t notice when you see the video. Absolutely zero regrets. Our reasoning was that if we’re going to spend so much money on one day, don’t you want to be able to relive it through video? Plus, we can show it to our kids.”

— PamelaMiller

“I regret not having one. I thought that I’d never watch it and I’d have my pictures, but there’s a lot of your wedding that, as the bride, you don’t get to see. For example, I wish I could see what was going on inside my ceremony tent before I got there. I wish I could see my bridesmaids walk in. The whole thing went by so fast — I’d kill to have more memories of it.”

— starrbuk13765

“I’m definitely planning on hiring a videographer. I want to be able to see fiance’s and my expressions when we say our vows. I want to be able to hear how we say them — and I just want to see everyone have a ball at our reception. And come 40 years from now when DVDs and blu-rays are old-school, I still want to be able to watch us on our big day.”

— jenandcriscruz

“I did not think I would be so excited to watch our wedding video, but the day went by so quickly! I want to see our ceremony and cocktail hour, which I missed. Though I may only watch it a few times, I think it was worth the money.”

— fuzechristina

“I think that the video will capture things that the photos won’t. I know it gets really expensive, but if you just want a documentary-style video (no love stories and all the extras), it will be much cheaper.”

— christikaowong

“We barely even considered hiring a videographer and were confident in the decision not to have one. But after the wedding, I really wished we’d had one. We really underestimated how much we would want to relive the day and see things we missed. Our photos are wonderful but video still captures something photos don’t.”

— rel83056573

“I was anti-video, but I bit the bullet and got one anyway. We don’t watch it very often, but I love having it there for me to watch. We had both the ceremony and reception filmed, and I love being able to see everything that I missed the night of my wedding.”

— emimaychang

“I had my wedding last month, and I regret not getting a videographer. I thought pictures would be enough and most people don’t watch their videos anyway, but your wedding goes by so fast and you miss a lot of things. Plus, I feel like I was in a blissful daze for a lot of it and would love to have the important things captured in video. Pictures just don’t capture everything.”

— Jellenmasterson

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Three Reasons You Need Video Marketing

Three Reasons you need Video Marketing.

Is video marketing effective? Do I need it? And how can I make it go viral?

These are probably questions you have asked yourself as a business owner and/or brand manager. (That is, unless you work at a video marketing agency yourself.) Either way, the answers to the above questions are simple: Yes, yes, and let’s address that in a another blog post.

By adding a video marketing strategy in 2015, you can potentially drive consideration, purchase, and loyalty for your brand. But let’s make one clarification. By video marketing, we really mean brand storytelling. Because at the end of the day, those videos are the ones that are truly effective, valued, and (quite frankly) worth watching. Here are three reasons why telling stories through video is essential for your business:

1. Video marketing will increase time visitors spend on your website.
This statement my seem inherent. Even if someone only watches the first 10 seconds (which is actually how long you have to capture their attention according to a study by Visible Measures) of course it will give a small bump to the time spent on-site. However according to a comScore study, visitors who view video content on a website will stay on average 2 minutes longer than those who do not. Even if your video is viewed outside of your homepage, a whopping 75% of people who view a video will visit the brand website afterwards and 26% will look for more information around the topic. Now that was a lot of fancy numbers and statistics, so here is the baseline: By beginning to tell your story through video, you invite the viewer in to learn more and the interested consumers will take you up on it.

2. Video marketing will increase the chances someone will purchase your product or service.
Another study by comScore found people are 64% more likely to buy a product or service from a retail site after watching a video. Feeling skeptical as to why that is? Consider this: When given an option, 80% of people will watch a video, while only 20% will read written content in its entirety. Which is actually pretty believable. Back in school, did you ever watch a movie for book report instead of actually reading the book? You did it (or at least considered it) because it was easier, right? It’s the same idea with video marketing. Human beings process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, so the quicker we can gather all the purchasing information we need, the quicker we can make a decision. Videos help aid in this process.

3. Video marketing will allow you to connect with your customers on a human level.
The catch to our third statement, is that the video execution has to be done correctly. What’s your brand or product’s background? Why are you in business? How does your product or service impact customer’s lives? These are the types of nuggets to look for in order to tell a great story. Aim to tell, not sell. Whether that story is heartfelt, humorous, or educational— find connections in your brand values and beliefs that consumers can relate to. It is fundamental shift in our society. Consumers today want to know where their goods come from. They want to support more local businesses. They value authenticity and transparency. And all these factors should be considered to produce great content—along with video best practices, of course.

See our Video Portfolio Page and contact us for Special Offers.

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Video Style Goals to Increase Your Business

Given the frequency with which consumers are interacting with the visual and social web, videos have become one of the most effective ways for brands to tell their stories without breaking the normal routines – or attention spans – of their audience. However, there is no single video style that fits the purpose of every campaign. Think of all the different types of commercials or movies that you’ve ever seen. With the right creative talent, these are all examples of video styles that you can incorporate in your own communications tactics.

So how do you decide which video style is right for your needs? Match Your Video Style with Marketing Goals.”

Matching Your Video Style to Marketing Goals

Infographic: Matching Your Video Style to Marketing Goals

1. Show your story. A 2014 study by PR Newswire found that adding multimedia content to press releases increased visibility by up to 552%.

2. Don’t sell, tell. Speaking to your audience on an emotional level will make them think of your brand when they are looking for what you are selling.

3. Don’t go off brand. Having your branding team work with the production team during the storyboarding process helps dictate stylistic elements of the video before it’s too late.

4. Take chances. No one has ever stood out by playing it safe.

5. Be honest. Administering a self-assessment to your team will identify value propositions that can inform your video campaign.

6. Build your audience. A series of short videos will keep your audience coming back to learn more from your expertise.

7. Invest in promotion. Content should be distributed beyond owned channels to ensure that it is seen by all relevant audiences wherever they consume information.

8. Explore different video styles. Kinetic typography, whiteboard animation, and 3D videos are just some of the ways to liven up a corporate video.

9. Focus on quality over quantity. Producing too many low-quality videos negatively impacts your credibility and image.

10. Get a referral. Use a trusted source to determine which production company is best for your needs.

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Show Gratitude Increase Social Media Followers

“I do this,” and “I know that” – social media networks are ripe with bragging, selling and “regurgitating” their product or service online without building relationships, according to Bardi Toto Drake, a branding expert, media personality, owner of Gratitude Lifestyle Magazine and author of “Thinking Upside Down, Living Rightside Up.”

Bardi Toto – Drake had the idea in Nov. 2013 to create a “21-Day Social Media Gratitude Challenge” to spread the positive energy of gratitude. The Gratitude Challenge went viral overnight, changing the way many people on Twitter approached their posts and how they reached out to others.

Toto provides the following examples, for each of the big social networks, of how users can express gratitude and increase followers:

TWITTER
Retweet someone’s comment. Retweets not only provide great info for your network, but also recognizes someone’s contribution to your twitterverse. A retweet is recognition of someone’s value to you. That’s a form of thanks.
It’s also important to Tweet someone’s article/blog post/informative essay, because they’ve said something you find interesting and you’re recognizing it publicly.
Make sure to give public recognition via #FollowFriday (or #ff). By giving a shout out, you are showing someone you are grateful and your own followers can learn from them.

FACEBOOK
You can comment on an update, news story or just about anything else to show your gratitude. Tell people “hey, I appreciate you putting that up.” The media and businesses have promoted to “like” something on Facebook so much Toto says it has become over saturated. It takes a second to comment and goes 100 percent further.

LINKEDIN
The very best way to express gratitude on Linkedin? Recommend someone. It takes less than five minutes and adds weight and credibility to their profile. If a connection performs a great service for you (your mechanic, your advisor, your real estate agent), write them a recommendation.

INSTAGRAM AND PINTEREST
Reposting pictures, sharing, liking and following others on Instagram and Pinterest is a way to show gratitude for the information someone else has shared. Toto says Instagram and Pinterest will surpass Facebook in 2014, partly because pictures do say a thousand words and are eye candy to the consumer whether is it business to business or business to consumer.

Toto says she has not even touched on all the ways we can thank someone, express gratitude, or show appreciation on social media, but in the 21-Day Social Media #Gratitude Challenge she shows Videos and gives more ideas. To join the 21-Day Social Media Gratitude Challenge, visit http://befearlessonline.com.