A thank you we received recently for doubling (!!!) a client's business

You read that right by the way. Recently, we worked with a client who had $X in revenue before working with Open Marketing and following our work with them to rebrand themselves, relaunch under a new name, and under a new website, attracted a customer that was worth $X in revenue – effectively doubling the size of their business. We are told the new customer is high margin and that while the deal is one with revenue spread out over several years this is the largest deal our client has ever landed.

We are thrilled for our client. Especially because we know all success that we accrue for our clients happens because and when we collaborate with them. (Being open to collaboration is part of our DNA and built into the very name of the company.)

As a thank you, our client sent us this:

Now normally, we wouldn’t show off a video produced by a competitor. But here’s why we are doing this.

First, because it shows the power of video. This particular video has gotten over 15M views on YouTube, which is great. Note the use of music which pulls you through and the strong story line. Both are essential to making this piece come alive. Your average “talking heads” video can’t and won’t get this kind of result.

Video done well – and this one is great – plays to your heartstrings the way mere copy cannot. In fact, studies repeatedly show that the brain processes visual content, music, and other forms of audio content faster than it processes words on the page. Which is ironic given the topic of the video!

Video is not something that you can share without attribution. Copy alone – sadly enough – is something that is easy enough to share without providing appropriate attribution.

So the message here is two fold. The stuff we do works extremely well. It’s not usually the case that we are able to double our clients’ business – but we can typically increase traffic and lead flow by as much as 40% in 3-4 months.

Our second message is that in addition to creating great websites, its important that our clients go beyond the website to invest in video, motion graphics, audio, infographics, meme campaigns, and visual communications in general. The kind of content that people will want to share. Not every content will get shared or watched 15M times mind you. And in fact, this kind of reach is unusual and not something you can plan on, in our humble opinion. (There are other so-called experts out there that will tell you they have a formula for creating viral videos. In keeping with the time of year, to this we say: BAH. HUMBUG.)

Why are “other forms of content” – aside from copy on the page – important. Actually copy on the page – especially blogging is incredibly important. Studies show that companies that blog get 60-70% more leads than companies that do not. This is especially true if you change your blogging around to focus not on what your company is doing and its products but on what your users want to hear. Changing the words in this way can and is very powerful. And even more so when you go on to support these changes with a full arsenal of content that galvanizes all the senses the way this video does.

Oh yes. The kinds of content mentioned here: video, motion graphics, audio, infographics, meme campaigns and the like. These are all things we do and do well at Open Marketing. Video – it turns out – has become a specialized business, with the cost of video production ranging from a low of $1K per minute to a high of $10K+. For that reason, we often work with outside partners to produce videos.