Integrated marketing has taken over the communications landscape. Online technologies, Web video and direct-response marketing are increasingly interconnected. This trend allows producers to communicate a message in multiple ways and increase audience interactions through a variety of touch points.
How can organizations make the most of the online bandwagon? One way that successful marketers are extending their message is by embedding video into their other marketing collateral, creating interactive video brochures.
Create compelling stories
Video brochures combine text and static graphics with embedded video to create a story that pulls in readers. These brochures — or other integrated collateral, such as white papers, data sheets and case studies — go beyond a static description of a product or success story.
- After reading about a new product or service, customers can click to watch a quick demo.
- Instead of just viewing quotes from a satisfied client, readers can watch a testimonial — from within the case study.
- Interest in learning more about a service or product can be immediately satisfied through embedded video.
The business benefits of this type of brochure are numerous. Incorporating video allows you to
- Highlight important features and benefits of your product or service;
- Illustrate how and why your product or company is superior to the competition;
- Enhance the image and credibility of your brand; and
- Motivate the audience to take action.
Learn more about your readers
At the same time that video brochures offer a more satisfying reading experience, they can help companies learn more about readers. Video brochures are versatile tools:
- They can be distributed through email, websites, blogs or social media.
- Video brochures generate higher response rates than traditional email.
- They provide an actionable, interactive message through audio/visual content and direct calls to action.
- They can be pushed to target viewers.
- Embedded mechanisms can collect viewer activity and response data.
Furthermore, the audio/visual content in the brochures works in a variety of materials, saving marketing dollars and tying together a cohesive messaging strategy.
Typically, marketing collateral are created and distributed in PDF format. Adobe’s Acrobat software can embed Flash video directly into a PDF file. However, given that video makes PDF files very large, an alternative would be to host your video on a special page on your site, so the video can be played back via a browser. Added benefits would be that website analytics can track the video playbacks and changes can be made to the video page without having to change the PDF.
What you need
To be effective, the audio/visual elements of your brochures must include some interactive elements. For example, you can give readers some level of playback control. The format of these elements should, of course, be compatible with multiple platforms and devices so that the brochure can be distributed online and will have maximum portability.
It is also important that reader action can be measured in a meaningful way. Successful video brochures feature a means to capture and store viewer interactions. These data can then be used for analysis, feedback or sales purposes.
Five factors are required to create an effective video brochure:
- Engaging content
- Portability and universal accessibility
- Intuitive viewer controls
- Viral capabilities
- Ease of use and modification for marketers
You can maximize your return on investment (ROI) by using professional content development. Doing so reduces the strain on in-house graphic- and content-creation resources, and working with a single provider to create multiple elements of your marketing collateral ensures a consistent message throughout.
