YouTube allows advertisers, both large and small, to take their free media and go viral with video/commercials. A video/commercial is basically like a brochure. Since everyone prints brochures, I’m challenging you to think outside the box. Use YouTube as another marketing tool in your arsenal. Take the same money you would spend on brochures and put it into making your own video/commercial highlighting the benefits of your massage practice/spa. YouTube videos can be emailed to anyone, anywhere and are hosted free forever.
In order to make your own commercial, all you need is a content deliverer (i.e talent), a video camera and editing software and voila you can play with the big boys.
Media is free but attention is not. With this in mind, you will need to consider the following when creating your video/commercial.
1. Assume that the viewer has a short attention span. This means producing a video/commercial that has quick, high velocity, slapstick comedy or has something that the audience wants..
2. You may want to create a word or phrase that you can own in the Google search. Castrol created this Google searchable phase “Think with your dipstick” in this slapstick commercial.
3. Educate your audience. Here is our chance to educate the public not only about our individual services but individual modalities in general. Recently, I had a student tell me that she does Esalen massage which she really enjoys doing but doesn’t get a lot of requests for it. I said that it was probably because most people don’t know what it is. Here is her chance to educate the public while creating publicity for her business. In researching various commercials on YouTube for this article, I stumbled on this commercial that educates us about skin care using product that she doesn’t sell all while subtly selling her own skink care line. I too have ventured into video/commercials for my Lypossage, Raindrop Technique and Siddha Body Detox classes. Check them out and let me know what you think.
4. Length. Your video can a few seconds to several minutes long. Remember this form of media is free so make it as long as it needs to be. What you will have to do is challenge the status quo, hit a social nerve, or be provocative. In other words, you can to capture your audience’s attention by making a commercial worth watching. Dove does this in both of these commercials – Dove Evolution with almost 9 million views and Dove Pro-Age with approximately 1.5 million views.
The biggest shift with this form of free media is going to be that businesses that could never have afforded a national campaign will be able to have one. Expect to see a whole host of commercials that would never be deemed effective enough to spend money on, but that generate huge views online.
If you are not putting video content on-line, you’re missing out.
Do you already have a video/commercial for you business? Send me the link.
Youtube is definitely a great way to market a massage. Since massage is about relaxation chiefly, a good massage video can convey the idea well!
By: Massage Marketing on May 25, 2009
at 4:04 am
Do you have any experience with how well this works?
Where would you publish the video?
How do you get visitors to find it?’
I find that the greatest challenge with the web is to get people to find your content. It’s fine to mail people the video (the link), but once they’ve contacted you they already have interest and can ‘easily’ be convinced to go the full way. To me the challenge is to catch all those out there who has no idea that you’re around.
I’m curious to hear what suggestions and ideas you have for promoting the video. It’s a great idea, especially since visuals works so much better than words to describe things and trigger memories and pleasant feelings in humans.
Cheers
Pia
By: Pia | Taunaki on May 28, 2009
at 7:48 am
There is nothing like free advertising and YouTube is an excellent way to go. All you need is some creativity and you are set. Thanks for sharing. I will be saving this article for my future practice.
By: Cyn on May 28, 2009
at 1:36 pm
Riverspointe Spa in Estes Park, CO, has been using YouTube with great success! We posted several videos on our page, and can link them to anything else we choose, including Google searches, Facebook, MySpace, and our own website (RiverspointeSpa.com).
We began by doing a video tour of our facility– this gave people an idea of what their visit would be like, and pointed out several of the therapies and treatments we provide. After that, we started posting videos dedicated to individual therapies, like Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Warm Bamboo Massage, and Traditional Thai-Yoga Massage. These treatments are rare in Colorado, and we’ve found we’re the only location around the Front Range that offers them. These videos answer a lot of client questions, and help them choose from the WIDE variety of therapies we use.
We love using YouTube for our spa. If you’re looking for a new way to advertise yourself, we highly recommend this!
By: Riverspopinte Spa on May 31, 2009
at 7:29 pm
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