Video Marketing For Dummies [Paperback]

Kevin Daum (Author), Bettina Hein (Author), Matt Scott (Author), Andreas Goeldi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2012

Savvy advice for adding video to your marketing plan

Video marketing is rapidly gaining popularity in online marketing and this fun-but-practical guide presents you with all aspects of video marketing from planning to production to distribution. You'll learn how to create a video strategy, produce an effective video, put it online, and get your video to the right consumers so you can help your business succeed. The author team has vast experience in video creation and marketing and explores ten video campaigns so you can learn from their successes and challenges.

• Offers an overview of the video marketing process, how to build it into an existing marketing plan, and create a video outline
• Covers the necessary steps for creating the video, from scripting to shooting to editing
• Walks you through the process of sharing video on a company site, social site, or other hosts and then draw the right audience
• Details the new frontiers of video marketing including mobile video and measuring results

Featuring invaluable advice for creating an effective video marketing campaign, Video Marketing For Dummies is essential reading on this marketing trend.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Create a buzz-worthy video to reach the right audience and drive your marketing

The rise of online video makes adding video to your marketing plan a must. A good marketing video can grab customers' attention and maybe even boost your profits. This book collects the expertise of four video marketing pros who share the tools needed to get maximum return on video investment. From marketer to producer to editor, you'll learn it all!

• Get down to the basics — start down the path of creating effective marketing videos by deciding on the right concept for your plan

• Send the right message — figure out what you want to communicate, make it compelling, turn it into a concept with visual imagery, and script it in detail

• Prepare for production — find everything you need to know about creating your budgets, finding locations, recruiting cast and crew, and covering all the legal requirements

• Lights, camera, action — learn the right tools to get it all shot and benefit from techniques and tips used by professional filmmakers

• Walk the red carpet — follow the right methods to reach your target audience and get viewers on the web

• Maximize your investment — use your production skills to create videos for training and other internal applications

Open the book and find:

• Why you must take advantage of video marketing

• Ways to stretch a small budget to make your video shine

• The tools and tips for creating compelling video content

• How to master the art of editing

• Tips for adding the right sounds and effects

• Steps for sharing your video on YouTube

• How to use social media to get your video seen

• Advice on how to use humor to create more memorable videos

Learn to:

• Build video into your marketing plan and create a video outline

• Create compelling content that appeals to viewers

• Choose the right sites for your video to reach customers

• Measure the results of your video marketing efforts

About the Author

Kevin Daum is the founder of ROARing Video and author of ROAR! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle and Building Your Own Home For Dummies. Matt Scott is head of production for ROARing Video. Bettina Hein is founder and CEO of Pixability. Andreas Goeldi is the CTO of Pixability.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (May 8, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1118188764
• ISBN-13: 978-1118188767
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.9 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need to get started using video -- good video -- for your marketing May 5, 2012

By Megan Torrance

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

And when I say "everything you need" ... this book lays it all out there. How to get ideas, how to script your video, shooting techniques and editing tips. More than just a technical how-to-shoot-video (for Dummies, of course), this book shows how to use the video to strengthen your marketing and improve your sales.

My favorite section of the book: all about scripting your video. The authors show how the same marketing message can be delivered using a variety of different story lines. They show exactly how the brainstorming process works.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Video for Dummies Like Me! May 4, 2012

By KB Northwest

Format:Paperback

I have reviewed and am using the content from Video for Dummies in our business and am both enjoying and benefiting from it - it takes what we think is a good video approach, challenges it and then teaches how to use humor, a compelling story and concise script (content) to get your message across. Short videos are best! It is a good addition to a business' reference library on a practical "how to" use video in marketing...for Dummies like Me (and not afraid to admit it).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide to producing great marketing videos! May 23, 2012

By Shannon964

Format:Paperback

This book is a soup-to-nuts guide and reference tool for creating truly effective, entertaining marketing videos! I'm new to video development and production and have been enjoying working my way through this book. Video Marketing for Dummies takes what might otherwise be a daunting task and breaks it down into manageable chunks that include guidance for brainstorming and developing content as well as a stepped approach in putting your ideas into action.

As a writer, I'm particularly interested in the first two sections of the book, which focus on content development and scripting. The different approaches to storytelling provide a great framework or structure for storyline and script development. Our project team spent time brainstorming both internal and external chokepoints, narrowing the focus to the specific "pain," determining which type and style of storytelling seemed like the best way to present the pain--and then our solution, and drafting the story itself. It was a great team activity, and we've already moved into full video production mode.

I highly recommend this book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, Entertaining, and Useful Guide to Video Marketing May 5, 2012

By David E. Sarna

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are considering making a video for marketing purposes, or you made some, but were unsatisfied with the cost or result, Video Marketing For Dummies is the book to get. Kevin Daum, a well-regarded For Dummies author and INC columnist and his colleagues have written a thoughtful, comprehensive, and fun book for successful marketing using video. Whether you are a do it yourselfer, or like me, a "manage it and get it done well but inexpensively by others" type, this book helps with all aspects of what can be an intimidating topic.

First, it makes the point that videos sell. A posted video, I learned, can increase the chances for a customer purchase by up to 35%. Whatever it is you're selling, video sells it better. Search engines accord pages with video higher ranking. All of which is why you need to make videos whether you are selling services or widgets. Second, the book warns you away from being stiff, boring, and unwatched.

Then, it smoothly and comprehensively walks you through all of the steps for creating effective marketing videos, including storyboarding and creating a compelling script, prepping for production, location-scouting, shooting, editing, refining, polishing and post-production, and most importantly, posting and promoting it. Video Marketing clearly explains how to produce videos that can go viral yet not break the budget.

In a nutshell, humor is essential, and brevity is the soul of wit. Planning - with a script - is key to a successful result, and improvisation and imagination, [legally] re-using and re-purposing existing footage, bartering and and hiring non-SAG actors (and thus avoiding SAG minimum per-diems and ongoing residual payments) hold the keys to budget relief....

Personally, I know messages I want to convey, and maybe I have some idea of how, but having read this book, I understand that video production is not a read the book and do it now activity. Rather, it is a team effort, involving a producer, director,writer, camera-person(s), production crew, talent (actors), graphic artists, and editors. I also learned, however, that a team of two or three can do it all too, with everyone wearing more than one hat.

Like a diamond, a video can cost $500 or $500,000, and be more or les the same size, but unlike a diamond, the well-done budget film can be worth more in measurable results that an expensively-produced bore.

Simpler alternatives, such as animation using Go!Animate or Xtranormal are also covered, and the book is chock full of useful tips and hints, called out in the famous For Dummies style.

Video Marketing For Dummies provides good value and is a worthwhile treatment of a complex subject, told with good humor, professional style, and is devoid of condescension.

Highly recommended. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Video Traffic Marketing Review January 5, 2013

By Prairie Dog

Format:Kindle Edition

I bought this book as a Kindle download several months ago. I've read a lot of video marketing and done several online courses on the subject. However this book has a high degree of depth and is very technical. I enjoyed reading this book. There is another Kindle book called Video Traffic Adrenaline which I liked as well and that has good depth while easy to understand.Video Traffic Adrenaline - Make Money With Youtube

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Increase your Influence and Sales June 18, 2012

By Ford Saeks

Format:Paperback

Video Marketing For Dummies With the short attention spans of website visitors and online shoppers, video helps capture attention, influence decision making, and engage multiple senses, unlike plain text or audio. This book is filled with ideas and strategies to easily leverage video and video marketing for any business venture. As the CEO of an Integrated Marketing Firm, Prime Concepts, it's required reading by my internet marketing team. Sometimes people try to make things too hard and this book simplifies the strategies and tactics to use online video effectively.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Video Marketing for Dummies June 11, 2012

By GrandmaDynamite

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Video Marketing for Dummies has been a great tool in developing my video skills and techniques, it is one of the best purchases I have made, and I recommend it highly.