Showcase Your Product Online with a Video Player and Thumbnail Playlist
There have been several reports from various social media analytics companies and organizations that indicate the increasing popularity of videos in websites, blogs and other online portals. The reason is very clear as website viewers prefer the high interactivity that online video players provide in getting information about almost anything. Just take the booming popularity of YouTube for example, where millions of clips are watched on a daily basis -- from boring video images of someone feeding his goldfish to amazing product presentations of various commercial brands and products.
Video is a very compelling medium to use to showcase any product or service that it would be to a webmasters advantage if they have some form of video players that could run automatically while the site uploads, or engage customers with an interactive thumbnail playlist allowing them the option to choose which particular video they would like to view.
The Benefits of Using a Video Player with a Thumbnail Playlist
The staggering popularity of video sites such as YouTube as well as its impact on social media networks like MySpace or Facebook is a clear indication of the power of video marketing. Videos can be set-up as viral, meaning viewers can share them to friends or their networks. This would be a great way to share information about your product, at very minimal cost, to an almost unlimited number of potential viewers and customers.
Products and services can be presented more efficiently through a video player much better than any write ups can portray. Given the option, most web visitors would most likely be attracted and view a video presentation rather than reading through a lengthy article that contains the same information. The compelling images, music and other audio elements can engage any viewer, making them want to know more about a product -- and eventually convert them into paying customers.
Ways to Put Video on Your Website
"Basically, there are two ways how you can put up a video on your website: hosting the video itself on your own server or embed a link to the video to a third-party host such as YouTube. There are pros and cons in using any of these resources and it would depend on the how your website is set-up, and how you would like to showcase your product. For many, combining elements of these two options would be the best way.
Many website owners embed videos on their website as hosted from another video site such as YouTube. The problem with such arrangement is that people would usually follow the link going to YouTube and watch the video from there -- not on your website where they can gain more information about your product and services.
It would be more effective however, to have a short version or a teaser of your video on a 3rd party video platform and have it linked back to your main website where the full, high-quality video is hosted and watched in its entirety. Coupled with a thumbnail playlist, such set-up can create a compelling and interactive user experience -- that they would want to know more about your product.
Things to Consider when Putting Video on Your Website
The following are some tips and tricks on how you can effectively use video on your website.
Keep your videos short. The attention span of most people are short and would usually drop watching videos if it's too dragging or would take too much of their time. 3 to 5 minutes is the ideal length and would depend on the type of content you have.
The type of content that you could use for your videos include: a) documentary style where you can show the product in action; b) informative style where you can explain features and benefits of your products in detail; c) viral or humorous videos where your products are presented in part (and would compel viewers to share to their friends or network.
Be original and authentic. Avoid using corporate style presentations that many people just shun. Keep it simple and viral, showcasing your product in its most compelling essence -- how it can benefit the customer.
Add a call to action. Your video would be useless if it does not compel the viewer to take action, either to inquire more about the product, or make them contact you for potential business.
Clearly, having a video player and a corresponding thumbnail playlist can do wonders in making a more effective presentation for your product or service. There are various tools available at your disposal and it would be very wise to try them out and see which would be best to use for your website -- and take it to the next level.
OSMF is Coming: Adobe has introduced a new Open Source Media Framework (OSMF) that can dramatically lower the time, costs, and risks of creating video and media players, This framework simplifies the development of a video player, and it adds flexibility to developers to customize the player for browser or desktop usages. OSMF not only includes basic video player functions like playback controls, data buffering, video navigation and dynamic streaming. It also includes the plug-in architecture which allows developers to expand the functionality of their OSMF Player. Tasks such as advertising, reporting and content delivery can be easily implemented using OSMF
Showcase Your Product Online with a Video Player and Thumbnail Playlist
