Steve Garfield Explains How to Use Online Video for Marketing

HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

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Steve Garfield is a HubSpot friend and is widely considered one of the Internet's first video bloggers. He is a sought-after speaker, college lecturer, consultant and published author (among other things) about the subject, so I knew he'd make a great interviewee about how -- and why -- businesses should start implementing online video into their marketing programs.

In a typical content-creator fashion, he recorded his responses on his iPhone as he took a stroll around Jamaica Pond. Check out Steve's new book, Get Seen, his video blog at http://stevegarfield.blogs.com, and follow him on Twitter @stevegarfield.

1. What advice can you offer to businesses who want to begin using video as a new element in their marketing initiatives?

"Just do it."
Don’t be intimidated by or concerned with the technical issues related to video production.
Find someone who is passionate about social media and ask them to spearhead your video marketing initiatives.

2. What would you advise businesses not to do in their online video efforts?

Don't just record a video, put it on YouTube and expect people to find it. (Putting it online is only the first step.)
Help your target audience find it through online promotion via social media, blogging, SEO, etc.

3. What kinds of unique opportunities do you think video offers compared to other sorts of content like blog posts, eBooks, etc?

You can give viewers an inside look at your business
Example: the Bui Brothers (photographers in LA), who record video of themselves as they’re doing a photo shoot and post it online, giving prospects a behind-the-scenes look at their business

4. Which companies do you really respect and admire for what they’re doing with video? Are there any specific examples of video projects out there you think businesses can learn a lot from?

The people who are really creative with online video are those who integrate it to help build their businesses and are those who look at it more than just putting video on the Web.
Examples: Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV and Gourmet Library, and Daily Grommet

5. What lies ahead in the future? What do you think the next big thing will be in the world of online video production?

We’ll see even more livestreaming of video (via cell phones, laptops, and other technologies).
More self-service Web applications (like Animoto) will emerge to help people with video editing/production.

6. At HubSpot, we love experimenting with different kinds of potentially viral videos for marketing (e.g. music, comedy, podcasting). You can find many of them at http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-videos. I’m going to ask you to put your professor hat on. In your expert opinion, can you grade us how do you think we’re doing, and tell us what can we do to improve?

HubSpot's videos are well-produced, have great audio-quality and are funny. They do a great job of getting HubSpot seen.
Make some videos that aren’t completely focused on the topic of inbound marketing, but rather have inbound marketing in the punchline.

7. If you weren’t such an awesome video dude, what would you love to do as an alternative profession?

I would somehow combine my love for video with my love for travel.
Don't forget to check out my new book, Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business, a book in the same “News Rules of Social Media Series” as Inbound Marketing

Webinar: How to Use Online Video for Inbound Marketing

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Download the free webinar to learn how to use online video to grow your business with inbound marketing.

Posted by Pamela Seiple on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 @ 07:30 AM

COMMENTS

Steve makes great points, as always. But I'm wondering why you didn't conduct the interview on video? That would seem to be a great match for Steve...

posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 8:03 AM by Catie Foertsch

Thanks for the shout out HubSpot and Steve. I completely agree with the answer to Question 1: "Just do it." Inside secret...three weeks before launch at Daily Grommet we did not know how we were going to get the videos produced. Knew nothing about how they would be created, either. And they are CENTRAL to our business. We just took a plunge, found a great video partner (coBRANDit) and went for it. We evolve daily. I cringe at some of our early videos (like the one where we rave about a chocolate but never thought to taste in on camera), but I am still proud that we did them.

posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 9:11 AM by Jules Pieri

Well done Steve excellent stuff. Took a look the Gary's new site very impressive and as for the daily grommet, love the fresh ideas.

Convincing small businesses to embrace video is still proving hard here in the UK and we need more inspirational characters, who are breaking the mold and getting away from traditional TV style videos.

Video is great for marketing and there's a whole new business out there for those that want to grab it.

Loved your the hubspot marketing videos too.
Sean

posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 9:14 AM by Sean Usher

Thanks Sean. People are more reserved in the UK...higher sense of privacy. I used to live in Ireland and I think I would have had a slower time warming up to doing video there. I would have been slagged too badly!

posted on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 9:16 AM by Jules

Great article, although I agree it would be better on video! The audio portions are a nice touch. What's your stance on audio over video?

posted on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 5:25 PM by Alyse Speyer

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