Video has greatly helped reduce the fear factor of buying BBQs online. The BBQ Guys are more than just a successful online store doing video – they’ve become YouTube personalities. Based out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, their YouTube Channel of 450+ videos is rapidly approaching 4 million video views and 6,200 subscribers.

To showcase their collection of high-end BBQ grills, the BBQ Guys regularly publish video reviews of new products on their YouTube channel and website. Customers can get a personal walk-through of all their BBQs and how they perform in action, along with purchasing and cooking tips.

A huge …

I interviewed Anthony Bucci, Co-Founder of RevZilla and spokesperson for the popular RevZillaTV YouTube Channel. RevZilla is an online retailer for motorcycle riding gear, accessories and parts. While they have a retail showroom in the team’s hometown of Philadelphia, much of their business is now driven through their website and supported through online video content. Anthony shared with me how the company started out with online video and how they have immersed video into their customer shopping experience.

RevZilla’s video production started in the summer of 2009 with nothing more than a Flip camera and an idea. Today …

Orabrush has been touted as one of the most relatable stories of a small company that has achieved great success doing YouTube and social video marketing. They’ve sold well over a million units of their tongue cleaner and tongue foam, are the 3rd most subscribed sponsor channel on YouTube with over 45 million channel views, have signed a major deal with big box stores, and were recently selected for a 2012 Webby Award Official Honoree for their “continued efforts and achievements in social media marketing.” What many people may not realize is that it was a long struggle for …

One thing that both online video marketing and politics have in common is that people are more apt to criticize small mistakes than praise what is working. Last week, the Obama campaign sent out an e-mail blast unveiling a new anti-Romney docu-drama video tied with the announcement of their new website, RomneyEconomics.com. In 3 different places on the e-mail, there’s either a direct or implied call-to-action to watch their video. Yet when you click on either of the email’s text links or the play button, it doesn’t actually lead to a page with any video. Instead it leads to a …

In my last article, I talked about the increased expectations customers have for direct, personal and helpful engagement from the brands they give their business to, especially with social media and online video content.  To help retailers keep up with this growing trend, I have compiled 10 tips below featuring actual businesses who have been successfully improving customer loyalty with online video.

10 Ways To Be a Customer Service Champion with Social Video

1. Give your customers a voice – Zappos allows customers to submit videos to the company’s customer-reserved YouTube channel – where customers can share a testimonial and

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I lament the fact that most businesses doing “social video” campaigns today are too often fixated on increasing reach and awareness as their end goal, and do not have enough focus on engaging customers directly.  With increasing consumer demands on businesses and brands to engage with social media, it should no longer be considered acceptable to treat video as just content; it needs to be part of your customer service strategy.

In this article, I delve into why customer service is so important in the social media era, and how you can get a leg up on your …

Measuring social video ROI can be a daunting challenge for retailers today.  In fact, ROI can be often overlooked in social video initiatives when marketers choose to focus on the less tangible goal of customer relationship building.  In this article, I review the reasons why social video ROI measurement is a critical element to the success of your social video program.

Coming of age: Social video initiatives realizing ROI expectations

Social Video ROI has come into prevalence now. I base that claim off of two key survey results from Social Media Examiner’s 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report:

• Video

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Last fall, Google released their new “Freshness Algorithm” in an effort to provide more relevant, real-time results for search queries. This new algorithm shows yet again that Google’s number one priority is to always feature the freshest and most relevant product information. In this article you’ll learn about what you can do to update your product page videos to perform better under Google’s new algorithm so you don’t get left behind!

Thad Rueter, Senior Editor for InternetRetailer.com, reported last December that because of the Google’s new algorithm, e-commerce sites with low-quality and unoriginal content would be demoted in search rankings …

I interviewed Justin Nassiri, founder and CEO of the user-generated video platform, VideoGenie, on the power of using consumers’ video testimonials to build better customer relationships.

Why should retail and e-commerce brands use consumer-generated video testimonials? Justin and I came up with 5 good reasons that can help make the case for you and the decision makers at your company:

5 reasons why consumer video testimonials are great for e-commerce

1.) Gets consumers’ attention quickly through an emotional connection

Research studies from web usability specialists have revealed that the average new website visitor spends 5-10 seconds on a …

Pinterest is by far the fastest growing social sharing site today.  With the increasing popularity of Pinterest, online retailers and brands are provided with another valuable social video distribution channel.  In this article, I will explore how to use Pinterest’s video features to increase search engine visibility and consumer interest in your online store and brand.…