Funny, Weird, Gross, Shocking, Interesting, Sexy, Inspiring, Demonstrates, Instructional, Personal…All of these words can be used when describing popular YouTube videos. W e should also probably add short to the list too, because short videos succeed.
4 Important Observations About The Videos In The Case Studies1. A video does not have to get very many views to be an absolutely amazing financial success. In the case of high-ticket items like real estate, a very simple and amateur video which got only a few hundred hits sold a house. The return on investment was awesome.
2. Video length is very important to note of. Keep in mind that people on the internet have extremely short attention spans, and there maybe much better videos waiting for them to view if your video is boring for even 5 or 10 seconds. Unless you have a very strong professionally produced, or extremely funny or engaging video, there isn’t much reason the video has to be over 2 minutes. Videos as short as 20 seconds that take 10 minutes to produce may be as powerful a professionally created video that is 5 minutes long and cost $5,000 to produce.
3. W e also learn that even the most basic demonstrations of a product using YouTube can help to sell a product (unless you are showing a competitor’s product in a bad light). Keep in mind that even if a demonstrational video that doesn’t get many views from people searching YouTube, it can still be a useful marketing device -Just embed the demonstrational video in your website to help convert visitors into buyers. (W e will cover how to embed a video later)
4. If possible, put people in the videos...those people will show their friends those videos and those friends may show other friends and so on. Just be sure that if an actors release is required (covered later) that you have one.
© MMVII www.UndergroundTrafficBook.com Page 22 Other Videos You Might Find Amusing:As a side note to this chapter, I’ve listed a few other videos you may find amusing. As you watch these videos, look for the 10 characteristics mentioned above and think of ways you may be able to apply any of these to your videos for success.
Day of the Longtail – A funny spoof on modern advertising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xAA71SsidsFree Hugs – A sort of strange, personal video - 8 million views! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
Evolution of Dance – Viewed over 40 million times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg © MMVIIwww.UndergroundTrafficBook.com Page 23