Case Study: FLIMP Gives Sony Ericsson WTA Tour a Boost
The integration of rich media (Flash), web video, and web analytics is propelling the development of a new interactive marketing application called a video landing page (VLP). This new application, which emerged in the U.S., is now being made available in the U.K. and Europe in 2009. VLPs are mini Flash websites, or “videosites,” with unique URLs that contain interactive audiovisual and multimedia content that can be embedded into an HTML webpage. VLPs are typically used to engage viewers with an audiovisual message that motivates them to respond to specific calls to action that can be tracked and reported by analytics software.
This case study describes the emergence of web VLPs as a new marketing application and the technological developments that are making VLPs more effective and affordable for video email marketing, video brochures, video search marketing, video advertising, and video communications across a wide number of vertical market sectors, including sports marketing, travel, education, charities, and numerous business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) clients. It further focuses on the use of VLPs in sports marketing by the Sony Ericsson World Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, which is based in London.
Uses and Applications for Flash VLPs
Flash VLPs can be used as stand-alone websites or video brochures, as well as conversion landing pages for advertising and email marketing. They can also be embedded into HTML webpages as a quick and easy way to incorporate audiovisual content into a static website. More recently, comprehensive viewer analytics have been integrated into on-demand Flash landing page software so that sales, marketing, and communications professionals can instantly collect and report detailed viewer engagement and response data by email address, as well as by viral forwarding activity.
Recently, videosites have emerged as a way to incorporate engaging audiovisual content into email marketing and blogging. In email marketing, an HTML email message is used to deliver a Flash videosite or landing page to targeted viewers, who open the videosite from the email to interact with the video message. These video email campaigns are a good way to engage viewers with an audiovisual message and call to action that boost response and conversion rates. For some applications, this can be an effective method of email marketing because web video content drives engagement and response rates that are four to seven times higher than static images and text marketing, according to studies by DoubleClick, Google, and AOL.
Figure 1. The Sony Ericsson WTA TOur turned to FLIMP to promote its new live streaming service, TennisTV.com, and the tour's "Looking for a Hero?" advertising campaign.Using VLPs for Email and Search Marketing
Successful email and search marketing using VLPs depends on three things:
1. Clear Call to Action: Once a viewer watches your audiovisual message, there should be a clear, interactive call to action that generates a measurable response. Don’t provide too many options.
2. Relevancy: To the extent possible, try to make sure the video content will be relevant to the viewer. Relevancy dramatically improves viewer engagement, response rates, and viral marketing activity.
3. Actionable Analytics: This is the ability of videosite analytics to collect detailed viewer activity and response data by email address or with forms for export into a customer relationship management (CRM) or marketing database.
Successful web video marketing campaigns provide an opportunity for viewer interaction and response plus the capability to capture and measure detailed viewer activity and response data. When using VLPs, the multimedia content should provide an opportunity for interaction that can be measured by a built-in analytics component beyond simple traffic numbers. Ideally, a videosite will be able to instantly capture and report detailed viewer data in a reporting dashboard by individual email address or will contain a web form for collection of targeted data from the viewer.
Simplifying VLP Marketing With New Technology
Until recently, developing rich media landing pages with video and comprehensive analytics for online marketing could only be done using expensive interactive agencies, with prices ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for a single VLP with analytics reporting. As a result, VLPs have not been embraced by most web marketers because of the high costs of Flash programming and integrating analytics with reporting dashboards.
New technologies are now available that enable marketers to quickly create, edit, distribute, and track custom-branded VLPs in a matter of hours without any programming or analytics plug-ins. Using these new technologies, the cost of developing and tracking a Flash VLP or brochure for use in email marketing, search marketing, or communications can be as little as a few hundred dollars, and the analytics are more comprehensive and available faster than with expensive plug-in programs.
One new on-demand VLP technology recently introduced to the market is FLIMP (FLash Interactive Marketing Platform), created by FLIMP Media. The product is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) application used for direct marketing, sales, and communications. According to the developer, anyone with basic computer and design skills and available content can create high-quality VLPs using a drag-and-drop graphical user interface (GUI). The videosites can then be distributed to target viewers using delivery tools available within the platform.
Once a FLIMP VLP is live, summary campaign data and individual viewer data are collected and reported in real time in a Flash-based reporting dashboard. For email marketing, FLIMP reports viewer engagement and response data by individual email address. The product is available on a web-based SaaS model and is hosted from the Amazon web service cloud.
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