It is my opinion that 2010 should be the year that all businesses realize the importance of marketing with web video such as customer testimonials and online video product demonstrations. But, who am I?

I was creating my first local TV commercials at the age of nineteen back in 1977. Do the math: I didn’t just roll off the turnip cart yesterday. Besides being in the business since 1977, I only recently obtained a BFA degree in MultiMedia/Web Design from the Illinois Institute of Art: graduating in 2004. All though I’ve been designing ad materiel and helping small businesses in general advertising campaigns for decades, the four year degree was a great refresher course in how things are being done today, post digital revolution.

Because of my unique situation of advertising experience and schooling, I feel that I have a better than average perspective on the small business advertising landscape and I see a perfect storm coming. As a matter of fact, the leading front of the storm is already here. Those not prepared to utilize their company web site for a video platform to showcase their products and services are missing the boat because chances are their competition is already either on board or getting their passport in order now.

When comparing advertising mediums, online video far and above presents the absolute best platform for telling the story to potential clients and customers. Obviously, looking your target buyer right in the eye, and sharing the benefits while shaking their hand and smiling is certainly the best approach. And, video comes the closest to achieving that, while limitlessly multiplying that eye to eye contact by potentially thousands and more.

The Web’s growing strength in social medias like FaceBook and Twitter, plus the quickly growing number of households with Internet video capability, make the Web an ideal advertising medium that will soon surpass the expensive Super Bowl Ad as the gold standard of advertising. In the not so distant future, comparative ad campaigns will probably be measured in cost per hit instead of viewing households because of the increased use of web testimonials.

That being said, the matchless power of video on the Web is certainly the best advertising investment for budgeted dollars. Therefore, it’s a no-brainer to shift existing advertising dollars towards web videos. This makes the cost of video on the web virtually free in comparative ad dollars. You were going to spend those dollars on large ads in local and regional newspapers. Now, you can shift the bulk of those dollars towards your company web site, and only buy small display ads in your newspapers, pointing to your web address.

Click on this link to see these simple and inexpensive examples of customer testimonials.

Every advertising agency in the Western World rates advertising campaigns by the cost per unit of reaching each individual during that campaign. Using this method, the cost of web video comes to as close to 1 cent or lower than any other medium. One of the reasons is that if handled correctly by your video vendor, each web video can last long enough to bring cost per unit way down. This is not something that all advertising elements can enjoy. Long after TV and radio spots have been produced, one is still required to buy airtime for every airing of that spot. But, with web videos, you own the “air time” by virtue of the very simple nature of how the Web operates.

Cost per unit of web videos is lower than radio, lower than TV, lower than brochure, and even lower than direct mail advertising, which for many years has been recognized as the least expensive while being one of the most effective types of advertising.

Imagine then, the powerful impact of combining the best of all of these worlds. What do I mean? Reduce the amount of advertising funds being directed to all other mediums by enough to cover the startup of your web video campaign, and use your conventional advertising mediums to point the public to your new online advertising videos and you have a dynamo advertising juggernaut that just can’t be stopped; your own personal perfect storm advertising campaign.

You may not be able to greet each individual in your potential market of tens of thousands with a warm hand shake and a folksy demonstration, but you can achieve the next best thing, a custom produced video on your own web site.

See these other excellent web video resources:
The Triple Whammy
The Perfect Product Demonstration Video
How to Increase Sales With Video — Hands-On Tips