Video testimonials – Can video testimonials increase sales?

February 6th, 2012

Video testimonials are a quick and easy way to create a powerful, relatively low cost sales tool.

Video generally is one of the fastest growing marketing tools you can use to enhance your business, whether that be to raise your profile, increase your page ranking or to increase sales and conversion rates. Increasingly customers are searching specifically for video, rather than coming across it accidently and if you can reach a number one page rank on youtube you increae your chances of being found in a universal search on Google.

Studies done in America have shown that putting good quality video on your site can do a number of things:

On e-commerce sites, it can increase your conversion rate by between 20-40% . Conversion rates even increase, although to a lesser extent if noone watches the video, because there is an assumption that if a manufacturer or distributor is so confident in their product they have taken the time to show you a video of it, it must be good and they must be reliable.

Existing or potential customers want to receive information in fast, engaging and easily digestible chunks – what better way than by video. Video has higher click through rates than equivalent text in e-mail shots; search engine searches and it is more likely to be shared.

You can use video across all your other marketing platforms; through blogs; social media; websites; video hubs (like you tube and vimeo); in e-mail marketing; in e-mails and video testimonials particularly are a great way just to keep in touch with existing customers – share your good news with them.

Feature Media produce a catch up e-mail every month, which says what we’ve been up to and asks our customers and networks to let us know what they’ve been doing, sometimes we include our video testimonials – what better way to remind people what a great job you did for them or what a great job you’ve just done for someone else – it constantly reinforces confidence in your products and services and shows case studies, which remind contacts of the variety of work you do – avoiding the “I wish I’d known you did that…” conversation.

If you have other videos on your tube, you can also add a customers video testimonials as video response to the work that you’ve done for them, which give you brownie points with you tube.

Video testimonials can range from the DIY and very simple to more involved case studies, shot on location – your decision on the right one for you will be based on budget of course but be aware that studies have also shown that quality also matters.

Please have a look at one example, we’ve produced for ourselves and one on location that we’ve shot for a customer of ours The H2 Company.

Feature Media’s video testimonial

H2 Company’s Video Testimonial from Space Architecture

For more information about video testimonials and how to use them please get in touch today by calling the Feature Media team on 0113 2205265 or e-mailing julie@featuremedia.co.uk

Augmented Reality Games! Feature Media And The Leeds Digital Festival

November 21st, 2011

Ian & Julie from Feature Media spent this Sunday in the epic grade-1 listed Temple Works in Leeds as part of the Leeds Digital Festival’s CheckIn CheckOff game.


Augmented Reality Game In Action, photo (c) Rick Harrison / fortybelowzero.com 2011

CheckIn CheckOff was an ambitious project which combined digital trickery with lesser-known parts of Leeds and aimed to show people the potential in both the under-appreciated parts of the world of technology, as well as of the city itself.

Four teams of six people needed smartphones, a basic mobile web knowledge, a QR code scanner and warm, practical clothing to take part.

Feature Media created an Augmented Reality game which started with team members holding markers up to cameras. The markers generated 3D spinning cubes onto which QR codes were displayed. The final step was to use smartphones to scan the ‘virtual’ QR codes and reveal the next clue in the game.

The technology worked perfectly and the teams absolutely loved it!

Feature Media were proud to be a part of this innovative and highly technical game combining mobile phone apps, QR codes, Augmented Reality and one of the spookiest venues in Leeds!

Augmented Reality Fun At The Feature Media Office

August 16th, 2011

Some of our favourite attempts at our Augmented Reality challenge. Enjoy!

Some of our favourites....

Think you can do better? Drop in and see us for a coffee. We might even have a prize for the best attempt….

Fantastic day out raising money for Wakefield Hospice

August 2nd, 2011

The sun was shining; the body was willing; sponsorships sorted, me and James set out to Pugneys Boating Lake in Wakefield to take part in a Dragon Boat race to raise money for Wakefield Hospice.

As a company, we have supported the hospice throughout 2010, filming many of their events for their 20th anniversary year. We have grown to know the hospice and some of their staff really well and seen what a huge difference they make to the lives of people with terminal illnesses and their families and we wanted to do something more to help them.

Wakefield Hospice have a fantastic ‘Business Buddies’ scheme, which facilitates networking for all businesses that support them so we were part of the ‘Business Buddies’ crew- and a motely crew we all were!

Some fit; some not so fit; some old; some young and some hung over!

We were lined up with another boat crew and shown the ropes. Then we boarded. We got in a quick practice as we rowed to the starting line at one side of the lake and got ready to go….

When we got the signal, the Haiwii 50 music blasted out from speakers on the bank and we all rowed as quickly as our little arms would allow us to go and soon got into our stride. We did really well and won the first race, even if it was only by luck that we hadn’t capsized, with half the lake having been dug up by our oars and dumped all over who ever was sat behind us.

After early optimism, it was clear that those who had attended the event the previous year and had crew who knew each other well and were fully paid up members of a gym were the ones in with the best chance so we just sat on the bank with our families and enjoyed the sunshine our picnics and the company.

Fantastic day out and thank you to everyone who sponsored us. Check out Wakefield Hospice’s You tube channel for more events that you can get involved with:)

http://www.youtube.com/user/WakefieldHospice

Annecy You Tube Competition – 3rd Place Winners!

June 16th, 2011

We found out last week that we came third in the Annecy You Tube Competition (the top UK entry), but had to keep it quiet until the results were announced at the competition to tell everyone. We are so pleased, thank you to everyone who voted! Here is the link to the winners…

http://www.annecy.org/annecy-2011/take-part/youtube-contest

Thanks again,
Andy and Georgina

New Animation – Your Votes Are Needed!

May 11th, 2011

Our good friend Georgina Dunn, together with Andy (head of Post-Production) has worked long and hard on a stop motion animation – with the willing participation of James (Cameraman/Editor) starring as the ‘face’ – for the Annecy Film Festival, You Tube Competition 2011.

Please Vote For Us!

Georgina says…

The theme was “Animation, land of freedom” so we thought what better way to reflect this than show the limitless ways that you can be creative with stop motion! We wanted it to be fun, energetic and most of all enjoyable to watch.

Here comes the grovelling bit… So for our animation to get through to the finals where the judges will cast their eyes over the top ten entrants and decide the winner we need to get as many votes as possible.

If you like our animation and would like to back us then you have from the 11th May- midnight 22nd May to vote. You can VOTE 1 VOTE PER VIDEO PER DAY, so that would be amazing if everyone could just click the green thumb in support of our animation every day for those dates.

Here is the all-important link:

http://www.youtube.com/annecyfestival

Scroll through the thumbnails or search for and ours is the one titled ‘hmm…’ with James looking up with lightbulb’s behind him! (see above pic to see exactly which one)

And SPREAD THE WORD! If you have enjoyed our animation then tell everyone you know, as it would be pretty great if we won.

Thank You!

Georgina and Andy

Work Experience At Feature Media, A First Hand Account

April 6th, 2011

Hi, I’m Emily and I chose to do my work experience at Feature Media. Since starting a Media Studies GCSE in late 2010, I have been interested in all aspects of the media business: filming, editing, and even the behind the curtain bits like the meetings and the organisation of the company. I thought Feature Media would be the perfect choice for work experience and boy, was I right.

Not going to lie, I was not anticipating enjoying work experience. Not just the making tea and coffee ordeal, but I thought it was going to be quite a drag and I was pretty nervous for it all. Having never worked a day in my life, I had no idea what they were going to throw at me.

Tasks I never thought I could be trusted with were on my list to do at work. I got to see and take part in the experience of filming off and on-site all, from green screening to interviewing. Here is where I got to put my journalism skills to use, interviewing those who were being filmed and making them feel at ease. Then I got to observe and have a go at editing voice overs, cutaways and more. Of course, there was the other things like the few bits of business card inputting but hey, it wasn’t actually boring like you might believe.

What I’m trying to say here is that Feature Media have provided me with a long list of different experiences just from two weeks of working with the welcoming team. I would strongly recommend anyone else to do their work experience here if it’s their chosen line of work and would love to thank the whole team for offering me the opportunity of working at such a enjoyable, remarkable and professional company.

Emily Gibson, Age 14

Pudsey Grangefield, Maths & Computing College



Feature Media Bring Augmented Reality To The Yorkshire Mafia Conference

March 18th, 2011

Feature Media teamed up with the highly innovative Mail Box Express to bring the excitement of Augmented Reality to the Yorkshire Mafia Conference.

Click on the image to watch the film:

Watch The Video

Watch The Video

Who do you know that would benefit from this sort of innovative technology? If you would like to chat about how we could use Augmented Reality to help your business, please contact us and we’d be happy to speak to you.

Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year – From Feature Media

December 22nd, 2010

We hope you enjoy our little interactive Christmas film, click on the image below to watch…

Click here to watch our Christmas Film

Have a great 2011 from all the team at Feature Media.

SKYLINE

November 29th, 2010

A film about aliens directed by the same people who did Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem (The Brothers Strause) would always throw up a warning sign about its credibility. From the look of the first poster for the film, where what seemed to be debris was being sucked up by spaceships floating over Los Angeles and it turned out to be thousands of people. I thought there may be hope for this film yet.

The main attraction to the film was seeing the old stereotypical alien abduction given a new more terrifying twist. As people look at the light coming from the spaceships and are violently pulled into it. The film has a plot we’ve seen hundreds of times as aliens invade the planet and we just so happen to be in LA when its all kicking off. A group of friends are trapped in their apartment while the events unfold around them and they try to survive as the aliens get closer and closer. As much as the special effects look good, the film is generally underwhelming. It’s nothing new. The action is pretty good in some places, but its all been done before. Mix Independence Day, Cloverfield, add a little bit of Transformers, oh and don’t forget a good old atomic blast and you’ve got Skyline.

It was released by the producers of the film that a sequel has been written before the film even came out. Knowing this before viewing allowed the film makers to not wrap up several elements of their story. The characters weren’t fully developed, and the aliens never fully explained. An annoying ending will solidify you’re feelings on Skyline as it did mine.

To summarise, when you’re looking for a really interesting, thoughtful and moving piece of modern artwork in cinematic form, then watch Schindler’s List NOT Skyline. Or else.