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Local Search and Video: A Match Made in NYC
By Matt McGee | March 24, 2008
Local search watchers have been beating the drum about video and local for quite some time now, certainly at least a year (if not longer). I’ve been skeptical, for all the regular reasons: Video is too expensive to produce; video is too time-consuming; video is too complicated. I used to work in TV and have an idea what video production entails, and that’s fueled my skepticism.
Last week’s SES New York conference changed my mind. I sat in on a session called “Video Made the SMB Star,” in which three companies offering video-related services to small businesses gave pitches about their products, and a fourth panelist shared some SEO/video tactics. Generally speaking, company pitches are a no-no at conferences, but these three were quite good and exactly what I needed to see. The three companies who presented were EZ Show, TurnHere, and Mixpo.
Rather than attempt to recap each presentation (each of which was heavy on video and difficult to recap), I’ll just say this: Video, as a marketing tool, is a lot more accessible to small business today than I expected it to be. The three companies who presented each take different approaches to production and distribution. But the common theme for me was that the video process is easy enough to include most small/local business owners now. You don’t need high-end equipment and mad production skills. You don’t need complicated editing software. You need the same thing every other form of marketing demands: A smart message, targeted to your audience.
My wife is a local real estate agent in Tri-Cities, WA, and she was at SES New York last week. She attended this video session with me, and when it was over, she had a new marketing plan in her head. Any session in which you walk out with actionable ideas is a Good Session. So we have a new plan: We’ll be making videos that feature the local area, and hoping to capitalize on another topic from last week’s conference: universal search. We’re going to see if video really can make her an SMB star.
Topics: Local Search |