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Harness the Power of TV & the Internet at the Same Time
By David Ehrlich, President Track Marketing Group
 
Here's an easy prediction to make: as the percentage of people who access the web via "broadband" or fast connection speeds grows, the percentage of web sites that feature movies will increase at the same or faster rate. Even in today's world where many people still access the web at relatively slow speeds, movies are popping up on more web sites every day.

As more web sites add movies, your members will likely expect that your web site will also contain multi-media content. This is especially true if your members access the web from an office environment that typically have a faster internet connection. If you haven't seen a movie on the web, you can check out examples at cnn.com (look for links that show a camera -- you will need speakers to hear the content).

Web movies can be even more personal than TV. We can enjoy the same advantage and impact TV has on people, but with a more targeted approach. We will speak directly to our members, at their convenience and about topics that they actively choose to hear more about.

What makes a web movie so much more powerful for marketing vs. a tv ad is that you can tailor your message to speak to a specific audience interest and do so at an extremely low cost. For example, you can invite members via email to review a web movie promoting an upcoming conference. Imagine creating five unique versions of the web movie where each one features breakout sessions relevant to each of your association's special interest groups. The email you send to invite members would direct them to the "appropriate" movie based on the interest code in your membership database. Members see audio & video content that is tailored to their interests.

Just as radio added a "voice" to newspapers and TV added motion imagery to radio, adding web movies to your web site will enhance the internet experience and allow you to better connect to your members. Just as past evolutions of technology gave us new ways to communicate, adding movies will not replace text and graphics -- rather it will provide a new technology that will be suitable for specific types of communication.
 
Your communication needs
what type of information do you wish to communicate? Does it lend itself to movies? Some information is much better suited to text. In that case, a movie might be appropriate to introduce the material. In general, movies should remain short (1 to 3 minutes is typical right now). You can always offer multiple movies on related topics. Movies work great for testimonials where your members can really hear from others who recommend a specific service or product. Actually seeing a past attendee talk about how great the annual conference was for their professional development can be much more powerful than simply reading about their experience.

So when should you start providing rich content for your web site? The answer partly depends on the following:
 

Access speeds

while more and more people gain high speed access every day, you should assess where the majority of your members are right now. Are they more likely to have faster connections to the internet (office workers vs. home access). Even with a 56K modem you can view web movies. The experience is just better with cable, dsl, or typical office connections.

Even if your members have slower access now it makes sense to at least explore this emerging technology. You can start learning about leveraging the technology and as your members come up to speed, you will be there with rich content for this important method of communication. Another option for distributing your movies is via CD-ROM. You can create very small CD disks that you can hand-out or mail to members. People are curious and will often put these in their computer and check them out.
 
What You Will Need:

Once you decide you would like to explore web movies, the next question is usually "what's the best way to create them?" Like most projects, you can either hire a company or do it yourself. If you decide to tackle the project in-house, you will need someone to write scripts and story board your movie, a digital camera (you can convert from traditional camcorders to digital via a special computer card), a powerful computer (G4 mac or PC with at least a 60GB hard drive and ideally around 900MB RAM) and video editing software (such as Apple's FinalCut). Additionally, it would help to have some music and video backgrounds as well as professional lights and microphones.

One easier solution is to skip the camera and use graphics and text along with recorded audio and music and create a slide show without showing the person speaking. This saves on filming time and expense.

Once you create your movie, it is rather simple to convert the file to a format that people can view off your web site. Apple Quicktime, Windows Media Viewer, and Real Player are the most widely used formats. Also, it makes sense to provide larger files for people with faster connections. That way they can see a higher quality/larger movie while the slower access viewers can still view a version that is suitable for them.

So get ready to where many hats -- producer, director, camera person, editor, and possibly talent -- and before you know it you'll be connecting with your members like never before.

 
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