Here’s an important point to remember about creating an online video for your company – when you use it as a marketing tool, that video becomes part of your brand. It becomes part of your image, and it can affect what consumers think about you. A brick-and-mortar store takes great pride in its physical appearance. You, also, should take pride in the quality of your videos. You will hear the term “authentic” used a lot when people discuss online video. Consumers want companies to be real; genuine. As a result, people often believe that the quality of a video doesn’t matter. After all, if it looks bad, it will be more “authentic” and more people will respond to it. However…

Business owners wouldn’t consider an unkempt retail location as a sign of being “authentic.” And they wouldn’t equate a shoddy logo design as an effort to be “real.” Authenticity isn’t necessarily related to quality. Image is an important part of your company’s identity, and careful thought should be given to your video marketing strategy before you dive in head first.

Related articles

• Video is Becoming a Must Have for Online Retailers (marketingpilgrim.com)

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If you live and/or work i the Birmingham area, mark your calendars for a FREE lunch-and-learn seminar on March 21, 2011 from 11:30am-1:00pm at the Hyatt Place Hotel on Highway 150 in Hoover (2980 John Hawkins Parkway |  Hoover, AL 35244 |  (205) 988-8444). I will be speaking on the subject of online video and how businesses can utilize this tool to create customer engagement.

People who attend the seminar will…

Seating is limited to the first 30 people who register. Registration will open in the next couple of weeks and when it does, I will post a link here.

Phoenix Energy is a statewide leader in alternative fuels solutions. Operating in Birmingham, Phoenix Energy converts vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). They also equip and install CNG refueling stations and provide ongoing consultation, engineering, and construction services. The previous website for Phoenix Energy contained a lot of outdated information. The number of pages and the amount of copy on the site had grown to the point that navigation was confusing. The client hired us to re-design the site to give it a new, clean, organized look. The number of pages on the site and the amount of copy on each page were trimmed significantly. Phoenix Energy provided us with some photos and with the updated copy. We built the site with CMS, so the client could update the copy as needed. To date, the project is still ongoing. We will soon be inserting additional photos and designing more pages to provide site visitors with specific case studies.

Till, Hester, Eyer, & Brown is a full-service accounting firm in Birmingham, Alabama. Their original website was built with a generic template, so they were interested in having a custom-designed website that felt more unique and personable. When they hired us, we met with the partners of the firm to discuss exactly what they were looking for. We provided them with an entirely new design, new copy, and custom photography, including staff portraits. We also provided consultation in the creation and implementation of their social media profiles.