Improvements in computers, internet service and web software has led to a vast improvement in the delivery of web video. Now, using video on your website is becoming a great way to tell your story. Here are four projects we’ve worked on over the past year which illustrate the diverse and effective ways web video can be used.

Stafford Hills Racquet & Fitness Club
staffordhills.com

Stafford Hills Racquet & Fitness Club developer Jim Zupancic asked us to help him bring a tour of the future facility to life. By combining the architectural renderings of the facility with a live tour guide we created a virtual tour that goes beyond still images. Web designer Vic Parker at Six Foot Eight Media & Design incorporated it into a website that draws viewers in and drives them to action. The feedback has been tremendous with initial membership reservations strong and anecdotal stories of the video tour motivating people to sign-up.

Scott Bruun for Congress
joinscott.com

Challenging an incumbent US Congressman is never easy, so Scott Bruun wanted his website to stand out and be a personal connection with voters. The Bruun campaign asked us to help integrate video into their website. Inspired by the website of another candidate for Congress, Sean Duffy in Wisconsin, they turned to us to help shoot the video and work with their web developer to make it come alive. Paul Bryant at Design Point Inc. improved on the Duffy idea by further integrating the video into the website. Check out how the colors flow behind the video of Scott and pay particular attention to when he points at the sign up section and the donate button as his hand crosses over the graphics.

Wellspring Heart
wsheart.com

Wellspring Heart, a revolutionary heart wellness program, turned to us to help them tell their story and motivate people to join their program. Through interviews with doctors, patients and program leaders, we explained in a powerful way the program and the success it can bring to participants’ health. This is an excellent example of how video can take a complex subject and engage viewers to learn about it in a manner that print simply cannot.

Tour of Remodeled Homes
remodeltourportland.com

In its 11th year, the Tour of Remodeled Homes in Portland, Oregon is the premier remodeling tour in the state. It is produced by the Professional Remodelers Organization (PRO) of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. For this year’s event, the producers wanted to personalize it by highlighting the participating remodelers versus just showing their work. After all, success of a remodeling project hinges in large part on how well you get along with your remodeler. We produced a series of interview-based web videos that the producers are using in a variety of ways. In addition, a 30-second spot is being embedded in a web ad on Comcast.net.

How can video help you with your image, present your message, and drive your viewers to action?

It seems like this basic idea – know your audience – keeps cropping up in a variety of situations for us recently. All of them are communication related but very different situations.

1. Know your audience is a key lesson I’ve been teaching my students this semester in the Persuasion class I’m teaching at Linfield College. Tailoring your persuasive appeal to your target audience, whether it’s when you’re giving a speech or designing a print ad, is vital to success.

2. When you’re buying TV ad time, knowing your audience is the key not only to being effective but to being COST effective. For example, targeted cable ads might be a better use of your money than the broader audience reached via broadcast stations if you can target the audience you want to reach.

3. For our sister company, Lyon Films, we are developing a couple of ideas for documentary films. As part of that effort, it is important for us to identify the potential audience for the film and the distribution needed to reach that audience.

So, on any communication-related project, large or small, be sure “Know Your Audience” is at the top of the list!