The Promotional Video: Create Awesome, Not Meh
Posted 14 years ago by Ann Handley | 8 CommentsIf we were playing a word association game and I said “B2B webinar promotional video,” what’s the first word that might come to your mind?
“Boring?”
“Dreary?”
“Ho-hum?”
In most cases, you’d be right, I’m afraid. Most companies create promotional videos that are all of those things, plus maybe “mind-numbing” and a “waste of time,” too.
But every once in a while, someone decides to have a little fun. I’ve talked about this before: ExactTarget brought a sense of energy and fun to its Connections 2010 promotional videos, too. And here, FOCR (Friend of Content Rules) DJ Waldow brings more of the same energy to a promotional video we shot for an upcoming webinar C.C. and I are doing in a few weeks with Blue Sky Factory.
If you watch closely, you’ll see that this video has all the hallmarks of a solid promotion.
Short? Yup.
Tie-in to live event? Check.
Call to action? You bet.
But what it lacks is something valuable, too: That deadly boring bit.
What do you think?
January 6th, 2011 at 5:47 am
What do I think? I love it. Wait. Is that cool for me to say? Seriously, Ann. Thanks for the love. As you know, this was a super fun video to create. What do you say about another video in Austin next month. Maybe we pull in those crazy NOW REVOLUTION authors?
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
http://www.blueskyfactory.com
@djwaldow
January 6th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
I’m in!
January 6th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Now THAT’s the way to make a video – have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously! And put in some very cool music.
Every B@B marketer should be strapped into a chair and forced to watch – IMHO
Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor
Find New Customers
http://www.findnewcustomers.com
@fearlesscomp
January 6th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Well, I wouldn’t force anyone… since I think it’s compelling enough to do it without any force or straps. (LOL) But yeah — I agree completely!
January 6th, 2011 at 3:35 pm
That was perfect; creative enough to cause a chuckle and still get your point across. Never take yourself too seriously, life is too short for that.
January 6th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Amen. People who take themselves too seriously = one of my pet peeves.
April 21st, 2011 at 8:29 pm
That was a new word for me: “meh” – didn’t have a clue what it meant. Fortunately the google define feature was right to hand:
“Meh” is an interjection, often used to show a feeling of “whateverness” or possible boredom.”
As soon as I saw that “whateverness” was part of the definition, I got it right away. Funny how words are.
Anyway, been reading your Content Rules book and am getting a TON out of it. I read David Meerman Scott’s New Rules of Marketing and thought that was the best book (booklet, white paper, eBook, etc.) about marketing online. Yours is right up there with David’s. I’ll definitely write a review.
The biggest thing I like about the book is this:
It is the complete other side of the spectrum when it comes to online “gimmicks.” I hate, make that detest, the volume of “advice” out here that urges you to try this scheme, this gimmick, this method of gaming Google. It’s an incessant stream of unethical garbage. Whoah, I wasn’t planning on getting this riled in a comment praising your book. Anyway…
April 21st, 2011 at 8:32 pm
That was a new word for me: “meh” – didn’t have a clue what it meant. Fortunately the google define feature was right to hand:
“Meh” is an interjection, often used to show a feeling of “whateverness” or possible boredom.”
As soon as I saw that “whateverness” was part of the definition, I got it right away. Funny how words are.
Anyway, been reading your Content Rules book and am getting a TON out of it. I read David Meerman Scott’s New Rules of Marketing and thought that was the best book (booklet, white paper, eBook, etc.) about marketing online. Yours is right up there with David’s. I’ll definitely write a review.
The biggest thing I like about the book is this:
It is the complete other side of the spectrum when it comes to online “gimmicks.” I hate, make that detest, the volume of “advice” out here that urges you to try this scheme, this gimmick, this method of gaming Google. It’s an incessant stream of unethical garbage. Whoah, I wasn’t planning on getting this riled in a comment praising your book. Anyway…